STRESS & THE THYROID

Ok, let’s talk thyroid.

An increasingly popular topic, with more and more people discovering they have thyroid dysfunction to some degree. But Why?

Let’s start with the basics…

The pituitary (in the brain) communicates with the thyroid via TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). The thyroid, in response, produces and releases thyroid hormones, T3 and T4. The number here refers to the number of Iodine molecules (highlighting the importance of adequate iodine intake). The thyroid also releases TBG (thyroxine binding globulin), which carries T4 to cells.

TSH is a measure of how the pituitary is communicating to the thyroid. Basically, if the TSH is high and the thyroid hormones are low, then the brain is telling the thyroid to get to work to produce more T3 and T4. If thyroid hormones are low, the thyroid isn’t functioning properly. Why?? This is when it gets complicated, because there are so many diverse factors affecting thyroid function, from nutritional deficiencies (such as iodine, zinc, selenium, tyrosine) to autoimmune conditions. Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid is underactive, meaning there is less thyroid hormones being produced, often despite high signals from the pituitary. Hyperthyroidism is essentially the opposite, when the thyroid is overactive and produces too much thyroid hormones. We need to understand that an over-functioning or an under-functioning thyroid is a response from the body. The body is inherently intelligent. We need not be at war with our bodies.

When we are talking thyroid function, we need to talk stress. Stress impacts our bodies in so many ways, reminding us of the importance of stress-reduction in all health conditions. Cortisol, which is released when we are stressed, basically decreases thyroid function and TSH (in very simplistic terms). Stress, be it physical (even over-exercising), emotional or environmental/chemical, triggers the body to respond in the same way. ie. An increase in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose and cortisol, essentially a survival mechanism to get geared up to run or fight! This response also suppresses the immune system, digestive function, reproductive hormones, and regeneration (not important right now!). It doesn’t matter if you are afraid, frustrated with life, running, freaking out about tomorrow’s meeting, get a shock from bad news, or if you’re being chemically assaulted by pollution, some medication, even unhealthy food and water.… the body responds in the same way. It was built for survival. This is where we link in the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) to the whole (big!) picture. Its like going down the rabbit hole. Remember that cortisol also releases glucose into the blood, ready for action, linking blood sugar dysregulation/diabetes in the whole stress cascade. And we haven’t even looked at inflammation yet! Phew!! And… The by-product of a cortisol mediated metabolic state is acid. That’s a whole other rabbit hole!

What if your thyroid problems are related to stress? If you’re under stress long term, you may see you are developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low functioning thyroid, excess estrogen (men and women), weakened immune system and chronic digestive complaints.

Let’s look at how chronic, long-term stress affects the HPA axis, blood sugar and ultimately the thyroid… In humans the body tries to go back to homeostasis, which means it is trying to regulate itself, finally being able to return to relaxation, eating, resting and digesting (after dealing with the stressful situation). If the stress levels remain high your body gets depleted, because the purpose of the stress response is to get energy into the blood and energy into the body, and if you keep depleting your stores of energy, you’ll end up doing damage to your body systems.

This brings us to the exhausted stage… ah… exhaustion. We can wear it as a badge of honour sometimes, but I am beginning to see that this culture is changing, which makes me happy. We are listening to our bodies more, honouring our time, and saying, “enough is enough”. We cannot be our best, be productive and focussed, help others, play and be healthy when we are exhausted. We are serving no-one. There is no sense in it. Only ego, or pressure (that we put on ourselves). We must ask ourselves… what are really fighting for? What are our values? What do we actually care about? At the exhaustion stage, our cortisol is flat-lining. We have no “get up and go” in the morning (when cortisol is supposed to rise), we have no energy, no patience and we are dead tired. Your body, or mind, is going to eventually break down.

According to the Journal of AMA, we are suffering from Man-Made Diseases. We have to do something about this. Everyone needs a stress management plan, because, hey, we live in an incredibly stressful environment, there is no way around that.

We can’t talk hormones without including ALL hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers. No body system functions independently of all the others. So, on that note, oestrogen can also bind to TBG, meaning that excess oestrogen can reduce the availability of thyroid hormones, as well as increasing inflammation and signalling the body into a stress-response mode. And around and around we go! This is why functional medicine is so important! We need to look at the whole picture, the whole person as an individual, not just one reading on a TSH test.

And thyroxine? The common medication for low thyroid function is essentially T4. T3 is the more metabolically active hormone, making the conversion from T4 to T3 vitally important. This is nutrient dependent! And affected by… you guess it… stress!

So… moral of the story? Don’t just blame the thyroid. Ask WHY? Address the CAUSE, address stress (physical, emotional, environmental) inflammation and blood sugar regulation (classic naturopathic principals). The body is incredibly complex, and incredibly intelligent, don’t get stuck on focussing on just one thing. And what about supplements? One of my favourite quotes is “you cannot out-supplement a bad diet”. Yet, our food contains significantly less nutrients now that it did even 50 years ago, as well as having more chemicals (generally) and processing practices/ additives. Supplements are the support crew. Ensure you are getting good quality supplements (I cannot stress this enough), with therapeutic doses, TGA approved substances (that are actually what they say they are!) and minimal fillers/excipients. Get thyroid-supporting nutrients from seaweeds, brazil nuts, pepitas and good ol fruit and veg. The antidote is to FIRST eliminate STRESS, because you’re further depleting your stores of minerals and nutrients, not to mention not absorbing them if you’re in fight or flight mode. It’s a radical carousel ride. You gotta jump off at some point.