How to Heal Your Thyroid

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am your host, Dr. Axe. And each and every week on the show, we dive deep into the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. Today, I'm going to be talking about thyroid health, and I'm going to blow your mind with one statistic. Let me start off with it here.

Did you know that if you've taken birth control pills long-term, your chance of having hypothyroidism goes up by 283%. So there are things that you might be doing and you have no idea that are impacting your thyroid in a negative way. And I'm also going to go through the exact vitamins and nutrients that have been shown according to clinical studies to actually improve thyroid function.

Now, before I dive into this, make sure to subscribe to this channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a single thing. All right. So a study was done on over 5,000 women, and they found a higher prevalence of hypothyroidism in women who have ever taken in their life birth control, and a much higher rate in those women who have taken birth control for— birth control for 10 years.

Now, the study specifically discovered those women who took birth control pills for more than 10 years had a 283% greater odds of developing hypothyroidism compared to those without such a history. So as you can see here, the longer you take birth control pills, the greater your risk of hypothyroidism is. Now, here's why this happens.

When you take birth control, it decreases your levels of certain nutrients. And according to a clinical study, the nutrients you are most depleted in is vitamin B2, folate, vitamin B12, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Those nutrients, almost all of them, are crucial for thyroid function, especially vitamin B2.

Vitamin B2 is one of your main vitamins, along with folate, for supporting your body in methylation. And if you aren't methylating properly, your body is not converting B vitamins into what your cells and your thyroid need to function properly. So your thyroid can't produce enough thyroid hormone, so it creates a weak and and a low thyroid.

By the way, a couple of other things according to that same study, it also decreased your body's ability to absorb iodine and depleted your body of probiotics. So now you're not absorbing other B vitamins as well from your food. And so birth control pills decrease thyroid function because it depletes your body of nutrients that are essential for thyroid function.

Here's another thing that's important to understand too. When you take birth control exogenously as a medication, you are now affecting other hormones in the body. And so what happens with birth control, estrogen rises, and estrogen works actually closely with thyroid hormones. When estrogen rises, it can alter how thyroid hormones are made, used, and converted according to studies.

And estrogen increases thyroid-binding globulins according to the study, which prevents thyroid hormones from freely Really circulating in your blood. It can also influence iodine uptake, as I mentioned, and this is significant because iodine deficiency is the number one cause across the world of hypothyroidism.

And so you can see here estrogen going up exogenously the way that it's, it's being done with, with birth control. It decreases the amount of free testosterone in your blood. And then that's going to affect all the other hormones in your body as well and decrease thyroid function. Now, birth control isn't the only medication that has been linked to hypothyroidism.

And this is something that most doctors and the media and scientists have ignored because so many of them are benefiting from selling medications. But I wanted to bring you the reality here, and I haven't seen anyone else cover this into the depths I am in this video. But here are the medications that are most closely tied to hypothyroidism and proven by studies.

One such medication is amiodarone, which is used to treat arrhythmias. This medication contains high levels of iodine, which actually disrupts thyroid function, causing hypothyroidism. Now, I do want to mention here with iodine, it's important. You don't want too little, which is the main cause of hypothyroidism, but you also don't want too much. So it's important that you really have a balance.

This is why getting your iodine levels tested could be a good idea. Now, a few other medications here. Lithium. Now, this is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder. So Lithium can interfere with thyroid hormone production, leading to hypothyroidism. So if you've ever taken a drug for bipolar, number three is contraceptive drugs.

Of course, I mentioned this: the B vitamins that are depleted, such as vitamin B two, folate, and B twelve, and selenium. These are all necessary for thyroid function. Here's another thing that happens though with contraceptive drugs: they cause yeast and Candida overgrowth, which then is going to put out the good bacteria. So now you're not absorbing B vitamins.

There was a study done at Stanford that found that if you are taking a probiotic supplement, your B vitamin level absorption might double. This is another reason why probiotics can be really, really beneficial for anyone with hypothyroidism. So you're actually absorbing more of the B vitamins and able to utilize them at a higher level.

But there's no doubt that increased estrogen lowers thyroid hormones in many women when you're taking, uh, when you're, when you're taking that as a contraceptive drug. Now also, I want to mention certain cancer medications, uh, for types of cancer treatment can also interfere with thyroid function. Another one is glucocorticoids. These are steroids like prednisone.

Okay, if you've ever taken a steroid, this suppresses what's called your HPA axis, also known as your hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, which can lead to hypothyroidism. And then the other one here is antibiotics. Now, one particular antibiotic called rifampin was shown to Increase the metabolism of thyroid hormones.

