Thyroid conditions are the 2nd most common endocrine disorder in America, with only diabetes being more prevalent.
Thyroid problems in women are more common than in men, and up to 60% of people living with thyroid disorders are unaware of their condition. Despite how common thyroid disorders are, many people are living with untreated symptoms every day.
So, if you’re living with thyroid symptoms, it’s time to get ahead and learn how to treat your body. By learning about your thyroid, you can take steps towards correcting your hormonal balance and living a symptom-free life.
Read on to learn how to cure your thyroid problems.
Understand Your Thyroid
Before diving straight into different treatments, you need to understand your thyroid, how it works, and what happens when it goes wrong. Once you know all the options, you can begin to treat your symptoms accordingly.
Your thyroid is a gland in your neck that makes hormones that regulate your metabolism. The most common thyroid condition is where your thyroid doesn’t make enough hormone, known as hypothyroidism.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
- Chronic tiredness
- Weight gain
- Feeling cold
- Dry hair
- Hoarse voice
- Brain fog
Many things can cause hypothyroidism including, thyroiditis (inflammation), Hashimoto’s disease (autoimmune), and iodine deficiency.
If your thyroid makes too much hormone, it is called hyperthyroidism. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include:
- Anxiety and irritability
- Insomnia
- Weight loss
- Tremors
- Heat sensitive
- Enlarged thyroid gland
Hyperthyroidism is less common, but it can be caused by Graves’ disease, toxic nodules, thyroiditis, or iodine toxicity.
Eat Mindfully
The endocrine system is incredibly sensitive, and small fluctuations can have a profound effect. Therefore, one of the first-line at-home treatments for thyroid disorders is a dietary adjustment.
Although there is some controversy around whether ‘thyroid healthy’ superfoods work, everyone agrees on one thing; you should be eating a balanced diet high in whole grains and vegetables.
The basic principles of a thyroid supporting diet include:
- Five portions of fruit and vegetables
- At least 30g fiber per day
- Some dairy but not an excessive intake
- Choose unsaturated oils
- Drink 6-8 glasses per day of water
If you are hypothyroid, it can be helpful to incorporate iodine-rich foods if your doctor has found iodine deficiency to be the cause of your symptoms. Iodine-rich foods include fish, dairy, and iodized salt.
Equally, if you’re hyperthyroid, take caution when eating these foods in case you have iodine toxicity.
There’s no one size fits all approach to diet for thyroid issues; try to use your intuition and listen to what your body tells you it needs.
Utilize Natural Remedies
If you visit a doctor, one of the first things they’ll recommend is medication. However, there are natural remedies for thyroid problems that you can use as well.
Be careful choosing home remedies for thyroid problems because many of them don’t have legitimate science behind them to prove they work; using these could be more detrimental to your health.
However, there are some tried and tested natural remedies that will help support your thyroid.
First, you need to ensure you’re getting enough of the thyroid-essential vitamins and minerals. These include iodine, vitamin B12, selenium, zinc, and L-tyrosine. Talk to your doctor first, but consider a multivitamin to ensure you’re getting the proper nutrition.
Second, you can try certain herbs. Anecdotal evidence shows that ashwagandha, gum guggal, and coleus forskohlii may be beneficial, but there aren’t many clinical trials to prove this.
Finally, essential oils can help with putting your body into a relaxed state. Many endocrine problems start because of stress, so relaxing your body is a great way to kickstart natural hormone processes. Try cedarwood, lavender, and peppermint oils.
Embark on Holistic Programs
Many of the symptoms of thyroid problems in women relate to the stresses of busy, 21st-century life.
There are holistic programs available that incorporate all aspects of life and focus on helping you make changes to your health. If you were wondering, ‘can you cure Hashimotos disease?’, these programs may be right for you.
Although Hashimotos is an autoimmune condition, intense relaxation and lifestyle modification can kickstart your immune system into functioning the right way.
Achieving this state is tricky at home, where you have constant commitments, so investing in a holistic program may be the easiest way to get the results you need; it’s time to prioritize your health.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Finally, don’t disregard hormone replacement medication. Although some people manage to fix their thyroid through natural methods, others aren’t so successful.
If you’re living with symptoms that reduce the quality of your life, medication can help. Synthetic thyroid hormones are very available, effective, and have minimal side effects.
You can still improve your thyroid health while on medication, and you can gradually taper down your dose until you don’t need it anymore.
If you go on medication, don’t feel bad about it; it can be as temporary or long-term as you like.
Let’s Cure Thyroid Problems in Women for Good
So, there you have a few simple ways to manage your thyroid and live a healthy life. Thyroid problems in women are far too common, but they don’t have to be.
We can eradicate long-standing, untreated thyroid symptoms by looking after ourselves and choosing the right treatments for our conditions. So, if you think you’ve got thyroid issues, the first thing to do is get some blood tests and go from there.
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