Beyond iodine: Rev up your thyroid with selenium

Posted on May 10, 2017April 25, 2017 by Virginia Times-LawsonVirginia Tims-LawsonVirginia Tims-Lawson

https://personalliberty.com/beyond-iodine-rev-thyroid-selenium/

Did you know that at least 300 different symptoms could indicate you have a low-functioning thyroid?

For me it was debilitating fatigue starting around 3 p.m., sudden weight gain, terrible confusion and short term memory… not to mention I was cold all the time and my hair was falling out.

And although my symptoms were fairly typical, they’re not always reliable indicators.

For one thing, many of the 300 symptoms of a poorly functioning thyroid can appear to come from a cause other than the thyroid. Not only that, but hypothyroidism can be easy to miss because not everyone who has it will exhibit exactly the same symptoms.

That’s why it took my friend Terry so long to get a diagnosis. Her doctor finally ordered thyroid function testing and got answers.

Testing is really important, and I firmly believe it should be done sooner rather than later considering that, left untreated, hypothyroidism worsens with age.

It’s been linked to serious concerns such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, liver disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and many others.

Sadly, thyroid disease is very common. The Thyroid Federation International estimates that as many as 300 million people across the world have thyroid dysfunction — and over half of those don’t even know they have this condition!

Of course, getting a diagnosis is just a first step. Treating low thyroid effectively means balancing the multiple nutrients the thyroid needs to function properly.

Why your thyroid needs selenium

When people think of thyroid nutrients, the one that normally comes to mind is iodine, which is essential to make thyroid hormone. Also, a lot of people are iodine-deficient.

However, you need a number of other nutrients as well to support hormone function, and the second most important mineral for your thyroid is selenium. Per gram of tissue, your thyroid contains more selenium than any other organ in your body.

The critical function of selenium is to activate your production of thyroid hormone.

Selenium is an essential component of the enzymes that catalyze the conversion of T4, which is the inactive form of the thyroid hormone, to T3 — the active form.

In other words, if you don’t have enough selenium, you won’t have thyroid hormone in a form your body can use.

If you’re low on selenium, supplementation can improve T4-to-T3 conversion.

Selenium also protects the thyroid gland from damage.

In making thyroid hormone, your thyroid cells generate hydrogen peroxide — yes, that’s exactly the same antiseptic your mother used on cuts and burns to prevent infection.

But hydrogen peroxide in the thyroid hurts, not heals.

Hydrogen peroxide generates an enormous number of free radicals that, if not neutralized, can seriously damage and even destroy your thyroid cells. Selenium is one of a group of enzymes that rush to the rescue, neutralize hydrogen peroxide and preserve your thyroid cells from devastation.

Selenium combats inflammation and destructive antibodies.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis — the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the U.S. — is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the thyroid gland. With Hashimoto’s, you’re likely to develop antibodies to an enzyme inside your thyroid cells that you need to synthesize thyroid hormone.

In 2002, German researchers treated Hashimoto patients with high antibody levels with the antioxidant selenium. After three months, their antibody levels had decreased by 66.4 percent!