So your body is utilizing more of them, so it depletes it more, leading to hypothyroidism. So the most common medications here causing hypothyroidism are antibiotic drugs, steroids, and contraceptive drugs. And by the way, there are more than on this list. This is just the one where the clinical studies have been done in proving this.

But we know that if you're taking any medications, It's going to decrease your body of nutrients, which can more likely put you into a state of low thyroid hormone and hypothyroidism. Now, I want to go through how to start to heal the thyroid and the steps you need to take.

Number 1, be aware of the medications, especially birth control and antibiotics, and do your best to do things naturally to treat yourself. Number 2, stay away from foods that can cause hypothyroidism. The food— the top foods that are going to cause hypothyroidism and low thyroid function are going to be, number 1, is any food that has added sugar.

Added sugar feeds Candida and yeast overgrowth, so now you're not gonna absorb B vitamins. That's gonna cause an issue. Also, excess sugar changes insulin in the body. When insulin spikes, it's going to infect— it's gonna raise cortisol. It can decrease melatonin, so you're not sleeping as well, and it also affects thyroid hormones.

So sugar, probably of all foods, has the most negative impact on thyroid health. Now, seed oils, industrial seed oils, are another big group. Those are going to increase omega-6 fatty acids, lower omega-3s. They're going to be highly inflammatory. That inflammation in the body also gives you a greater increased risk of autoimmune disease and specifically getting Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Now, another one that might surprise you that can be toxic for thyroid health and hypothyroidism are raw foods, especially raw vegetables, raw cruciferous vegetables. So people with hypothyroidism, they can do highly cooked on occasion, but doing, uh, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, raw Brussels sprouts, raw cabbage. You don't want to do raw kale.

People with hypothyroidism do not want to do raw vegetables. It is toxic to the thyroid. Also conventional dairy products that have added hormones, many of them are estrogen. So probably more than any other food, conventional dairy is going to have high levels of hormone like estradiol, which will then increase your estrogen, which will then negatively impact your thyroid hormones.

And refined grains, which break down into sugar— refined grains contain certain starches which feed bad bacteria. They also contain hard-to-digest proteins like gluten, which are going to cause inflammation in the gut, then cause an autoimmune response, increasing your risk of specifically Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Now, the foods you want to consume to start to heal and repair your thyroid— what you want to do is support cellular regeneration of your thyroid. The foods that most support that are wild-caught fish. Wild-caught fish is going to be high, especially if it's fatty, in omega-3 fatty acids, protein, even collagen. And so fish is a great food to support thyroid health.

In fact, it's interesting, when you study Chinese medicine, what's really connected to thyroid health are your adrenal glands, and your thyroid is known as being part of your upper burner. So it really, they would say, is a big component of your metabolism. And so consuming foods to support that channel is, is beneficial.

So wild fish and seaweed like kelp can be beneficial, like doing seaweed salads. Another food that's good for thyroid health is bone broth. Bone broth contains compounds like collagen and glycine. Glycine, that amino acid, helps balance out other amino acids supporting thyroid health.

Red meat that is grass-fed, like bison or grass-fed beef, is good because it contains iron, it's blood-building, it has amino acids that are good for the thyroid. Also Organ meats are very, very good for the thyroid, like liver. Berries are good for the thyroid. Blackberries and blueberries, those 2 berries in particular, those dark colors, are good for thyroid health. Rice, especially GABA rice.

So if you can do rice, I like in particular basmati, but you can do basmati rice on a regular basis or make it into what's called a rice congee. That's good for thyroid health. Sweet potatoes are good. Mushrooms are high in beta glucans, reishi, cordyceps. But if you're cooking, doing shiitake and maitake are going to be good. Cooked vegetables. So again, raw is not okay.

Do not do raw vegetables if you have, especially raw cruciferous. If you have hypothyroidism, you want to do a lot of cooked vegetables like beets and carrots and steamed broccoli. But steamed vegetables are going to be good for thyroid health. And then beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans, lentils, black beans, doing dips like hummus are all going to benefit and support thyroid health.

And then doing a lot of warming herbs and spices like cinnamon and ginger in particular are very good for thyroid health. Now, the herbs, spices, and mushrooms, I want to mention some others that are important as a supplement. Ashwagandha is the number one herb you can take to boost thyroid health. In Chinese medicine, hypothyroidism is known as a qi and yang deficiency.

