7 All Natural Thyroid Boosters to Help Your Thyroid and Your Weight

Since one of the functions of your thyroid is controlling metabolism, there seems to be a big connection between the increased rate of thyroid symptoms and problems in America and the increase in weight control problems. The following natural thyroid boosters are ideas that have been shown to help boost thyroid function, and hence help increase metabolism and make it easier for you to lose weight as well as maintain a normal weight.

Thyroid Booster #1: Reduce Iodine Blockers in the Diet

Besides eating iodine-rich foods, it is important to reduce your intake of goitrogens (iodine blockers) like peanuts and soy. All raw cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, turnips, kale, and cauliflower are also goitrogens. Make sure and cook them before eating them in significant amounts.

Soy products are probably the worst goitrogen offenders, first of all because cooking does not destroy the anti-thyroid substances in them. Second of all, studies show they are in 70% or more of all foods on our grocery shelves in the form of soy oil, vegetable oil, texturized vegetable protein, soy flour, soy protein isolate, etc. We have been told for quite a while now that soy is good for us, so you may find it hard to believe that soy can actually promote weight gain by interfering with thyroid function. However, there are many studies to back up this claim, so we highly recommend that you follow this suggestion to avoid all soy products, except small amounts of fermented soy like natural soy sauce, tempeh and miso.

Thyroid Booster #2: Reduce Refined Foods and Vegetable Oils

Refined grains and sugars, as well as being bad for you in many other ways, put too much stress on the thyroid and can interfere with good thyroid function. In addition, vegetable oils have been proven to fatten up animals, but also cause them thyroid and other problems, including cancer. So if you want to have a healthy thyroid, reduce your consumption of all vegetable oils -- this includes canola, corn, and soy. This also means not eating out or eating packaged foods very much, as restaurants and packaged foods often contain some of these oils.

Thyroid Booster #3: Add Natural Sources of Iodine to Your Diet

Some natural sources of iodine that seem to be well used by the body include unrefined sea salts, kelp, bladderwrack and other seaweeds, eggs, butter, and most sea-foods, especially cold-water deep-sea fish. Fish sauce is also a rich source of iodine if properly prepared, and is often used in Thai cuisine. It may also be useful to supply extra iodine in your diet by taking kelp or bladderwrack extracts or another herbal formula that contains seaweeds as well as other herbs that can be helpful for nourishing the thyroid gland.

Thyroid Booster #4: Add Minerals and Vitamins that Support Thyroid Function

Zinc, chromium, selenium and manganese are all minerals that have been shown to support the thyroid. You can add more minerals to your diet in a natural form that will help support your thyroid gland by using a whole food based greens supplement and/or coral calcium which contains trace minerals like zinc and selenium.

One of the most beneficial vitamins for the thyroid gland is vitamin A, although B, C and E vitamins complexes are also important. Those with hypothyroid often have problems converting beta-carotene to vitamin A, so it is important that you get some real vitamin A. Never take synthetic vitamin A, as studies have shown it to be toxic at higher levels.

Many, if not most of the vitamins you find in the stores today are isolated nutrients that come from synthetic sources. This is generally because these vitamins cost less to manufacture than vitamins from living food sources. However, vitamin supplements that are synthetic do not provide all the co-factors necessary for your body to fully utilize that supplement. So, these products may bring much needed nutrients to your body in the short term, but over the long term will likely cause other problems in your body. Although they are difficult to find, it's worth it for your health to seek out only 100 percent whole food supplements and super foods.

Thyroid Booster # 5: Get More Exercise, Especially Rebounding

Exercise is also good for your thyroid -- any kind. A rebounder can be especially helpful, but all exercise will stimulate the thyroid gland secretion and will help increase the sensitivity of your cells to the thyroid hormones. If you are too tired to get much exercise, you might want to think about adding coconut oil to your diet or perhaps some good super foods to help boost your energy levels so that you feel like exercising.

Thyroid Booster #6: Add Virgin Coconut Oil To Your Diet

Coconut oil, because of its metabolism-stimulating properties, seems to be an excellent thyroid system builder. If you have problems with your thyroid, you want to be sure to include coconut oil in your diet. Remember how we told you that animals got fatter when eating vegetable oils? Well, these same farmers then tried giving their animals coconut oil to see if that would fatten them up without the same problems their animals experienced on vegetable oils. Guess what? It made the animals more active and more lean instead! So add coconut oil to your diet today!

Thyroid Booster #7: Stop Using Fluoride in Your Water and Toothpaste

According to Cherie Calboun in "The Coconut Diet", a growing body of evidence suggests that fluoride may interfere with proper functioning of the thyroid. This means that if your water is fluoridated, it may be extremely helpful for you to buy a water filter that filters out fluoride. If you're not sure, check with your water supplier -- about 50 percent of America's tap water is fluoridated today. You also want to avoid fluoride toothpastes, since some of it inevitably will be ingested.

Although none of these suggestions should take the place of your consulting a health care practitioner, many have found that by incorporating them into their lifestyles, their thyroid symptoms got better and it became easier to lose weight.- Karen Pijuan

Support Thyroid Health With These Thyroid Gland Supplements

The thyroid gland produces hormones that influence almost all of your metabolic processes. Most common thyroid problems can cause depression, mood swings, weight gain, fatigue, restlessness, loss of sleep, elevated cholesterol levels, and can increase your chances of having a heart attack or a stroke. The good news is that there are natural ways to support thyroid health.

Basic types of thyroid problems:

• Goiter - a relatively harmless condition that indicates a lack of sodium in your diet.
• Hyperthyroidism - a condition where an overactive thyroid releases too many thyroid hormones. Problems associated with hyperthyroidism are sweating, rapid heartbeats, weight loss, and, sometimes, eye problems.
• Hypothyroidism - exactly the opposite of hyperthyroidism, where the thyroid is under active and does not release enough hormones. Problems associated with Hypothyroidism include weight gain, fatigue, and listlessness.

