Thyroid Health

Is Your Thyroid Working Properly?

If you feel tired all the time, have gained
weight even while keeping to a diet, and
just cant seem to concentrate, your thyroid
needs help.
Sadly, thyroid function is too often ignored by
conventional medical practice. Its a common
misconception that if you have normal
thyroid hormone levels then you dont need
to do anything; just get a little extra sleep and
forget about it.
But thats not the case. Your body knows
it and you know it. You need two critical
nutrients to fuel your thyroid and get your
energy levels, weight, focus, and life back on
track again. You need iodine and L-tyrosine.
Those crucial components for a healthy thyroid
are the subject of this Terry Talks Nutrition.

Why Are There So Many Problems

With The Thyroid?

There are a few reasons for thyroid problems

becoming so prominent certainly food
choices and lifestyle play a part, but the
major reason is the disappearance of iodine
in our diets and its lack of use in common
medical practice. In fact, we have increased
our exposure to toxic iodine competitors!
Before the universal use of synthetic drugs that
are so common today, iodine was essentially
the medicine used by physicians around the
world. And it was effective for everything;
healing wounds, destroying bacteria, stopping
viruses, and possibly even preventing cancer.
Iodine along with L-tyrosine is an absolute
must for a healthy thyroid.

What The Thyroid Does

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that

sits at the base of the throat. One of its chief
functions is producing thyroxine (T4), and converting this hormone into triiodothyronine (T3),
the active hormone needed for metabolism.
When your body produces too little thyroxine,
the normal metabolic and chemical processes
your body requires slow down, resulting in
hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid.

While low-functioning thyroid is common in

both men and women, from my experience,
women are far more apt to have hypothyroidism
than men. But diagnosing hypothyroidism isnt
always what it should be. The most serious
problem is that many doctors rely completely
on a blood test that is grossly inaccurate and
overlooks a majority of low thyroid diagnoses.
Thats because most of the current tests are
inadequate, and dont show the full picture of
how well the thyroid is functioning.

To your good health,

Terry... Naturally

Terrys Bottom Line:

If you notice your energy levels
going down and your weight going
up, struggle with impatience and
insomnia, and feel listless and
unsocial, your thyroid needs help.

When doctors test for blood levels of T4, they

generally find adequate levels of the hormone,
so they naturally rule out hypothyroidism. But
looking at T4 levels is only half of the picture,
and the tests arent truly far-reaching. Many
of these good readings of T4 dont take into
consideration the levels of T4 that need to be
converted to T3, the active hormone.

Even people with a normal

thyroid test result can still have
a slow thyroid.
You need two natural ingredients that
are critical to your thyroid: iodine
and L-tyrosine. Together, they keep
your thyroid strong so it can do the
job it is intended to:

In fact, readings of TSH (thyroid stimulating

hormone), thyroxine levels (T4) and other
blood parameters may lead one to believe you
are in the normal range when the normal
range may be far too broad. A test initiated by
Dr. Broda Barnes, considered to be one of the
premier experts on thyroid, is far better. Plus,
it has the added convenience of being able to
be performed at home.

Keep your weight low and your

metabolism high
Stop migraine headaches
Boost energy and libido
Stop depression and listlessness
Clear out brain fog
Reduce hypothyroidism

The procedure is simple:

Take a non-digital thermometer and place it
on your bedside table
In the morning upon wakening without
getting out of bed place the thermometer
in your armpit and hold arm close to body
for 10 minutes
Read temperature and record (women in
menstruation should wait for ovulation to
cease)
Repeat procedure each day for three days
Normal is 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
Anything under 97.8 probably means varying
degrees of suboptimal thyroid function or
actual hypothyroidism. In general, the lower
the temperature, the worse the condition. But
in these cases, its not unusual to find readings
as low as 96 degrees.

Here is the formula I suggest:

Iodine
30,000 mcg (30 mg)
(as potassium iodide, sodium iodide,
and molecular iodine [from kelp])
L-Tyrosine
400 mg

Unfortunately, in many cases of hypothyroidism, doctors fall back on the catchall

diagnoses: stress, anxiety or depression,
because these are symptoms of the real
disease. They overlook the root cause of
these symptoms.
More...

www.TerryTalksNutrition.com
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Is Your Thyroid Working Properly?

Let me emphasize the fact that underactive
thyroid is very serious. Beyond weight gain,
disruptions to the health of the thyroid can
alter your personality significantly, completely
taking away the enjoyment of life and
eventually leading to depression, anxiety and
anti-social behavior.

