If you have been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and are considering using natural treatment methods, then there is an excellent chance that you have considered taking nutritional supplements and / or herbal remedies to help restore your health to normal. While taking the right kind of nutritional supplements can help with Hashimoto, it can be difficult and risky to try to treat this serious autoimmune thyroid disorder on your own.

I have consulted with patients who thought they could visit their local health food store and purchase a “thyroid support” formula or a nutritional supplement that boosts the immune system, thinking that these types of supplements would provide a cure for their disorder. The truth is, most of the natural products that people buy to treat conditions like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis don’t do much to restore your health. While these supplements can sometimes provide temporary relief from your symptoms, in most cases it takes more than just nutritional supplements to fully restore a person’s health to normal. And of course, in some people with this condition, it is not possible to fully restore their health through natural treatment methods (although this does not mean that they still cannot benefit from a natural treatment protocol).

When choosing nutritional supplements for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, you should keep in mind that you are not only trying to restore the function of your thyroid gland, but equally important, you must strengthen your immune system. And in most cases, the adrenal glands and / or other areas of the body are affected as well. In fact, many healthcare professionals, including myself, agree that it is more important to focus on boosting the immune system before directly treating the thyroid gland. One reason for this is that a weakened immune system is one of the main reasons many people develop Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in the first place.

Supplements for immune system support

Some of the supplements that can help boost your immune system in people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis include echinacea, selenium, and astragalus. Of course, you should first consult with a competent doctor to determine which of these you should take, as well as the appropriate dosage. Before buying nutritional supplements, remember that quality is extremely important. This does not necessarily mean that you should buy the most expensive supplements out there, but you should be aware that most of the nutritional supplements sold in retail stores, on the Internet, and even in many health food stores are of poor quality. . And if they aren’t high-quality nutritional supplements, then your body likely won’t absorb them properly, which obviously means you won’t get the optimal benefits from taking them.

So what’s wrong with taking an immune system support formula at your local health food store to help boost your immune system? Well, if you can find a high-quality immune support formula, then that’s great, but in addition to all the low-quality ones out there, remember that it is extremely difficult to find a single “natural pill” that can do a great job at it. strengthening your immune system. It’s one thing to take a “wellness formula” to temporarily boost your immune system and reduce your chance of catching a cold or the flu. It’s a completely different thing to expect an immune system support formula to effectively fight an autoimmune condition, like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

It’s also important to know that it generally takes more than just taking nutritional supplements to strengthen the immune system. Here are five rules to follow that will help boost your immune system, as well as maintain the health of other areas of the body:

Rule No. # 1: Eat healthy most of the time.

Rule No. # 2: Take quality nutritional supplements.

Rule No. 3: Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

Rule # 4: Manage stress effectively

Rule No. # 5: exercise regularly

If you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and you do these five things regularly, over time you will strengthen your immune system, helping with your recovery. Additionally, this will also help prevent the development of other autoimmune conditions in the future, which is very common among people who have Hashimoto’s. The reason for this is that most people just take synthetic thyroid hormone for the rest of their lives and never address the immune system component. So if you focus on strengthening your immune system, in addition to restoring your thyroid gland function, you are much more likely to stay healthy in the future.

Have your adrenal glands checked

In addition to focusing on the immune system component, you should also have your adrenal glands tested, as many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis have adrenal problems. And just like the immune system, it is necessary to regulate adrenal function before giving any direct treatment to the thyroid gland. If you try to treat the thyroid gland before strengthening the immune system and balancing the adrenal glands, the treatment will not be as effective.

Often times these problems that I have talked about so far can be solved by following the five rules I listed above, as eating healthy and regularly will help regulate your blood sugar levels and in turn might be necessary to enforce rule n. 3, which means getting quality sleep every night. In general, when managing the adrenal glands, the main key is to regulate blood sugar levels. And the best two ways to do this are 1) get rid of any sweet cravings you may have and 2) avoid going long periods of time without eating.

Supplements to treat the adrenal glands

As for nutritional supplements that can help with the adrenal gland, an important one is called Gymnema, which can help stop any sweet-carbs links you may have. You also need to manage stress in your life, and while this involves modifying your lifestyle to some degree, one herb that can help with chronic stress is Eleuthero, which is also called Siberian Ginseng. Again, consult with a competent physician to determine the proper dosage of these supplements.

In addition to the immune system and the adrenal glands, other areas of the body can be the cause of the problem, so while it is important to address the immune system and the adrenal glands, this might not be enough to restore your health to normal. Some people have problems with their gastrointestinal tract which is the underlying cause of their disorder. Others have a hormonal imbalance that needs to be addressed. This is why it is a good idea to consult with a natural endocrine practitioner, as a competent one will look at other areas of the body, and not just the thyroid gland.

Supplements to support the thyroid gland

Speaking of the thyroid gland, there are supplements that can be taken to help with its function. Many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are deficient in iodine. However, someone with Hashimoto MUST NOT take iodine until both the immune system component and the adrenal glands are addressed. If taken right away, iodine can do more harm than good, and this is one reason many healthcare professionals will tell someone with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis to avoid iodine altogether. So iodine may be essential for a person who is deficient, but timing is extremely important regarding Hashimoto.

While there are other supplements and herbs that can offer thyroid support, such as Ashwaganda and Bladderwrack, the fact is that with Hashimoto’s Thyroidits, the thyroid gland is generally not directly affected. In other words, by addressing the actual cause of the autoimmune condition, it will often be fine to provide minimal nutritional support to the thyroid gland. Therefore, there is generally no good reason to take many supplements aimed directly at restoring the function of the thyroid gland. By clearing up other areas of the body and then providing some nutritional support to the thyroid gland, this gland will often begin to function at a normal level again.

Of course, this assumes that it is possible to fully restore health, as in some cases this cannot be done. For example, someone who had their thyroid gland completely removed will likely have to take natural or synthetic thyroid hormone for the rest of their life. On the other hand, this does not mean that they should not consider natural treatment methods to help strengthen their immune system, restore the function of their adrenal glands, correct any hormonal imbalances, etc.

In summary, taking nutritional supplements and herbal remedies in most cases can help. However, just because they are “natural” does not mean they do not carry any risk, so you should never treat yourself and consult an expert instead. Since we are all different, it makes sense that some people need to take different supplements and herbs, and of course not everyone will need to take the same dosage.

Also, although nutritional supplements and herbal remedies can help many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, taking supplements and herbs alone will not restore your health to normal. To achieve this, you need to make changes to your eating habits, exercise regularly, get a good night’s sleep, and manage the stress in your life. So as you can see, restoring your health is definitely not easy to do, but most of the time it is possible. But the person with this condition must be prepared to make these changes in their life. If you are ready to make these changes and want to see if you are a candidate for a natural treatment protocol, consider consulting with a natural endocrine practitioner. It may well be the wisest decision you make this year.