Thyroid guide
Part 1: thyroid overview
1. What is the thyroid
2. What does the thyroid do
3. Thyroid conditions
Part 2: thyroid conditions
4. Too little thyroid hormone
5. Too much thyroid hormone
6. Goitres
7. Thyroid inflammation
8. Symptoms and how to test your thyroid
Part 3: helping the thyroid
9. Thyroid hormone exogenous
10. Supplements for thyroid (what to take)
11. How to safely maximise thyroid using supplements (doeses and dosing)
12. 100% natural maximising the thyroid
13. Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person
Part 4: thyroid and anabolic hormones
14. Anabolic hormones and the thyroid
Part 5: bibliography (sources)
(In replies)
Part 6: glossary
(In the replies)
• If a word has a small number above it (eg. A¹ then that means the word will be in the glossary under that number at the end or in the replies.
• If it says {see source x} (x being a replaceable variable) then that means there is an image related to that piece of text, the image will be credited and have the source number under it as well
• If it says chapter, that just means what page thingy it’s on, so like how number 1 is what is the thyroid, that’s the chapter
(Note: Read both the supplements and the natural thyroid maximising chapters if you are going to use supplements, as the natural chapter contains a lot of stuff about diet, also if your wanting to not use supplements and go 100% natural still read the supplement chapter).
1. What is the thyroid?
The thyroid {see source 1} is extremely important. It Is a wing shaped gland¹ thats part of of the endocrine system² and it affect essentially every system in your body, if you do not take care of your thyroid then you risk things all over your body.
Source for image: https://melbournethyroidsurgery.com.au/thyroid-surgery/the-thyroid-gland/
{source 1}
2. What does the thyroid do?
The thyroid is extremely important, it controls metabolism energy use wise, controls your body temperature (which is why a lot of the time people say if you get cold easily, you may have problems with thyroid), it affects the heart (how it beats and how strong), affects blood pressure and flow, extremely important for growth (helps bones grow correctly), affects brain and nervous system, helps maintain muscle and repair, affects hormone production, helps fertility, controls cholesterol, affects oxygen (helps body use it right), affects skin hair and nails, and immune system and it dictates your bodies speed (I’ll go into more detail about this specific one in chapters 4 and 5).
3. Thyroid conditions and symptoms
Now that I’ve talked about what the thyroid is and what it does, what are the conditions. There’s 2 main thyroid conditions, them being hypothyroidism³ and hyperthyroidism⁴, other than these two the other thyroid conditions are mostly autoimmune⁵ and a few others. People can also have an enlarged thyroid which are also called a goitre (I’ll go over this In chapter 6). There’s also a few thyroid conditions I won’t go over as I’ve already spent a while making this, but if you guys want I’ll discuss and talk about them). thyroid cancers, congenital hyperthyroidism⁴, thyroid hormone resistance and thyroid nodule.
4. Hypothyroidism³ (Too little thyroid hormone)
hypothyroidism³, which is also called an under active thyroid, is actually somewhat common, a statistic from NIDDK says 5 out of 100 Americans have it (20 million people), Hormones Australia has a statistic saying approximately 1 in 33 percent of Australians have it, and a statistic from the national institute of health claims that 5% of people have diagnosed Hypothyroidism³, and another 5% have undiagnosed. (Sources for statistics: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), Hormones Australia, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6587201/). Hypothyroidism³ causes fatigue, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, constipation, depression, muscle weakness and thinning hair or skin.
5. hyperthyroidism⁴ (too much thyroid hormone).
Hyperthyroidism, also known as thyrotoxicosis is when your thyroid produces too much thyroid hormone. It is dangerouse as it can even cause life threatening conditions. It causes your metabolism to enter an overdrive state, heart conditions like atrial fibrillation⁶ and even heart failure, it can also cause a medical emergency called thyroid storm⁷. The national institute of health says worldwide only 0.2 to 1.4 percent of people BUT another type of hyperthyroidism⁴ affects an additional 0.7 to 1.4 percent more people. Hormones Australia says In Australia, hyperthyroidism⁴ affects 0.3 to 0.5 percent of the population with an additional 0.7 to 1.7 percent more experiencing a different type of hyperthyroidism⁴. (Statistics are from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37847271/ , https://www.hormones-australia.org.au/endocrine-diseases/hyperthyroidism/ ).
