According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, about one in eight women will develop a thyroid problem in her lifetime. The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin.

Dr John Lee, who was the pioneer of bioidentical natural progesterone usage for women at menopause, wrote that he was very surprised in his own medical practice with the much greater numbers of women than men taking thyroid supplements and that they were suffering from oestrogen dominance, where their oestrogen levels are not in balance with their progesterone as happens at menopause, or after a hysterectomy.

He used bioidentical natural progesterone to correct this situation and rebalance their hormones and found that it was then common to see their need for medications such as Thyroxine to be reduced over time.

Critical signs

Many women are showing signs of thyroid imbalance due to a number of factors, including poor diet, stress, over reliance on stimulants such as caffeine, sugar and alcohol.

Do you have any of these?

* adult onset ADHD
* anxiety
* cold hands or feet
* difficulty concentrating
* dry skin/yellow skin
* fatigue
* impaired memory
* insomnia/poor sleep quality or habits
* menstrual irregularities
* muscle and joint pain
* nightmares
* slow healing
* thinning hair, or eyebrows or loss of outer edges of eyebrows
* weight gain or difficulty losing weight

Natural help

You can do a lot to help yourself through your diet as the thyroid gland must have iodine to produce T3 and T4. Good food sources include meat, seafood, yogurt, milk, and eggs, as well as seaweed, Himalayan Crystal Salt and cranberries.

Iodine alone is not enough as selenium is essential for the body to be able to break down T3 into T4. Again meat and seafood are good sources as are Brazil nuts, brown rice, seeds (Sunflower, Sesame, and Flax) and vegetables broccoli, cabbage and spinach

Those diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease can find their condition aggravated with the continued consumption of gluten-containing foods. The majority find improvement when off gluten and a reduced milk consumption to control their inflammation.

High dose Omega 3 has had good results, report patients, in lowering inflammation, as has combined herbs such as turmeric and ginger and also Krill Oil.