How to Heal Your Thyroid Naturally
If you've been struggling with fatigue, weight gain, or a constant feeling of being cold, and your doctor told you your labs are "normal," you're not alone. The conventional approach to thyroid health often misses the complete picture, leaving many people feeling unheard and unwell.
Long-term thyroid healing requires a holistic perspective that goes far beyond a single lab value. Let's break down how to truly understand your thyroid health and why focusing on the whole body is essential.
The Problem with Standard Thyroid Testing
Most doctors only run a TSH (Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone) test. The "normal" range for TSH is often very broad (e.g., 0.45 to 4.5), which means you could be feeling terrible, but your results fall within this range. The truth is, for optimal health, your TSH should be between 1 and 2.
But even a "perfect" TSH doesn't guarantee you're thriving. Many people are put on levothyroxine, a synthetic T4-only drug, which often lowers TSH but fails to address the underlying issue: the body's inability to convert T4 to the active thyroid hormone, T3. A full thyroid panel is the only way to see what's really happening.
A comprehensive panel should include:
TSH
Free T3 & Free T4
Total T3 & Total T4
Reverse T3 (rT3)
Thyroid Antibodies (TPO and TBG)
The Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Reverse T3
One of the most critical markers often ignored is Reverse T3. Reverse T3 is an inactive form of the T3 hormone. When your body is under stress—whether from toxins, emotional strain, or pathogens—it can produce more rT3 as a protective mechanism. High rT3 tells us that the body is intentionally inactivating thyroid hormone.
In this scenario, you don't have a thyroid problem; you have a "stressed body problem." Simply trying to boost your thyroid with supplements like iodine will only make the situation worse, as the body will just produce more inactive rT3.
It's Not Just About the Thyroid: A Holistic View
The thyroid doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's part of a complex system that includes your adrenals, hormones, neurotransmitters, and detox pathways. The body gets dysfunction as a whole, and it heals as a whole.
Think of your body's health as a bank account: to heal, you need to make deposits and stop withdrawals.
Withdrawals are anything that puts a strain on your system, such as toxins in your food and environment, emotional stress, and underlying pathogens.
Deposits are the things that support your body, like a clean diet, customized supplements based on lab results, and mindset work to reduce stress.
A Step-by-Step Approach to Healing
My approach is to create a strong foundation before making any major changes.
Get the Right Labs: Insist on a full thyroid panel, as well as a foundational lab panel that looks at your entire body, including nutrient deficiencies, hormones, and detox pathways.
Address the Foundation First: Before adding in powerful thyroid-altering supplements or medications, we must first address your adrenals, reduce stress, and support your body’s natural detox and methylation pathways.
Use Targeted Support: Based on your labs, we can then strategically use specific tools. If you have true hypothyroidism with normal rT3, gentle thyroid-supporting nutrients like a low dose of iodine may be helpful. If you have Hashimoto’s (elevated antibodies), Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) can be effective, but only after your body's other systems are in balance to prevent negative side effects like heart palpitations and anxiety.
Healing from any thyroid issue, including Hashimoto's, takes time and patience. I was diagnosed with lupus in 2009, and my antibodies are now gone. It took a whole-body approach and time to get there, but it is possible.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start healing, it’s time to find a practitioner who looks at your body as a whole.
If you need support navigating your health journey, book a free health assessment with me. I’m here to help you get started on the path to feeling better.