Supporting Your Thyroid with Essential Nutrients and Vitamins

Have you been trying to find new ways to support your thyroid gland function? There are nutrients and vitamins that you can use to support your thyroid work in real ways. In this article, I’ll share them with you and how to incorporate them into your day-to-day routine.

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Table of Contents

An Overview of Your Thyroid Gland
The Best Vitamins and Nutrients for Thyroid Health
Nutrient Pitfalls: Nutrients to Avoid for Thyroid Health
Dialing In Your Nutrients
The Best Vitamins and Nutrients for Your Thyroid

An Overview of Your Thyroid Gland

The fact is that your thyroid gland plays an essential role in regulating metabolism, energy, and mood. It does this by producing T4 (thyroxine) and T3 (triiodothyronine). In short, these hormones control many parts of your body’s health and wellness.

And when we lack them, even in small amounts, it can cause hypothyroidism (via Hashimoto’s disease). Further to that, a lack of balance can also cause issues with thyroid nodules, Graves’ disease, and more.

Basically, the thyroid works by combining nutrients in novel ways. Once you realize that, getting the right nutrients in the right amounts can play a life-changing role in your health.

The Best Vitamins and Nutrients for Thyroid Health

Now that we know a bit more about the role that nutrients can play in supporting your thyroid gland, I want to take you through some of my personal favorites…

Selenium

Selenium is critical for T4-to-T3 conversion, and diminishing thyroid antibodies. There is good data stating that, if thyroid antibodies are high, they can cause symptoms even if your thyroid levels are normal — which is why it’s worth addressing.

We can get selenium in good amounts from things like:

• Brazil nuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Lentils

Vitamin A

The relevance of vitamin A is that it is able to regulate gene expression in response to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). We also know that vitamin A needs to be converted, and thyroid abnormalities can make that more difficult.

By adding rich dietary sources of vitamin A, clinical trials have shown that doing so can lower TSH when it is too high (while elevating T3 when it is too low). This is true mainly for women with suboptimal thyroid function.

Zinc

Studies have shown that zinc supports proper TSH production, while also playing a role in converting T4 into T3. Zinc is also required for a healthy immune response.

It turns out that, while we can get zinc in our diet, extra amounts can be useful. That said, excessive amounts can be disruptive. Something like 10-12 milligrams per day is a nice amount of supplemental zinc for most adults.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been shown to lower antibodies when they are too high, but it is also important for regulating the overall immune response.

The trick with vitamin D is that there are truly not a lot of dietary sources of it. We might find a little vitamin D in some foods, but not enough to make a difference.

Sunlight can help, but in the modern world, we’re not outside enough to get the proper amounts. This makes vitamin D one that requires further supplementation. Most adults need about 1,000 IU’s to achieve blood levels of 30-50 nanograms per milliliter of vitamin D.

Vitamin C

For many facets of our health, including thyroid function, vitamin C is critical. We know that vitamin C protects thyroid cells from oxidative stress. It also helps the body more effectively absorb thyroid medication if those people are taking it.

Vitamin C may also be able to stabilize thyroid hormone levels in those with gut permeability and digestive problems.

Nutrient Pitfalls: Nutrients to Avoid for Thyroid Health

The issue with nutrients is that, while many of them can do great things, that is only possible when they are enjoyed in the right amounts. Let’s talk about which ones we should avoid…

Iodine

We need iodine for the health of our thyroid, don’t get me wrong. It’s the star of the show in many ways, but the trick is that we can easily get enough — and even too much.

And if you get even a slight excess of iodine, that by itself can cause or worsen autoimmune thyroid disease. And separate from autoimmunity, it can slow your thyroid health.

B Vitamins

People with thyroid disease can struggle if they get too many synthetic B vitamins. Some of the biggest offenders here are synthetic B6 and folic acid.

The reason for that is that many with thyroid disease have gene variations that make them not activate those quite as well. Especially when something like synthetic B6 is taken in high amounts, it can be a big cause of fatigue, anxiety, nerve pain, and other symptoms.

Manganese

If you find yourself getting way too much manganese, that can slow your thyroid. Studies have also shown that we generally do get enough manganese, meaning that people don’t really get deficient in it that they need to take more.

When I formulate vitamins, I typically don’t add any or more manganese. Because even those that supply 5 milligrams or more can be problematic for those with thyroid disease.

Iron

Iron is important because we need it, and many with thyroid disease can be too low in iron. But the drawback is that, if one doesn’t absolutely need iron, it can cause more harm than good.

And if iron is taken while being physically combined in a pill, alongside other vitamins, the other vitamins will not absorb as well. This is why I have kept iron out of my own Thyroid Daily multivitamin. If iron is inside, the antioxidants risk being less effective.

Dialing In Your Nutrients

When we talk about supporting your thyroid gland in real, meaningful ways, it is so important that we dial in the use of nutrients. That’s because the data tells us that:

• Selenium deficiencies raise the risk of autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Low vitamin D levels increase thyroid cancer risk.
• Low vitamin A can cause a poor response to TSH.
• Zinc deficiency worsens the immune system and makes weight gain an issue.

Multivitamins are such a good idea because they realize that every nutrient has a role to play in supporting your health. But the amount that you need, and the type that you need, is going to be different for those with thyroid disease.

I created Thyroid Daily to address that specific concern. It’s a one-a-day multivitamin that goes a long way in preventing nutrient problems with thyroid disease. All you have to do is take it alongside a meal, at least one hour after taking any thyroid medication.

When you do change your diet and you’re getting lower in iodine, while adding in good nutrients, you want to keep tabs on your thyroid levels. You may find out that you need changes to your medication, or your levels have improved to where you no longer need medication.

And that’s why it helps to know about nutrients where the dosing is more targeted. The big ones here are going to be vitamin D and iron, which are ones that you may or may not need, or you may need amounts that are different from the average person.

The Best Vitamins and Nutrients for Your Thyroid

In most cases, by getting the right kinds of micronutrients in your diet and supplements, you can radically improve symptoms, prevent disease, or even reverse a current disease.

And that’s the point. We want to feel better, but we also want to do so in ways that are best for our body now and moving forward. If you want safe and natural solutions, that’s exactly what I want for you, too.

If you feel like finding solutions, I’d love for you to take this quiz by clicking here. It can give you a more accurate read of your current health, while also painting a path forward about the things you can do that are simple, natural, and effective. Here’s to your best health!