What qi means is cellular energy. So you have low cellular energy. Now, example of this is if you don't have B vitamins that support methylation, part of that is your cellular energy, part of the Krebs cycle, if you remember high school science class. But this is— it's really important. And so that qi deficiency is you have low cellular energy. Herbs like ashwagandha help.

Herbs like rhodiola rosea and cordyceps help. So taking the right herbal supplements, they boost that sort of adrenal health and support cellular energy. B-complex vitamins also help that. But top herbs are ashwagandha, rhodiola, cordyceps, astragalus, dong quai. And as I mentioned, in your food, using a lot of cinnamon and ginger in a blend that has both of those in it, or pumpkin pie spice.

I've recommended this to my patients for, for 17+ years now. And that is when you're doing anything where it's going to taste okay, add in about a 4th of a teaspoon to a half a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

So I have a smoothie I have my patients with thyroid issues consume that is, uh, it has bone broth protein in it, and it may be a plant-based protein, but typically a bone broth protein and collagen, about 30 to 40 grams. And then I'll have them do just a little bit of water or coconut milk. Okay.

And then I'll have them do berries, blackberries and blueberries, or sometimes I'll have them do a sweet potato smoothie. And so they'll do that, and then I have them do about a 4th of a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice there, and it's really good for supporting the health of the thyroid.

Now, some of the other supplements people should consider taking if they have hypothyroidism: a methylated B complex vitamin. You need methylated nutrients to support your thyroid. Vitamin D. is critical for thyroid function. Remember, it's a prohormone. It supports hormonal health.

Magnesium, selenium, and potentially iodine, but I prefer people get blood work done before to test iodine levels to know if they should take that one or not. All the others though, you should be able to take on a regular basis. Zinc is another mineral that is sometimes needed.

Now, I want to talk about lifestyle for hypothyroidism and then get into some specific studies with some of these herbals. But, you know, part of supporting your thyroid health— remember, with thyroid, your body temperature is cool. So I want to go back to nutrition with this for a second. If your body temperature is cold, we need to warm up your body. That's the reality.

We need to warm your body internally. This is why cinnamon and ginger are fantastic. Those are warming herbs that are gentle, that also have other nutritional properties that really help with hypothyroidism. So cinnamon and ginger and clove, those warming herbs and spices are fantastic for hypothyroidism. But also getting in an infrared sauna can be great.

You want to warm the body rather than doing raw salads, drinking soups that help warm the body. So we want to warm the body internally. Again, infrared sauna is fantastic for people with hypothyroidism. You also want to schedule things that are fun to do. You know, you want to lower the stress and cortisol levels. Walking in nature is one of the best ways to reduce stress.

So go on a regular walk once to twice daily through your neighborhood or just, or go to a local park. Do that with a friend. You know, it's really good for thyroid function. Prayer, close relationships, reading spiritual growth books, and then downtime. You should be working hard, but also playing hard and resting hard, uh, in order to help heal your thyroid.

Now I want to go through some of these incredible studies on herbs and nutrients that support thyroid health. The first one is ashwagandha. Ashwagandha has tremendous benefits to help heal the thyroid.

A double-blind study involving 50 participants with subclinical hypothyroidism found that taking 600 milligrams of ashwagandha root extract daily for 8 weeks led to significant improvements in thyroid hormone levels. Specifically, serum TSH levels decreased by 17%, and thyroxine, which is T4, increased by 20%.

So think about that, a 20% bump in T4 levels by doing just 600 milligrams of ashwagandha daily. And beyond improving thyroid hormone levels, ashwagandha also helps with commonly associated symptoms with— of hypothyroidism, including reducing fatigue, depression, cognitive impairment, improves sleep, and overall reduces stress on the body.

One of the reasons why ashwagandha is so effective is it's an adaptogenic herb that lowers stress on the body and has a positive impact on the endocrine system, specifically the HPA axis, which controls much of your body's cortisol release and other stress hormones. And so really, ashwagandha supports the adrenal glands in addition to the thyroid.

And what chronic stress does is it jacks up your cortisol levels, which leads to lower levels of T3 and T4. So remember this, your stress hormones like cortisol go up, well, now your T3 and T4 hormones of the thyroid start to decrease. And so by lowering cortisol, ashwagandha gives these same hormones a boost.

So it benefits both the adrenals and the thyroid, cortisol and thyroid hormones, bringing all of them into balance. Now, the second group of supplements you should consider taking and the studies behind it is vitamin B12 or B vitamins in general. Remember, you need vitamin B2, riboflavin, folate, which is vitamin B9, and vitamin B12 in order to support proper thyroid function.