Why You Need Iodine

Because most of us figure that we get enough

iodine from salt, its easy to forget that iodine
was added to salt because of widespread
goiter development (iodine deficiency) back in
the 1920s. While this did reduce the incidence
of goiter and other thyroid problems, many
people have since cut back on the use of table
salt at home. And processed foods, which are
typically very high in sodium, dont necessarily
have added iodine.
Historically, iodine was always used for
infections and for pneumonia and bronchitis.
Lack of it was considered to be the cause of
mental slowness. Even today, iodine deficiency
is considered to be the most common cause of
preventable brain damage in the world.
But in the 1940s, a single paper written
by two researchers completely changed the
way we use iodine. This poorly documented
paper gave the impression that iodine use
was not only archaic and unnecessary, but
could even be dangerous, citing overactive
thyroid (hyperthyroidism) as a side effect.
Almost overnight, the use of iodine in
medicine was stopped and in its place we
have a fear of one of the most important
and critical nutrients in our diet. With the
advent of modern drugs since the 1940s, could
the profits realized by the drug companies
have a bearing on discrediting the use of
iodine for hypothyroidism?
Iodine was soon forgotten in favor of new,
patented pharmaceutical drugs. Combined
with that, other elements chlorine, fluoride,
and bromide (iodine blockers) are commonly
found in our environment or consumed in
foods. Cities use chlorine to purify water
instead of iodine. Fluoride is in virtually all
toothpaste and drinking water. Bromines
began to replace iodine in commercial baked

goods in the 1970s, and are found in much of

the refined flour in the supermarket.
These minerals are dangerous and toxic for your
thyroid and block iodine receptors throughout
the body, mimicking its shape but providing
none of its benefits. In fact, fluoride blocks
the ability of the thyroid gland to concentrate
iodine which the thyroid requires to build
hormones. And bromide, a shockingly common
ingredient, can cause depression, headaches,
and even hallucinations. No wonder the state
of health is in such sorry shape.

L-Tyrosine is Essential for Thyroid Health

Along with iodine, your thyroid needs the

amino acid, L-tyrosine. You may not hear about
L-tyrosine (also commonly called tyrosine)
that much, but without it there would be no
thyroid hormone function. It is impossible
to have a well-functioning thyroid without
sufficient quantities in the diet or through
supplementation. To make thyroxine a key
hormone both iodine and tyrosine must
be present either through the diet or dietary
supplements. If your thyroid gland has slowed
down, its very likely due to an inadequate
intake of both iodine and L-tyrosine.

Does Your Thyroid Need a Boost?

If youve never considered yourself as having

low thyroid but just dont feel 100%, consider
these simple questions:
Are you gaining weight easily without
eating more?
Are you always fatigued or exhausted?
Are you irritable or impatient?
Are your hands and feet usually cold?
Do you often feel depressed or anxious?
Do you often have aching muscles?
Is your hair coarse, dry, and lifeless?
Is your skin dry?
Do you have loss of libido?
Do you have insomnia?
Do you have a slow heartbeat?
Are you losing your enthusiasm for life?
Are you listless, forgetful and anti-social?

Thyroid Health Really Is That Important!

Its easy to be fooled into thinking that just

one small system in the body can be allowed
to slow down a little, but thyroid health is
extremely important.
The thyroid regulates the complete metabolic
function of the body. Any dysfunction here
will make a tremendous impact on how much
weight you carry, and how easy (or not) it is
to regulate that weight. Plus, an imbalance
of its hormone can produce skin disorders,
irregular heartbeat, congestive heart failure,
high blood pressure, muscle dysfunction,
gastrointestinal disturbances, mental confusion, severe depression, decreased libido,
extreme fatigue and apathy.
The thyroid very definitely affects how you
feel and how you relate to life in general.
Starting on a combination of iodine and
tyrosine right away can make a huge
improvement in your health.
With these ingredients, youll notice changes
within several weeks. But be patient; to fully
restore the thyroid and its metabolic function
may take 3-6 months for many people.
Remember, you may have had low thyroid all
your life. If your mom had low thyroid, more
than likely you have had low thyroid since
birth, but remain hopeful and stick with it.
The energy, metabolism, and vitality youve
been seeking will return.
When in doubt, always consult your physician or
health care practitioner. This column is to provide
you with information to maintain your health.

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www.TerryTalksNutrition.com

If any of these questions seem all-toofamiliar, you may need to give your thyroid
health more consideration.

www.TerryTalksNutrition.com
2013

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