Vitamins and minerals that help with hypothyroidism

Can hypothyroidism actually be helped by vitamins as well as other nutrients? Although they have been ignored for years in the medical community, there is mounting evidence that they can not only help with this condition, a deficiency of some nutrients may actually be one of the causes of it. There are millions of people that have this condition, and although it is considered to be quite common, it should never be ignored. If it is left untreated it may cause goiter, heart problems, as well as mental health issues and infertility, just to name a few of the possible complications.

 

What exactly is it?

Hypothyroidism, also referred to as an underactive thyroid, is a condition where your thyroid gland does not produce enough of certain types of hormones. Because of this, it will upset the balance of chemical reactions in your body and if it is not treated, it can very easily lead to a number of very serious health problems. There are some very effective treatments for this condition, but it is also believed that vitamins and other nutrients can also play a major role.

Because this disease can very easily lead to other complications, understanding the signs and symptoms as early as you can will help you identify it so you can seek medical attention to have it treated.

Symptoms:

Hypothyroidism has several real warning signs that you can watch for and if any of these signs persist for any period of time, you need to seek professional help. However, it also important to understand that with this condition these symptoms will not occur suddenly. In fact, they will do the complete opposite, as in most cases they will develop very slowly and can easily be spread out over several years.

The symptoms can vary tremendously depending on how bad the hormone deficiency that you have actually is. By far and away the most common symptoms will be fatigue as well as feeling sluggish, and because it develops very slowly, these signs can very easy be ignored and blamed on the aging process. However, what is really happening is that your metabolism is slowing down as a result of this imbalance, and not all of the symptoms that will begin to surface will be this general in scope.

The next symptom is actually quite unique and it is a gradual increased sensitivity to any type of cold weather. You may also start to develop pale and dry skin, a puffy face for no apparent reason, as well as constipation. Your voice may also start to become hoarse even when you drink a lot of fluids, and you will also start to gain weight without changing your eating habits. All of these symptoms can be directly related to this imbalance and the slowing of your metabolism.

However, the list of symptoms does not end there as you may also begin to have muscle pains and aches, tenderness and swelling, as well as muscle weakness. If you are female, your menstrual periods will gradually begin to become heavier and your fingernails as well as your hair may become very brittle. At this point, if the hypothyroidism is not treated, these symptoms can rapidly increase in severity.

There is also one very large misconception about hypothyroidism; it primarily affects women in middle age. Although this is quite common, it can also affect men, children, as well as infants. Babies can be born without a thyroid gland or have the same problem with it under-preforming. The signs to watch for in infants are yellowing in both the skin as well as the white of the eyes, frequent choking, or an abnormally large and protruding tongue. They can also develop a very puffy face but this symptom is quite hard to pick up on unless it is noticed by a professional.

Children and teenagers can also develop this condition and the symptoms to watch with this age group are a very poor growth pattern, a very slow development of permanent teeth, as well as abnormally slow mental development. As they reach the teenage years, they will also show signs of a very slow or delayed puberty.

Vitamins and Nutrients:

Hypothyroidism has very effective treatments in the form of a synthetic thyroid hormone, but there are also vitamins as well as other nutrients that can help. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding vitamin D, a deficiency of this vitamin, and its role in this condition as well as other thyroid problems. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be obtained in three different ways; exposure to sunlight, obtained from your diet, or supplemented.

However, the vast majority of the population does not get enough exposure to sunlight and does not get enough of this vitamin in their diet. Your body can manufacture this vitamin with sunlight exposure, but the majority of sunscreens that are used to prevent skin cancer can impede this process. Vitamin D has long been associated with bone health in that it helps to active calcium and phosphorous in your body, but it is now being linked to this condition as well.  Dr. Theodore Friedman, an expert on thyroid diseases, recently published several papers after over 20 years of study, and expressed a very common theme with most thyroid patients; low levels of vitamin D.

This research suggests that this vitamin can interact with your body’s biochemistry and can either help with thyroid production, or it can do just the opposite; hinder it. It is suggested that some people may have genetic flaws where the intestines are not able to properly absorb this vitamin or it simply cannot use it as it is intended.  The U.S. National Library of Medicine also has recent studies that suggest that too little vitamin D circulating in your body inhibits its ability to regulate as well as produce thyroid hormones.

Iodine is also a very critical nutrient that has for years been linked to hypothyroidism as it is critical for several thyroid functions. Too much iodine can interfere with this process, but in the vast majority of cases there is not enough iodine in your diet. If you use iodized salt or take a multi-vitamin, this will provide adequate amounts of this nutrient. Vitamin E is also very important as it helps with the absorption of iodine as well as assists with selenium metabolism which is also critical for normal thyroid functions. Selenium is one of the major components of an enzyme that helps to convert the thyroid hormones T4 to T3 and a deficiency of this mineral may impair thyroid functions.

Summary:

Hypothyroidism can take years to develop and you may not recognize the symptoms easily at first. However, the symptoms are the real key to catching this condition and if you make regular visits to a doctor, they can catch it very easily. If you supplement these nutrients in the form of a multi-vitamin, you may never develop it. If you do have, these nutrients may help control it.

References:

Hypothyroidism. The American Thyroid Association.

www.thyroid.org/patients/broch ures/Hypo_brochure.pdf.

www.goodhormonehealth.com