Thyroid Hormone - A Crucial Metabolic Player
December 1, 2020
The average person who can’t lose weight – despite eating right and exercising – is generally frustrated and frankly stumped.
For many, diet and exercise have generally proven effective, and yet now – for some reason – they don’t. Sometimes just a little. Sometimes not at all.
Those who dig deeper often find that weight problems could be due to a sluggish thyroid. Feeling an inkling of hope, many ask their doctors to run a test, and lo’ and behold the results often come back normal. How can this be?
These results tend to stun – especially when weight gain continues to be an issue and/or we suffer from other hypothyroidism hallmarks – feeling cold, old, thinning hair, stressed and depressed.
Given that so many symptoms of low thyroid overlap with other hormone imbalances, we may not get the answers needed unless we find a healthcare provider who goes beyond the standard TSH test to address thyroid disorders in the broader context of hormone imbalance.
Our bodies produce more than one thyroid hormone. The most abundant is thyroxine (T4), which is an INACTIVE THYROID HORMONE converts to triiodothyronine (T3), the ACTIVE THYROID HORMONE in the body. We need our bodies to make plenty of these two hormones since we rely heavily on them for an active metabolism.
So, one clarifying answer to the original question about that so-called “normal” test result is that testing TSH alone is not going to give us the whole story because it fails to take active thyroid levels into account.
TSH was created as a SCREENING TOOL, NOT A THERAPY MONITORING TOOL!
Nor can a single thyroid test identify imbalances of the steroid or adrenal hormones that serve to seriously inhibit thyroid function.
Discovering how well our thyroid is actually working requires a bigger picture assessment of all the hormone levels that matter, not just TSH, T3, and T4, but estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol.
It should also include an assessment of iodine, zinc, selenium and other mineral levels that if out of balance can run interference on thyroid hormone production. That’s because when it comes to a healthy thyroid, the efficient conversion of T4 to T3 is imperative –must occur – if we want an active vs. sluggish metabolism. So, anything that interferes with that crucial conversion process will decrease thyroid function (most antidepressants, Vitamin B, D, E, and A deficiencies and 28 more factors), slow metabolism (to make weight loss even harder), and trigger a raft of low thyroid symptoms.
From hormone imbalances to mineral deficiencies and environmental pollutants, a range of factors can interfere with thyroid production and testing can help identify the worst culprits. *
Estrogen dominance – Thyroid problems are far more prevalent in women, particularly those in the menopause transition. That’s because “estrogen dominance” has the effect of binding up active thyroid hormones on their way to the cells that need them, so it may not necessarily be a failing thyroid gland that is the issue, your thyroid may be working just fine but is encountering the estrogen roadblock!
Other factors affecting T4 to Active T3 conversion are:
- Elevated or depleted cortisol stress hormones
- Iodine deficiency
- Selenium and zinc deficiency
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Arsenic or mercury toxicity
- Xenoestrogen burden – environmental chemicals that effectively disrupt estrogen metabolism
Get the whole (holistic) picture and make sure hormone imbalances are corrected before embarking on your weight loss journey. We can help! Make sure your foundational health is strong including hormones, vitamins and minerals. You’ll be surprised how much easier you lose weight.