If you have been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and are considering using natural treatment methods, then there is an excellent chance that you have considered taking nutritional supplements and/or herbal remedies to help restore your health to normal. While taking the right type of nutritional supplements can help with Hashimoto’s disease, it can be difficult and risky to try to treat this serious autoimmune thyroid disorder on your own.
I have consulted with patients who thought they could visit their local health food store and purchase a “thyroid support” formula, or an immune-boosting nutritional supplement, thinking that this type of supplement would provide a cure for their condition. The truth is that most of the natural products that people buy to treat conditions like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis don’t do much to help restore your health. While sometimes these supplements can provide temporary relief from your symptoms, in most cases it takes more than just nutritional supplements to fully restore a person’s health to normal. And of course, in some people with this condition, it is not possible to fully restore their health through natural treatment methods (although this does not mean that they still cannot benefit from a natural treatment protocol).
When choosing nutritional supplements for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, you should keep in mind that you are not only trying to restore the function of your thyroid gland, but just as importantly, you need to strengthen your immune system. And in most cases, the adrenal glands and/or other areas of the body are also affected. In fact, many health professionals, myself included, agree that it is more important to focus on boosting the immune system before directly treating the thyroid gland. One reason for this is that a weakened immune system is one of the main reasons many people develop Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in the first place.
Supplements for Immune System Support
Some of the supplements that can help boost the immune system of people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis include echinacea, selenium, and astragalus. Of course, you should first consult with a competent doctor to determine which of these you should take, as well as the proper dosage. Before buying nutritional supplements, remember that quality is extremely important. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should buy the most expensive supplements out there, but it does mean that most nutritional supplements sold in retail stores, online, and even in many health food stores are of low quality. . And if they aren’t high-quality nutritional supplements, chances are they won’t be absorbed properly by your body, which obviously means you won’t get the optimal benefits from taking them.
So what’s wrong with grabbing an immune system support formula at your local health food store to help boost your immune system? Well, if you can find a high-quality immune support formula, then that’s great, but out of all the low-quality ones out there, remember that it’s extremely hard to find a single “natural pill” that can do a great job at strengthening your immune system. It’s one thing to take a “wellness formula” to temporarily boost your immune system and reduce the likelihood of catching a cold or flu. It is entirely different to expect an immune system support formula to effectively combat an autoimmune disease, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
It’s also important to know that it usually takes more than just taking nutritional supplements to boost your immune system. Here are five rules to follow that will help boost your immune system, as well as maintain the health of other areas of the body:
Rule #1: Eat healthy most of the time.
Rule #2: Take quality nutritional supplements.
Rule #3: Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night
Rule #4: Manage stress effectively
Rule #5: Exercise regularly
If you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and do these five things consistently, over time you will strengthen your immune system, which will help you in your recovery. In addition, this will also help prevent other autoimmune conditions from developing in the future, which is very common in people who have Hashimoto’s disease. The reason for this is that most people just take synthetic thyroid hormone for the rest of their lives and never address the immune system component. So if you focus on strengthening your immune system, in addition to restoring the function of your thyroid gland, you’re much more likely to stay healthy in the future.
Get your adrenal glands checked
In addition to focusing on the immune system component, you should also have a test of your adrenal glands, as many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis have adrenal problems. And just like the immune system, adrenal function must be regulated before any direct treatment is given to the thyroid gland. If you try to treat the thyroid gland before strengthening the immune system and balancing the adrenal glands, the treatment will not be as effective.
Many times, these problems that I have talked about so far can be solved by following the five rules that I listed above, as eating healthy and regularly will help regulate blood sugar levels and, in turn, may be necessary for enforce rule #3, which is getting quality sleep every night. In general, when managing the adrenal glands, the main key is to regulate blood sugar levels. And the two best ways to do that are 1) get rid of any sweet cravings you may have, and 2) avoid going long periods of time without eating.
Supplements to Address the Adrenal Glands
As far as nutritional supplements that can help with the adrenal gland, a major one is called Gymnema, which can help stop any sweet and carb cravings you may be having. You also need to manage the stress in your life, and while this involves modifying your lifestyle to some degree, one herb that can help with chronic stress is Eleuthero, also called Siberian ginseng. Again, consult with a competent physician to determine the proper dosage of these supplements.
In addition to the immune system and adrenal glands, other areas of the body may be the cause of the problem, so while it is important to address the immune system and adrenal glands, this might not be enough to restore your health to normal. Some people have problems with their gastrointestinal tract that is the underlying cause of their disorder. Others have a hormonal imbalance that needs to be addressed. That’s why it’s a good idea to consult with a natural endocrine doctor, as a competent one will look at other areas of the body, and not just the thyroid gland.
Supplements for thyroid gland support
Speaking of the thyroid gland, there are supplements that can be taken to help with its function. Many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are iodine deficient. However, someone with Hashimoto’s SHOULD NOT take iodine until both the immune system component and the adrenal glands are addressed. If taken immediately, iodine can cause more harm than good, and this is one reason why many healthcare professionals will tell someone with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis to avoid iodine altogether. So iodine may be essential for a person who is deficient, but timing is extremely important with respect to Hashimoto.
While there are other supplements and herbs that can offer thyroid support, such as Ashwaganda and Bladderwrack, the fact is that with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the thyroid gland is usually not directly affected. In other words, when addressing the actual cause of the autoimmune condition, it will often be okay to provide minimal nutritional support to the thyroid gland. Therefore, there is usually no good reason to take many supplements aimed directly at restoring thyroid gland function. By cleansing other areas of the body and then providing some nutritional support to the thyroid gland, this gland will often begin to function at a normal level again.
This of course assumes that it is possible to fully restore one’s health, as in some cases this cannot be done. For example, someone who has had their thyroid gland completely removed will likely have to take synthetic or natural thyroid hormone for the rest of their life. On the other hand, this does not mean that you should not consider natural treatment methods to help strengthen your immune system, restore the function of your adrenal glands, correct any hormonal imbalances, etc.
In short, taking nutritional supplements and herbal remedies can in most cases help. However, just because they’re “natural” doesn’t mean they’re risk-free, which is why you should never self-medicate and instead consult an expert. Since everyone is different, it makes sense that some people will need to take different supplements and herbs, and of course not everyone will need to take the same dosage.
Also, although nutritional supplements and herbal remedies can help many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, taking supplements and herbs alone will not restore your health to normal. To do this, you must make changes to your eating habits, exercise regularly, get a good night’s sleep, and manage the stress in your life. So, as you can see, restoring your health is definitely not easy to do, but most of the time it is possible. But the person with this condition needs to be ready to make these changes in their life. If you are ready to make these changes and want to see if you are a candidate for a natural treatment protocol, then consider consulting with a natural endocrine doctor. It may very well be the wisest decision you make this year.
