Ameet Aggarwal, ND, Guest Thyroid Nation
Dr. Aggarwal discusses emotional well-being, your liver and your thyroid health.
An organ strongly related to emotional well-being is your thyroid gland. Your thyroid gland produces hormones that increase your metabolism and help your cells and brain use energy efficiently. During adrenal fatigue, the thyroid gland has to work harder to keep your metabolism going. With the lack of adrenal support, your thyroid gland gets fatigued, leading to low thyroid performance, or hypothyroidism.
Using thyroid medication during adrenal fatigue can be a problem because thyroid medication increases your metabolism, which pushes your exhausted adrenal glands to struggle even more. This worsens adrenal fatigue and does not always heal hypothyroidism. Nourishing your adrenal glands is therefore, crucial when trying to heal hypothyroidism.
Your thyroid gland produces the hormones T3 and T4, which control chemical reactions in your body and optimize the way your cells use energy. T3 is the active form, and T4 gets converted into active T3. T3 helps your brain produce serotonin, so thyroid health is essential for optimal mental functioning.
Your thyroid gland is activated by a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). TSH is produced by the pituitary gland in your brain. During adrenal stress, high levels of cortisol suppress TSH, which suppresses your production of T3 and T4. When cortisol levels are too high or too low, it also reduces the conversion of T4 into active T3 and desensitizes your body to the effects of T3, perpetuating feelings of depression, lethargy, anxiety, poor memory, and poor concentration.
Interestingly, the probiotics in your intestine convert inactive thyroid hormone T4 into active T3. T3 helps the cells of your intestinal wall join firmly together, reducing leaky gut syndrome. If the amount of probiotics in your gut is compromised or if your thyroid function is compromised, you will have less T3 available to keep your intestinal barrier intact, making leaky gut, chronic inflammation, adrenal stress, and chronic disease worse.
Another interesting fact is that your thyroid gland and your liver affect each other very strongly. Thyroid hormones are processed by your liver, and they also affect the way your liver cells function. Low thyroid function therefore impairs liver function and exacerbates constipation, worsens digestion, and deregulates hormone balance, all of which are detrimental to your emotional well-being. Additionally, a poorly functioning liver lowers the amount of active thyroid hormone floating around in your body, worsening depression, anxiety, and other mental symptoms. So a combination of a well-managed thyroid health, well-balanced probiotic levels in your gut, and a well-cared for liver is an insurance against all kinds of physical and emotional health problems.
About the Author
Dr. Ameet Aggarwal, ND is a Canadian licensed Naturopathic Doctor, psychotherapist (gestalt and EMDR), coach, family constellations, systems theory and Bowen therapist with years of experience working with individuals and organizations. He treats emotional and physical issues,including chronic pain, digestive issues, asthma, eczema, hormonal issues, infertility, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, stress and trauma. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. And make sure to check out all of his services on his website, DrAmeet.com.
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Questions or anything to add about your thyroid health? We want your thoughts in the comments section–Please!
Could you include the blood levels of each hormone? Eg… TSH – 2.00, FT4 – 20-25, FT3 – 4.6… etc… As those are the only ones I know of and would like to know the rest, but are nowhere to be found….