Thyroid & Liver Health

The thyroid gland is such an amazing organ. It is a vital hormone organ. Some of its functions are metabolism, growth, and development in the body. The thyroid produces three hormones: T4, T3, and Calcitonin.

Depending on the demands of the body, the thryoid gland will make more or less of T4 and T3. These fluctuations can change throughout the day, weeks, months and even years. The pituitary gland tells the thyroid to release more or less T4 and T3 based on the body's demands. An increase in these hormones occur during children's development. If your thyroid hormones are chronically elevated, that is called hyperthyroidism. If your thyroid hormones are chronically low, that is called hypothyroidism.

Calcitonin is a hormone that is involved with calcium and bone health.

When we look at the liver and the thryoid, there is this beautiful relationship between the two. The liver will activate, inactivate, metabolize, and transport the thyroid hormones. This means that the health of the liver will affect overall thyroid hormone function and usage. The thyroid helps the liver cells and the metabolism of the liver. So, there is this beautiful codependancy between the liver and the thyroid. This is another reason I work on the WHOLE body versus just focusing on specific organs, because every organ affects other organs and vice versa. In hyperthyroidism, liver enzymes can be elevated due to the extreme oxidative stress of an increased metabolic rate. In hypothyroidism, the liver enzymes can be elevated due to impaired fat metabolism, non alcoholic fatty liver, and hypothyroid-induced myopathy (muscle weakness around the hips and low back due to low thyroid function).

As we can see, the health of the liver and the thyroid depend on each other. What are some ways to help heal and keep these organs healthy.

1. Fasting: fasting is a muscle that gets easier the more times you use it. Giving the liver a break from digesting food is one of the best things you can do for your liver. Autophagy will allow the liver to "clean up" debris, misfolded proteins, stored sugars, and toxins that have been built up in the body. If you want to learn more about fasting, I offer a monthly fasting seminar to dig deeper into this amazing tool. You can email me at: activecaredoc@gmail.com for more information

2. Liver and Thyroid Castor Oil Packs: Castor oil is a detoxing and anti-inflammatory oil that has been shown to really help the liver and thryoid. You can wear these while you sleep at night.

3. Ditch the Gluten: Gluten proteins can affect the function of thyroid hormones, especially for those who have hypothryoidism. T3 is used to digest carbohydrates, so if you flood the body with carbs, your T3 will be used more for digestion than for the actual functions of the thyroid gland.

4. Lab Work: Getting proper thyroid blood panels is essential. Many docs are only checking TSH, which is just looking at the pituitary gland. A proper thyroid panel will include: TSH, T3, T4, Free T4, Reverse T3, Thyroid Antibodies.