Originally Posted on June 19, 2015
Updated January 29, 2019
First off I would like to acknowledge that somehow a week snuck past me without my realizing it. I totally missed my blog last week! And yes, it has been a little hectic around here of late. So without further adieu let’s talk about how your thyroid is connected to your microbiome.
I was just reading this very interesting article on HealthyFoodHouse.com about what your tongue can tell you regarding your thyroid. Informative article with valuable information; check it out here. It kept going back to how digestion; absorption of nutrients plays a large role in thyroid health. And that translates to the state of your microbiome playing a huge role in the state of your thyroid health.
Quick Recap
I thought instead of me reiterating what I have written in past blogs about the microbiome, I would just share this great TED talk with you by Jeroen Raes at TEDxBrussels: The gut flora: You and your 100 trillion friends. So worth the eight minutes.
How?
I love how he refers to your microbiome as an ecosystem; that’s how I talk about it too. This ecosystem encompasses many areas of the body and needs to be balanced to be strong and healthy. Imbalance often starts in the gut and spreads out from there. We need our intestinal microbiome to process our nutrients, supply crucial vitamins, fight pathogens and modulate metabolism to name a few actions. The intestinal mucosa constantly faces a wide variety of antigens that come from food, commensal organisms and the occasional pathogen. The intestinal immune system therefore has to balance its protective reactions against harmful pathogens and tolerance towards commensal bacteria and dietary antigens in order to maintain homeostasis. Basically your intestines are the gatekeeper. They get to decide who gets in and who stays out. Every system and organ needs specific vitamins, nutrients and processes to thrive. When the gatekeeper is confused or off duty, then imbalance within your systems and organs starts to happen. And the thyroid seems to be especially susceptible when this process is out of balance. If you have digestive issues that have been going on for awhile, then you most likely have thyroid issues too whether you have symptoms or not. This also implicates dysbiosis in the gut, which disturbs the finely tuned immune balance in the gut, as leading to autoimmune disorders if left unaddressed.
When your intestinal microbiome is out of balance inflammation is allowed to happen. Harmful bacteria trigger inflammation. Over time, continuous exposure to inflammatory and immune triggers causes the body to produce antibodies; special proteins that recognize and fight viruses and bacteria. These antibodies can also start to recognize and attack your body tissue, including your thyroid tissue, and sabotage your thyroid’s ability to produce or use thyroid hormones, resulting in Hashimoto’s disease.
New research also suggests that there is direct cross-talk between proteins and hormones in the gut and the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT). This adds yet another layer of the connection to what goes on in the gut and the health of the thyroid.
Antibiotic use, frequent use of NSAIDS (ibuprofen, Aleve, Motrin, etc.), a diet high in sugar and low in a wide variety of vegetables, over-exercise (yes, you can be overdoing it!) and chronic stress, lack of sleep, all affect the health of the intestinal mucosa and the microbiome, and can determine whether you develop thyroid issues. Bottom line is without a healthy intestinal microbiome, it is pretty much impossible to experience vibrant health.
Happy microbiomes = happy you!
I can attest to this from personal experience as well as clinical experience. Personally just over a year ago I experienced continuous toxic chemical(s) exposure for three months consistently. It destroyed the healthy balance of my microbiomes, most especially my intestinal microbiome and therefore the quality of my health and life. Thyroid imbalance has been one of the major issues from this for me. It has been a long road filled with much learning, experimentation and adventure to restore my microbiome again and I am so grateful for knowing how to do that and the opportunity to try out new solutions on myself. When my microbiome is happy, I’m happy! Full of energy, moving through life with grace and ease, and enjoying every waking and sleeping moment. When my microbiome is not happy, everything is a challenge. Fortunately I know what is at the root of that challenged feeling so I am conscious of choosing to not be overwhelmed by it; most of the time. In clinical practice, I see the same. It’s always such a joy to see someone regain their joy and verve for life again as their microbiomes find balance and happiness again.
Those with unbalanced, unhappy microbiomes almost always have some sort of thyroid imbalance ranging from hypothyroid issues to autoimmune. By bringing balance to your intestinal microbiome you can experience vibrant health and joy. It’s not overly complicated, but it does take commitment and time; often up to a year or more. I have a simple 4 Step Strategy I use in my one:one coaching to support you to rebalance your microbiomes and experience vibrant living. What are some things you can do on your own though to get the process started?
5 Things You Can Do Now To Support Your Thyroid Health
- Remove all hormone, antibiotic, pesticide filled, processed, high sugar food from your diet.
- Add whole, unprocessed real vegetables; focusing on primarily plant based foods with the addition of small amounts of pasture raised animal proteins, wild caught sustainable fish and seafood, sea vegetables, traditionally fermented foods to your daily habits.
- Get a restful, uninterrupted solid night’s worth of sleep every night. Set a routine to go to bed and rise the same time everyday.
- Expose yourself to outside daylight daily.
- Move! continuously for at least 10 minutes daily.
I’d love to hear from you; do you have digestive issues; leaky gut, dysbiosis, celiac? What has been your experience in your healing process? Do you have hypothyroid, Hashimoto’s or other thyroid issues? Please do share in the comments below!
May vibrant health and joy be your daily experience!
Live Vibrantly!
PS. If you wish to know more about the foundational elements I teach and use in my practice, I invite you to check out my book, “Live Vibrantly, 10 Steps To Maintain Youthfulness, Increase Energy and Restore Your Health”.