If you are in reasonable health and are looking to provide nutritional support to maintain proper thyroid health, here is a list of significant nutrients:

• Iodine
• Selenium
• Zinc
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Essential Fats
• Antioxidants
• Amino Acids

As this list shows, minerals are important for thyroid production. Iodine prevents the development of goiters. Selenium and zinc work together to produce the ithroide's hormones. Zinc is also necessary to stimulate the pituitary glad, which signals the thyroid gland to produce hormones,. Zinc is a;so critical to the process by which the DNA's genetic code is read and put into action.

Vitamins and essential fatty acids, such as Omega 3 and Omega 6, also help keep your thyroid in good working order.

Antioxidants are not only necessary to keep you thyroid in top condition, but are especially important for anyone who has had thyroid problems. If you have long suffered from thryoid problems, you may also consider taking extra amino acids.

By Daniel Kooper

Want To Know What The Normal Thyroid Range Is?

So what exactly is a normal thyroid range? Predicting a range can be tricky. A thyroid level can differ from one geographical region to another. The type of test conducted must also be taken into account.
The thyroid gland secretes two types of hormones, namely T3 and T4. These hormones are responsible for the regulating of the metabolism in the body. When these hormones are under active it results in hypothyroidism and when they are over active the outcome is hyperthyroidism. When these hormones are in harmony the normal thyroid range is obtained.
The levels of the hormones are determined by another hormone called Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) it is secreted by the pituitary gland. It stimulates the thyroid to secrete the T3 and T4 hormones. When the level of TSH increases it is an indication that the thyroid gland is not working properly resulting in hypothyroidism. The adverse also applies, when the level falls below the normal level it is an indication of hyperthyroidism.
Normal TSH Level
To understand what a normal TSH level is, is tricky. The reason being is that different countries use different scales. In the UK the normal level is 0.5 to 5.5. The US used to use the same scale up until 2003. From 2003 the scale was revised to specify normal levels between 0.3 to 3.3. There is no uniformity in treatment as some labs still use the old scale. The TSH level also fluctuates throughout the day. Between 6am and 6pm the levels remain constant. However in the evening the level continues to increase up to midnight. This is when the highest level is recorded. The difference in TSH levels throughout the day can be as much as 2-3 points.
Normal T3 Level
There are very small amounts of T3 present in the body. It is a very important hormone when it comes to the regulation of the metabolism. In a 'Total T3' test a normal range would be between 80 and 220. Below 80 indicates an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) and above 220 is indication of an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism)
Normal T4 Level
T4 is transported in the bloodstream by proteins, where it is converted into T3 inside the liver. With a 'Total T4' a normal range is between 4.5 and 12.5. If your levels are outside the normal range your doctor will more than likely diagnose you for hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
If you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism or you suspect you suffer from it. Do not be despondent. There is a thyroid cure for you. More often than not the problem can be cured with natural treatments. There are many nutrients which are advantageous to the thyroid. There are too many of them to mention
By Michael R Louw 

Are You Looking For The Correct Thyroid Foods to Choose?

I want to get down to the nitty gritty of the thyroid foods that will ultimately speed up your metabolism and those that are responsible for slowing down your metabolism. I will also discuss which foods to steer clear of. These foods do not do your thyroid any favors. Hopefully being able to identify the good and bad foods will help you in the right direction for good health.
Let us firstly discuss the foods that may speed up a slow metabolism.
Sea Weed - It is rich in iodine which is critical for thyroid health and function. Not only is it full of iodine but also in trace minerals which are beneficial for the thyroid. Without iodine your body is unable to manufacture thyroid hormones. You must however take care in not taking an excess of iodine. Since an excess intake of iodine-rich foods has also been implicated in thyroid disease. Moderation is the key not excess.
Coconut Oil - Slightly stimulates thyroid hormone production and supports proper thyroid function. Incorporating coconut oil in your diet would be a wise decision as it is thought to support thyroid health and may help sufferers with hypothyroidism to lose weight. Coconut oil is made up of saturated fats which promotes thyroid function.
Shellfish - Like seaweed is also rich in iodine. As mentioned iodine is essential to thyroid function as iodine molecules are used in the production of thyroid hormones.
Now that we have discussed the thyroid foods which speed up the metabolism, let us move onto the foods which slow down the metabolism. These foods are beneficial for people suffering with an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism).
Fermented Soy Foods - Soy foods are known to be a strong suppressor of thyroid function, even more so than many anti-thyroid drugs.
Raw Cruciferous Vegetables - These vegetables likes cabbage, cauliflower, turnips and brussels sprouts interfere with the uptake of iodine and subsequently interfere with the production of thyroid hormones
Millet - Like the cruciferous vegetables contains goitrogens and interferes with iodine uptake.
Seeing we have now covered the thyroid foods which speed up and slow down a metabolism, lets move onto the foods which should be avoided as these inhibit thyroid function and aren't doing anyone's thyroid any favors.
Gluten containing grains - Research has proven that people who follow a gluten-free diet seem to show better results at shaking pesky anti-thyroid antibodies. That's a powerful case to remove gluten from your diet if you suffer from an autoimmune thyroid disease.
Unfermented Soy - Babies fed soy formula are more likely to develop autoimmune thyroid disease. Also large concentrations of unfermented soy may adversely affect thyroid function in adults. If you eat soy, keep it to small amounts and always choose fermented forms.
This brings me to the conclusion of this article. In summary with the thyroid, like life in general everything in moderation is perfectly fine.

By Michael R Louw