And people across the board with thyroid function, a low thyroid function, almost always have these B vitamin deficiencies. One study focused on vitamin B12 and showed that individuals with hypothyroidism often have this deficiency, and supplementation with vitamin B12 significantly improved their symptoms.

Specifically, 40% of participants with hypothyroidism were found to be deficient in vitamin B12, and supplementation helped normalize their thyroid hormone levels and improved their symptoms.

Many people have found when they follow all the advice I gave here, including the methylated B vitamin supplement, the ashwagandha, the lifestyle changes, the food changes, They were able to reduce their thyroid medications. So one thing you might do is consider finding a doctor who will work with you on being able to do that. But that's, that's the problem today. Some doctors are unwilling.

So you need to find a doctor who wants to help you and who's also willing to look into natural thyroid medications such as Armour and others and be able to decrease your dose over time as you're making these positive improvements in your health in order to actually address the root cause of your thyroid.

And one other study showed that thiamine, which is vitamin B1, significantly improved fatigue associated with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Now, the last nutrient I want to touch on is another important one, and it's selenium.

In a study involving patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, selenium supplementation was associated with a significant reduction and thyroid peroxidase antibodies. These are the antibodies connected with the autoimmune forms of hypothyroidism. And we saw a dramatic improvement.

In fact, the study reported a decrease of these thyroid antibodies by 40% in a group of people that just took a daily selenium supplement. So this indicates, again, if you are low in selenium, increases your risk of thyroid autoimmune disease. And so it's really, really important. And selenium does other things as well.

It increases And supports, uh, an enzyme called glutathione peroxidase, which overall keeps your thyroid from being damaged. And so there's a lot of benefits there of selenium acting as an antioxidant on the body as well. So let me walk you through— here are the steps you need to take in order to get to the root cause of healing your thyroid.

Number 1, consider seeing a practitioner that can also walk you through the process, do some testing, and see What you actually need to do. This is something actually, I have a group of doctors and practitioners that I've trained that are functional medicine practitioners. If you go to axewellness.com, you can learn more about that.

And so again, sometimes having somebody walk you through exactly what to do can be very helpful. Again, axewellness.com for that. Number 2, be aware of birth control and other medications. They deplete your body of nutrients. Many of them, especially birth control and antibiotics, cause hypothyroidism.

Remember, taking birth control pills long-term for 10 years increases your risk of hypothyroidism by 283.7%. Number 3, eat a nutrient-dense diet that we talked about. Blueberries and blackberries, rice, sweet potatoes, a lot high protein, a lot of wild organic meat products. Is going to help tremendously. Mushrooms, we talked about. Remember, warm your body internally.

Go on walks, exercise, do an infrared sauna, do warming herbal teas all day, every day, such as cinnamon tea, chai tea, ginger tea, just teas that warm you from the inside out. Number 5, lower stress and get a good night's sleep. You know, one thing, the great thing to do is take a magnesium bath at night, so an Epsom salt bath.

With some essential oils like holy basil and chamomile, helping calm your body, reducing stress. So take a warming bath, it'll help warm you internally as well, lower stress, get a good night's sleep, and then address those nutrient deficiencies with supplements we talked about, especially the B vitamins and the selenium.

Also magnesium and zinc are important, and vitamin D. But if you can address those nutritional deficiencies, it's going to help support your, your thyroid health. And I also like thyroid glandular supplements that might have thyroid and thymus and adrenal and some of those other organs in them, like liver. That's another one you may consider as well.

Well, hey, I hope you've enjoyed this, uh, this, this, this episode on how to heal your thyroid and really me uncovering the truth about the connection between birth control pills and hypothyroidism. And listen, there are millions upon millions of women today who have hypothyroidism and don't know it. And they also don't know that birth control is going to give them hypothyroidism.

And so help me spread the word and the message. People need to know the truth. Take this video right now and please share it. Go on your social media, whether it's Instagram or Facebook, let people know the truth about this. Or if you have friends who are on birth control or have hypothyroidism, send them a text message. Say, hey, you just, you've got to watch this episode.

I'm on a mission to help transform the health of This world, and I'm so grateful you're on mission with me to do this. We can help change the health of this world together. Thank you so much. So hey, thanks for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. Remember, every week we're diving deep into how to heal body, mind, and spirit.

Make sure to subscribe, like, and thank you for sharing this episode as well. I'll see you on the next show.