How to Support Your Thyroid (Naturally)
Pilar Manzanaro
Video
9 min
00:00:00 Hi everyone and welcome to How to Support Your Thyroid. Naturally, of course. My name is Pilar Manzanero and I am a registered Nutritional therapist. When your thyroid is working well and by that I mean producing thyroxine or T4 at the optimal rate and converting it effectively to its more active form, T3. You have plenty of energy and you get to spend a normal rate. This means you'll feel more energized and find it easier to keep your weight in check, because a good, functioning thyroid
00:00:25 helps you use carbs for energy, protein to build muscle, and also burn your fat reserves to produce energy when glucose is and also burn your fat reserves to produce energy when glucose is not available in between meals. If your thyroid is not working as it should be, you may feel fatigued, lethargic, struggling to concentrate. Your hair and skin might not look the best, and even your mood may fluctuate, your libido decrease, and your periods can become less regular. Now let's see how would you eat
00:00:53 affects your hormonal balance. Diet and nutrition are very important to support your thyroid gland, not just to produce the hormones T4, to support your thyroid gland, not just to produce the hormones T4, but also to ensure the conversion to the more active form is working well. Selenium and zinc are necessary to ensure proper conversion to T3. High levels of selenium can be found in Brazil nuts, so add them to your smoothies, roast them for snacks or crush them and sprinkle them on salads and soups for little crunch.
00:01:17 Also, salmon, sesame and sunflower seeds and red meat are good sources of selenium. And let's not forget that selenium is also essential to maintain a healthy immune system, which will see later how it can also affect your thyroid. Selenium plays a fundamental how it can also affect your thyroid. Selenium plays a fundamental role in your body's antioxidant activity that reduces those nasty, aging free radicals. Zinc is also necessary for thyroid hormone conversion and can be found in abundance in red meat,
00:01:42 but also green leafy veggies like kale, broccoli, legumes like lentils, and chickpeas. We have plenty of recipes to include those those foods. Just go to our website and click on recipes and then Hormonal Balance. Now let's talk about iron. Iron is also necessary for conversion to the active form of Iron is also necessary for conversion to the active form of thyroid hormones. So if you are a vegetarian, make sure you include plenty of green leafy veg and pulses in your diet and have them
00:02:09 with a good source of vitamin C, like raw veg such as salad or a few strips of red pepper to ensure you absorb iron more efficiently. Nutrients for production of thyroid hormones include. First and foremost, iodine, which can be found in seafood, fish, seaweed, and to a lesser extent, dairy. So if you're vegan, sure seaweeds regularly in your diet. Zinc is also necessary for sure seaweeds regularly in your diet. Zinc is also necessary for thyroid hormone production, and so is vitamin E from almonds,
00:02:34 sweet potatoes and lovely avocados, which also happens to be a fantastic antioxidant. But diet is not the only factor. Supporting your thyroid lifestyle is as important as nutrition because lack of exercise, poor or not enough sleep. And of course stress can negatively affect your thyroid function. Chronic stress can inhibit the conversion to the active form of thyroid hormones, while exercise stimulates the production. Now, there are a few things that can work against your thyroid
00:02:58 Now, there are a few things that can work against your thyroid and are worth bearing in mind. The first one is environmental toxins, including mercury in fish, fluoride in toothpaste and tap water, cadmium and lead in cigarettes, pollution and tap water, and PCBs and dioxins, which enter the food chain and can be stored in animal fat. So the more fatty meat products you eat, the higher your dioxin load will be. These toxins can disrupt your thyroid function, so avoid swordfish and tuna and salmon in moderation.
00:03:28 Avoid smoking for this and another million reasons, and switch to Avoid smoking for this and another million reasons, and switch to organic to avoid pesticides as much as you possibly can. You can also avoid exposure to chemicals by switching to organic cleaning products and toiletries. Oh, and let's not forget about water. Tap water is fine, but only if you filter it to remove heavy metals, hormones, and other toxins. Another thing to avoid, whenever possible is storing your food in plastic that is not BPA free,
00:03:53 as BPA can interfere with your thyroid action at the cellular level where it really matters. And that includes bottled water level where it really matters. And that includes bottled water and other drinks. Some foods contain goitrogens that compounds that can block the utilization of iodine, which can as a result cause an enlargement of the thyroid, known as goiter. These foods need to be eaten in moderation. If there are any concerns about your thyroid functioning below par.
00:04:16 However, there's no need to eliminate these foods completely from your diet because they're very nutritious otherwise. Ideally, you should consume them cooked lightly, of course, to reduce their goitrogenic activity. Foods that may contain goitrogens to reduce their goitrogenic activity. Foods that may contain goitrogens include vegetables from the brassica family like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, mustard greens, kale and kohlrabi, and also foods like soybeans, peanuts, pine nuts,
00:04:47 millet, peaches, strawberries, spinach, and cassava root. Now, does the immune system have anything to do with hormonal balance? Well, yes, autoimmunity can play an important role in your Well, yes, autoimmunity can play an important role in your thyroid health, as when the immune system is dysregulated, it can attack your thyroid, leading in some cases to hypothyroidism. So supporting your immune system and investigating any potential food allergies or sensitivities to eliminate the culprit foods can be
00:05:17 an important step towards thyroid health. Now let's do some cooking. Let's try to use those amazing ingredients that we've been talking about in this session to make some tasty recipes to support your thyroid.