6. Goitres
Goitres isn’t as much of a condition as hyper and hypo thyroidism is, but it’s still important enough that I should talk about it and it can also directly impact your looks {see source 2 and 3}. It’s basically an abnormally large thyroid Gland¹, and it can cause hyper and hypo thyroidism. Its Main cause is iodine deficiency, Autoimmune⁵ disease, and certain foods.
Source: https://www.eightygood.com/articles...CWzEk5SyNy6kfUVGYHZfcV8EuEpSb2vfRqRphOhnjOZUg
{source 2}
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29885-2
{source 3}
7. Thyroid inflammation
An inflamed thyroid, also known as thyroiditis, occurs when your immune system or an infection attacks the thyroid Gland¹. This inflammation can cause stored thyroid hormones¹⁸ to leak into your bloodstream. The condition can trigger both hyperthyroidism⁴ (anxiety, weight loss, fast heart rate) and Hypothyroidism³ (fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance) as the Gland¹ becomes damaged.
Hashimoto’s disease: This is where the body attacks the thyroid, leading to a permanent under active thyroid
Subacute thyroiditis: a painful and swollen thyroid it normally happens a few weeks after a respiratory infection
Postpartum thyroiditis: develops in some women after giving birth, it’s usually temporary and goes away on its own
Silent thyroiditis: similar to postpartum thyroiditis, its an enlarged thyroid but it’s just painless and is believed to be Autoimmune⁵ driven
8. How to test your thyroid
Now that you’ve hopefully read through the previous chapters, you should know what hyperthyroidism⁴ and Hypothyroidism³ is. If you have a goiter, then safe to say you already have a problem wrong with your thyroid, but for majority of people it probably won’t be so easy to tell. If you have symptoms of feeling colder than other people a lot more often, you gain weight a lot easier or even unexplained weight gain, feeling fatigued, and your hair and skin is thinning then you should go to a doctor to check for Hypothyroidism³. I’ll discuss exogenous thyroid hormone and supplements in the next part, but you shouldn’t go trying to fix it yourself, as giving yourself hyperthyroidism⁴ isn’t good either. hyperthyroidism⁴ gives you unexplained weight loss despite eating a lot and more appetite, rapid heartbeat, nervousness, heat intolerance⁸ and muscle weakness.
If you don’t have these symptoms but still want to check then look at source 4.
Source: https://www.verywellhealth.com/thyroid-disease-detection-neck-3233223
{source 4}
9. Exogenous thyroid hormone.
To start us off with helping the thyroid, i figured i should talk about thyroid hormone. If you think you have a thyroid disorder and you’re thinking of getting thyroid hormone, visit a doctor or someone who can reliably check for you before. If you do have exogenous thyroid hormone, then take it on an empty stomach atleast 30-60 minutes before breakfast, or three hours after eating. Theres three types of hormone therapy for it, levothyroxine (standard synthetic T₄ (definition for T₄ is In the glossary, only reason I put this separately is so there’s no confusion, same with T₃), Liothyronine (Cytomel) which is synthetic T₃ and acts faster, Desiccated Thyroid Extract (Nature-Throid, Armour) which comes from animal thyroids and is a mix of T₄ and T₃.
10. Supplements for thyroid
What supplements should you take to help your thyroid? Well here is everything actually useful for it; selenium (a conversion catalyst⁹ and protects the Gland¹ from oxidative stress (might make a guide on oxidative stress if there isn’t one but idrk), zinc (zinc is essential for the initial production of of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)¹⁰ in the brain), iron (helps convert T₄ into T₃), vitamin D and vitamin B12. I’ll also talk about iodine (might make an iodine guide) but although iodine is probably one of the best supplements out there, unless you have an explicit iodine deficiency taking high strength iodine can worsen thyroid inflammation and thyroid conditions (try getting it naturally). And if anyone’s wondering about L-Tyrosine if you have an over active thyroid it will make it worse and enter dangerous levels of thyroid hormone. Also I’ll add something about myo-inositol, when you pair it with selenium clinical tests show it boosts TSH
11. How to safely maximise thyroid using supplements (doeses and dosing)
Selenium: 55 to 70mcg for adults and 15-70mcg for teens
Zinc: for adolescent: 9-11 milligrams and adults 8-11. Safest upper limit is 34mg for teens and 40mg for adults (I remember reading that zinc was lowering people’s testosterone because of misuse of it. Use it wisely and with research).
Iron: for teenage 11mg for men, women is 15mg. For adults 8mg for men and 18mg for women (For women, the iron changes if they’re lactating and stuff so if you are a woman then just keep in mind).
