This week, I'm going to talk to you about your THYROID, that little butterfly-shaped gland 🦋 with its wings spread out, which is located at the base of your neck.
It produces the thyroid hormones, of which there are two: T3 and T4.
The proper functioning of this gland is essential for our health 🧬.
Indeed, it is one of the conductors 🎶♫🎶 of very many vital functions.
It manages our brain 🧠, our heart 🫀, our digestion 😋, our growth, our basic metabolism or our weight ⚖️, among others.
If it goes haywire, nothing goes right and it's a stampede 😜 !
Ouch, ouch, ouch 😶🌫️!
It can either get restless and overzealous 🏃♀️🏃🏃🏻♂️ by working too fast, or it can be lazy and slowed down 🚶🏻♀️🚶🏼🚶♂️: this is known as hyper or hypothyroidism ...
There are periods in life when it can be more fragile: during pregnancy 🤰, at menopause 👵🏻 or after an emotional shock 😢 for example ...
Finally, hypo's are much more common than hyper's and they most often affect women 👩🏻🦳👱🏻👩🏼🦰, among other things because thyroid hormones and oestrogens (female hormones) are closely related.
If your thyroid is doing great, my few recommendations below will keep it in top form 💪💪💪💪!
If however your thyroid is acting up 🙄, know that in some situations this can be reversible 😊 and applying the tips below will already be a great start 👍.
Come on, let's get going!
First and foremost, our thyroid needs iodine to make T3 and T4.
Do you know the expression that was very common in the 19th century ... but so inelegant 🥴 : "the moron of the Alps"?
Why the Alps?
Well because in the mountains there is no iodine 🙅🏻♂️.
At that time fish 🐟 and seafood 🍤, foods very rich in iodine, did not reach that high.
The populations were deficient in iodine and consequently in thyroid hormones 😞.
In the long term our mountain people could develop hypothyroidism, sometimes quite severe and as in this case everything works in slow motion 🥱 ... well the brain too 🥱🥱🥱 ... anyway, you get the idea, no need for a drawing 😉.
The solution was simply to add iodine in the table salt 🧂 which solved the problem 😊 .
But there is not only iodine ... other substances are indispensable for the synthesis of T3 and T4, these are in particular :
✅ Omega 3s, found in fish 🐟 , them again ... yes, yes, their benefits are numerous ... and if you don't eat fish 🙅🏻♂️ , flaxseed, rapeseed, walnut or camelina oils will do the trick!
✅ Selenium, very important for our immune system. It is found in Brazil nuts for example: one a day and you're done! Easy 🤙 !
✅ Vitamin D: It is THE vitamin for our immunity among many other uses.
So let's do the pancake 🌞👙🌞 every day 15 minutes on one side, 15 minutes on the other, without cream of course 😉 and not at lunchtime of course either 😉😉😉...
I can already hear the complaints 😭😭😭😭 from my European readers 🇪🇺 ... yes, I know 🤷♀️ ... many of you may not have much summer 😭 !
The alternative is sunshine 🌞 in drops: a vitamin D supplement of 1000 to 1500IU/day with a meal.
✅ Iron found mainly in animal proteins but also in parsley, lentils, white beans.
✅ There is also glutathione, copper, magnesium and zinc ...
But hey 🙆🏻♀️🙆🏻♀️🙆🏻♀️ ... To hell with too many details 🙄😆😉, you will find all these precious substances if you eat varied and good quality products 👍.
However, the contents of our plate are not enough, we still have to digest them well 😊.
This is the second point that is essential for the health of our little butterfly 🦋 .
➡️ So we have T3 and T4 but a little clarification is needed 👉 T4 is practically inactive and must be converted into T3 to be active and exert its effects.
This conversion takes place ... in the liver! Yes, it again 😉 !
Yes, our liver is really a very very important organ and if it is overloaded 🤢 well this conversion is not done as well with a risk of a decrease in T3 😞.
Hence the importance of draining the liver in case of a fragile thyroid 👍.
Yes, it really is all connected ... that's what fascinates me about health 🤩.
We'll look at other things that can mess with this precious gland next week and I'll concoct a handy little guide 📘 to pamper it properly 🤗.
Until then be well, I wish you a great day 😘 and see you all soon 😆 .
Come on, ✨✨✨✨ Yum la Vie✨✨✨✨ and may all be well!
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