Dr. Eric Berg Featuring: Hypothyroidism May Not Be a Thyroid Problem

If hypothyroidism may not be a thyroid problem, then what is the problem? Find out.

Did you know that the majority of hypothyroid conditions are not really a thyroid problem? 90% of all hypothyroid conditions are Hashimoto's. This is an autoimmune condition. With this autoimmune condition, the thyroid has antibodies that attack itself. This is immune dysfunction, not necessarily a thyroid problem. But, it does affect the thyroid.

  This could be why many people with this condition never see any change—because they're treating the wrong problem. If you look up hypothyroidism, you will see that the cause is low thyroid hormones. But what's causing the low thyroid hormones?  If you have hypothyroidism that's not involved with Hashimoto's, it could be secondary to something else. 80% of the conversion of T4 to T3 happens through the liver. So, if there's something going on with the liver or the gallbladder, it could mean that you're just not getting the conversion of T4 to T3.

 You could also have a situation where there is too much estrogen in the body. In this case, the estrogen can block the thyroid.  Some other data talks about consuming too many cruciferous vegetables being behind a thyroid problem. But, the studies on this are very sparse. You would also have to consume a tremendous amount of cruciferous vegetables to deplete enough iodine to cause a weakness in the thyroid. There is no data that says consuming cruciferous vegetables will kill the thyroid.  If you're worried about cruciferous vegetables causing a thyroid problem, you could steam them or ferment them. You could also have some sea kelp to help replace the iodine that could potentially be depleted by cruciferous vegetables. But, cruciferous vegetables can help regulate estrogen, and really, cruciferous vegetables benefit the entire body. 

 To help with different thyroid problems, you may want to avoid:  
 • Soy  
• Gluten Hashimoto's, being an autoimmune condition, usually involves some type of immune dysfunction. There are some interesting links between EBV and Hashimoto's. 

There is also a connection between gut problems and Hashimoto's. A few things you can do: 
• Restore the gut (healthy keto and intermittent fasting) 
• Selenium  
• Zinc 
• Garlic  
• Lower stress