To have healthy thyroid function, you need a healthy intestinal tract. And to have a healthy intestinal tract, you need healthy thyroid function. The two are more connected than most of us could ever imagine. Here’s how it works:
Perhaps you’ve heard of something called “leaky gut” syndrome. It’s a condition where the intestinal lining becomes more permeable than normal. This allows large molecules of protein that shouldn’t make it through this selective barrier to migrate into the body. There, the molecules trigger the body’s immune system and may set off an autoimmune reaction where the immune system starts to attack its own tissues. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is one of these autoimmune disorders. It is an attack on the thyroid gland, and it is one of the more common autoimmune disorders.
Poor thyroid function, in turn, can cause intestinal integrity to deteriorate. Thyroid hormone is important for the tight junctions between cells. It’s important for proper maintenance of the mucosal surfaces that line the gut, and prevention of ulcers. And it plays a major role in the regulation of the immune system that originates in the gut, called GALT or gut-associated lymphoid tissue.
All this means is that to help repair a leaky gut, it’s important to make sure that thyroid hormone function is normal.
The best way to tell if thyroid hormone function is normal is to take your body temperature. You will need to do it for a few days, a few times a day. (For details on how to do it correctly, see “How are body temperatures measured” on our website.) If your body temperature is consistently low—below 98.5 F or 36.94 C., but typically below 97.8 F. or 36.56 C.—there’s a good chance you have low thyroid hormone function. You can have this even if you have normal Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels, and even if you are taking the usual form of thyroid replacement hormone, Synthroid. That’s because some people don’t convert T4, the inactive form of thyroid hormone, to T3, the active form.
These people often do better taking T3, a prescription drug. Restoring body temperature to normal with T3 can be initiated at the start of therapies that will help your intestinal lining to heal. (These therapies are numerous and include dietary changes, probiotics, and sometimes, drugs to kill off harmful organisms and help restore normal healthy balance in the gut).
If you think you might benefit from a course of T3, share this article with your doctor, who can call us at 800.420.5801 to get more information about how to use T3, along with nutritional and herbal support for thyroid health, and to discuss your individual case. You can also use our website to find the health care practitioner closest to you who is trained in T3 therapy.
REFERENCES
Canpolat AG, Kav T, Sivri B, et al. Effects of L-thyroxine on gastric motility and ghrelin in subclinical hypothyroidism: a prospective study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Nov;98(11):E1775-9.
Cereijido M, Contreras RG, Flores-Benítez D, et. al. New diseases derived or associated with the tight junction. Arch Med Res. 2007 Jul;38(5):465-78.
Daher R, Yazbeck T, Jaoude JB, et al. Consequences of dysthyroidism on the digestive tract and viscera. World J Gastroenterol. 2009 Jun 21;15(23):2834-8.
Misra GC, Bose SL, Samal AK. Malabsorption in thyroid dysfunctions. J Indian Med Assoc. 1991 Jul;89(7):195-7.
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