Thyroid hormones (most importantly triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)) are essential to the functionality of your entire being, from the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems, to the bowels, skin, hair, and nails. So when your body isn’t producing enough of them, you won’t be a happy camper. Full-blown clinical hypothyroidism can be diagnosed using conventional laboratory tests: thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and sometimes T3 and T4. But it has been recognized for decades, thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. Broda Barnes, many people with “normal” thyroid hormone levels may mask a state of subclinical hypothyroidism. 

When other symptoms and factors in his patients’ background suggested low thyroid function, he would monitor their waking core temperature (measured rectally or under the armpit) and pulse rate. If their waking temperatures were consistently below 36.5^ºC (97.8^ºF), and their pulse rates were below 75 beats per minute, Dr. Barnes would diagnose subclinical hypothyroidism. It may not be recognized by mainstream doctors, and it probably won’t kill you – but if you’ve got it, you probably know that subclinical hypothyroidism can still make you miserable.

When thyroid hormone levels are low, your body can’t burn food for energy, leading to weight gain and increases in cholesterol and triglycerides. The first signs of hypothyroidism, however, are usually psychological, and may include fatigue, depression, and weakness at first, followed by difficulty with concentration and memory. Low thyroid function can also lead to stiffening of the joints and muscular weakness. And dry skin, brittle nails, constipation, and oversensitivity to cold are common quality-of-life impacts of subclinical hypothyroidism.

Things to Watch Out For

If you’re suffering with subclinical hypothyroidism, there are a number of simple things that may underlie your problem. Iodine is required to help produce thyroid hormones, and deficiency of this nutrient was once one of the most common causes of hypothyroidism. One symptom of iodine deficiency is the development of goiter: an enlarged thyroid gland. Once widespread, particularly in the so-called “goiter belts” of the midwestern US (where iodine-deficient soils lead to iodine deficient crops and iodine-deficient people), goiter became rare following the fortification of table salt with iodine. Ironically, these areas are beginning to experience resurgence goiter as health-conscious people cut back on their salt intake. A healthier way to get extra iodine without the excess sodium is to consume sea vegetables such as dulse (Rhodymenia palmetto), or the herbs bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) and Irish moss (Chondrus crispus).

As well, some people today still develop goiter from foods that they consume: so-called goiterogens, such as turnips, cabbage, mustard, broccoli, and peanuts, which block the absorption of iodine. For most people, increasing iodine intake, rather than cutting down on consumption of these healthy foods, is the preferred method of dealing with the goiterogen problem.

Other nutrients that are necessary for a normal thyroid hormone production are selenium, zinc, and vitamins C, E complex, and the B vitamins riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), and pyridoxine (B6). A good multivitamin should help to ensure adequate intake of all of these nutrients.

On the other hand, the biosynthesis of T4 also requires the key amino acid L-tyrosine, and this is not typically present in multivitamins. Extra tyrosine can be obtained from protein-rich foods like meat, poultry, seafood, beans, tofu,

and lentils; tyrosine supplements can also be used to boost intake.

Some prescription drugs – such as the anti-arrhythmia drug Amidarone (Cordarone^®) and the high-dose lithium salts used to treat bipolar disorder, and can also interfere with thyroid function.

Finally, it’s important to distinguish this pathological hypothyroidism from the hypothyroidism that accompanies caloric restriction (CR). While people eating typical weight-loss diets may suffer hypothyroidism in part caused by borderline malnutrition, a true CR nutrition plan – in which intake of all key nutrients remains at high levels even as Calorie intake is reduced – leads to characteristic changes in thyroid hormone metabolism that can look like hypothyroidism but which are not pathological and may even be crucial to the life-extending effects of CR. CR practitioners often have some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (notably, cold hands and feet), and an unique pattern of hormones: TSH is normal or high-normal, T4 is normal or low-normal, but T3 levels are low because the conversion of T4 to T3 is downregulated by the body.

Glandular Support for the Thyroid

Conventional medical treatment for clinical hypothyroidism is to prescribe synthetic levothyroxine (Synthroid^®) alone. While this may be appropriate for fully-fledged clinical syndrome, it will often just imbalance people with a subclinical problem. Many people with subclinical hypothyroidism find that the brute-force approach of “replacing” (read: dumping) thyroid hormones into the body will cause more problems than it helps. For such individuals, it is often preferable to provide support the healthy functioning of the thyroid and the neuroendocrine system as a whole by fortifying the gland with a wide range of nutrients, homeopathics, and glandular extracts to replace the missing links in the functional chain.

In addition to the essential nutrients iodine and L-tyrosine, a well-designed glandular formula will include thyroxine-free thyroid glandular extracts, which provide the thyroid with peptides and cofactors which are found in the gland itself and are required as part of normal thyroid function. Despite the widespread belief that such peptide cofactors would be destroyed by the digestive process, it’s now known the main route of absorption of amino acids is, in fact, by active transport in the form of peptides, rather than by totally breaking down proteins into individual amino acids. Evidence has also accumulated that many surprisingly large polypeptides and even proteins are directly absorbed by the gut. This is how protein allergens manage to find their way into the bloodstream, for instance.  Other proteins known to be absorbed from the GI include lactoferrin (a relatively large (80 kilodalton) immune glycoprotein) and even ferritin (500 kD).

A well-designed formula will also include smaller doses of adrenal, thymus, pituitary, and spleen glandulars, because the thyroid gland does not operate in a vacuum, but as part of an organic, homeostatic neuroendocrine system. If one part of this system is functioning suboptimally, it inevitably affects the balanced operation of the whole.

Finally, mildly potentized Calcarea fluorica and Lycopus virginicus create a rounded, balanced protocol for thyroid support. These homeopathics are usually used to treat persons with hyperthyroidism. They are included in the formular as homeostatic regulators of the effects of the rest of the formula: if the body begins to produce too much thyroid hormones, homeopathic theory stipulates that these homeopathics will balance out the effect, while they will not interfere with the thyroid’s activity so long as hormone production is low or healthy.

Sourcing and Processing

The processing and preparation of glandulars is an important issue. To eliminate any risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE/”mad cow disease”), glandulars may be sourced from free-range grazed, non-hormone fed live stock, preferably from New Zealand or Australia. Such animals are left to graze freely year-round, and are never fed rendered material from other animals. Such animals can be absolutely guaranteed to be BSE-free.

After extraction, the raw gland should be selectively pre-digested with enzymes and then subjected to ultrafiltration followed by lyophilization to preserve the integrity of the various components, and manufactured by federally-inspected and -approved laboratories with expertise in handling glandular products.

References

Barnes B, Galton L. Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness. 1976;New York: Thoruss Y. Crowell & Co.

Harrower HR. Thyroid Therapy. In An Endocrine Handbook. 1939; Glendale, CA: The Harrower Laboratory, 24-47.

Bunevicius R, Kazanavicius G, Zalinkevicius R, Prange AJ Jr. Effects of thyroxine as compared with thyroxine plus triiodothyronine in patients with hypothyroidism. N Engl J Med. 1999 Feb 11;340(6):424-9.

Crile GW. Diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the thyroid gland. 1932; London, WB Saunders & Co.

Gardner ML. Gastrointestinal absorption of intact proteins. Annu Rev Nutr. 1988;8:329-50.