Female Hormonal Health: Part 2
In the previous Article I mentioned about Cortisol, the stress hormone and how it affect Women Health. Another Important hormone down the line responsible for Optimal Hormonal Health in Women is Thyroid Hormone. Thyroid hormone regulates the metabolism, energy expenditure, regulate temperature & keep our weight in check.
Thyroid Imbalances and disorders are most common among women. Hypothyroidism (Low Thyroid Function) is most common disorder of Thyroid Gland. To understand the disorders we have to understand how Thyroid gland function.
Functioning of Thyroid Gland
Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Thyroid gland work in a schematic manner. They all three conjunctively referred as Hypothalamus Pituitary Axis (HPT Axis). Hypothalamus in brain releases Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH) which stimulates the Pituitary gland to produce TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). This mechanism is controlled by negative feedback of T3, T4 and Reverse T3 levels in blood.
It means when levels are T3, T4 or rT3 is high the Pituitary gland and Hypothalamus senses it and stop producing TSH and when levels drop below or close to normal, it start producing TSH. The hypothalamus also senses the temperature and response accordingly to increase or decrease body temperature and adjust metabolism. This is the reason why our appetite increases in winters and decreases during summers.
After receiving signal from TSH, thyroid gland produce mainly T4 and also T3, T2, T1, rT3. The amount of T4 production depends upon iodine and TSH levels. The T4 produced by thyroid gland is the inactive form and usually converted into active T3. This conversion is dependant upon nutrients like zinc & selenium.
How Stress can impact Thyroid hormones?
- Reduced Thyroid hormone production – When someone is under chronic stress, it means he/she must be producing more cortisol. Higher cortisol creates negative feedback loop system to shut down the hypothalamus and pituitary function. Hypothalamus releases TRH while Pituitary release TSH, any inhibition of these affect the TRH and TSH release too.
- Higher rT3 production – Cortisol blocks certain enzymes necessary for T4 to T3 conversion. Under stress there is higher production of rT3 and less conversion of T4 to T3 affecting the TSH levels. Higher rT3 levels competes with T3 at the cell receptors site causing Thyroid Resistance. Low calorie diet also leads to excess cortisol production thereby increasing rT3 production. Gut dysbiosis or gut infections increases inflammatory cytokine production which increases rT3 productions affecting cellular sensitivity.
Factors affecting Thyroid Functioning
What is Reverse T3 (rT3)?
rT3 is inactive metabolite of T4 . It acts as a feedback system to keep everything in balance under normal circumstances. rT3 levels increases due to stress, trauma, inflammation or low calorie diet, it affects cellular sensitivity by replacing T3 at the binding sites. One will experience all the symptoms associated with low thyroid functions inspite of all tests in normal reference range.
Reasons of Low Thyroid function (Hypothyroidism)
- Stress – As described affect the higher cortisol production under stressful conditions either directly or indirectly affect the thyroid functioning. [Study]
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis – Its an autoimmune condition where excess antibodies attack the gland itself. There are multiple reasons for gland destruction like Gut infections, food sensitivities, toxins, heavy metals, weak immune system and long term stress. [Study]
- Environmental toxins – Toxins such as BPA (Bisphenol-A) has been shown to block the cell receptors sites of thyroid hormones. [Study]
- Nutritional Deficiencies – Selenium, zinc, iodine, iron, vitamin A & D helps in optimal functioning of Thyroid gland, hormone production and cell sensitivity. [Study]
Symptoms of Low Thyroid Function
- Weight gain
- Loss of Hair
- Loss of lateral eyebrow
- Fatigue
- Sleepiness
- Sensitivity to Cold
- Cold hands and feet
- Constipation and indigestion
- Forgetfulness
- Depression
- Sadness
- Mood fluctuations
Simple Ways to Fix Thyroid
1. Remove the source of stress
Find the root cause of your stress and work accordingly. Exercise, massage, meditation, yoga and music helps to relive the stress. Too much of exercise when combined with low calorie diet lower down thyroid function by increasing rT3 levels and cortisol. Under eating and too much calorie expenditure through physical activity increases rT3 which hampers fat loss.
2. Optimise GUT
Eliminating any pathogenic microbes and restoring healthy microflora helps in optimal absorption of nutrients along with lowering the inflammation.
3. Reduce toxic exposure
Removing endocrine disruptors like BPA can be helpful if you are suffering from low thyroid functions. BPA is commonly found in food cans, plastics containers and bottles, mattresses and paper products
4. Avoid Goitrogenic foods
Foods like Soy, millet, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts contains goitrogens. Goitrogen foods interfere with proper functioning of thyroid glands. Usually cooking these food make the goitrogens inactive except in soy and millet.
5. Nutrient Deficiencies
Zinc, Selenium, Iron and Vitamin A deficiencies affects thyroid functioning negatively. Zinc should be balanced with copper if you decide to take zinc in supplemental form. Zinc is found in higher amounts in oysters, nuts, seeds and meats. Best source of selenium is brazil nuts (only 2 brazil nuts are sufficient for daily requirement of selenium).
6. Gluten Avoidance[Study]
In various studies Gluten is linked to low Thyroid function especially in Hashimoto’s disease. Try tp figure out whether you have any Gluten intolerance or sensitivity. But I personally found that people do better on gluten free diet when thyroid is the concern.
7. Medicines
Few cases require inclusion of Bio-identical thyroid hormone like T4, T3 or Glandulars under the guidance of licensed practitioner.