Vitamin D: adult and teen dosing is the same basically and it’s 15mcg but a lot of health experts say 25mcg to 50mcg
Vitamin B12: kids 9-13 need 1.8mcg and teens 14-18 need 2.4mcg and adults need 2.4. Pregnant teens and women need 2.6mcg and breastfeeding teens and women need 2.8mcg.
Also stay away from processed foods and eat whole foods as they will support the thyroid.
12. 100% natural maximising the thyroid
If you don’t want to take any supplements (even though they are natural) here’s what you should do. You want to eat foods that contain the same things as above but also try getting natural iodine (I know I said it can make it worse, but naturally getting iodine is a good idea). Another thing is processed food which damages the thyroid. Keep your gut healthy, eat cooked Goitrogenic¹¹ vegetables properly (do not eat too much of them, or too little as too much damages the thyroid via iodine, and too little also is not good), these are vegetables like Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. Some soy products too like Tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. And Cassava, millet, lima beans, and sweet potatoes. Also prioritising good micronutrients, reducing as much stress as possible and being active will help keep your thyroid healthy naturally, so will getting 7 to 9 hours of good sleep, and ontop of all of these, avoid crash dieting because that can also shut down your thyroid, so can cutting calories too much and to an amount too low.
13. Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person
Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person. The reason I didn’t put this with the exogenous thyroid hormone chapter, was because it would be way too long. Taking thyroid hormone as a healthy person isn’t recommended as it can cause hyperthyroidism⁴, and if you didn’t read chapter 5, or you forgot then it can cause; irregular heart beat, high blood pressure and osteoporosis¹².
14 Anabolic hormones and the thyroid
testosterone:
The thyroid Gland¹ influences test production , metabolism, transport and availability. As it impacts the body's production, transport, and availability of testosterone, the effects differ depending on the condition
Hgh:
Hypothyroidism³ tops the brain from getting the signals it needs. This lowers growth hormone levels and causes growth hormone deficiency.
hyperthyroidism⁴ makes turnover and urinary clearance of hgh. While it can cause an elevated state of hgh secretion, it often reduces the pituitary Gland’s¹ response to growth hormone stimulating hormones, meaning the body is clearing out the GH just as fast as it produces it.
igf’s:
Thyroid hormones T3 and T4 have a large impact on the production of insulin-like Growth Factors (IGFs)¹³ but mostly IGF-I. They regulate the growth hormone (GH)-IGF-I axis¹⁴ by controlling pituitary hgh release, hepatic GH receptor gene expression¹⁵, and the binding. If you have Hypothyroidism³ then you’ll have less IGF-1 and less IGFBP-3¹⁶ harming growth especially in young children. If you have hyperthyroidism⁴ than your IGF-1 levels will vary but won’t be low and you’ll have more IGFBP-2¹⁷ and IGFBP-3¹⁶
this is my first guide, I know that this was pretty long and it took me a while to make, please bump
God bless 
Part 1: thyroid overview
1. What is the thyroid
2. What does the thyroid do
3. Thyroid conditions
Part 2: thyroid conditions
4. Too little thyroid hormone
5. Too much thyroid hormone
6. Goitres
7. Thyroid inflammation
8. Symptoms and how to test your thyroid
Part 3: helping the thyroid
9. Thyroid hormone exogenous
10. Supplements for thyroid (what to take)
11. How to safely maximise thyroid using supplements (doeses and dosing)
12. 100% natural maximising the thyroid
13. Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person
Part 4: thyroid and anabolic hormones
14. Anabolic hormones and the thyroid
Part 5: bibliography (sources)
(In replies)
Part 6: glossary
(In the replies)
• If a word has a small number above it (eg. A¹ then that means the word will be in the glossary under that number at the end or in the replies.
• If it says {see source x} (x being a replaceable variable) then that means there is an image related to that piece of text, the image will be credited and have the source number under it as well
• If it says chapter, that just means what page thingy it’s on, so like how number 1 is what is the thyroid, that’s the chapter
(Note: Read both the supplements and the natural thyroid maximising chapters if you are going to use supplements, as the natural chapter contains a lot of stuff about diet, also if your wanting to not use supplements and go 100% natural still read the supplement chapter).
1. What is the thyroid?
The thyroid {see source 1} is extremely important. It Is a wing shaped gland¹ thats part of of the endocrine system² and it affect essentially every system in your body, if you do not take care of your thyroid then you risk things all over your body.
Source for image: https://melbournethyroidsurgery.com.au/thyroid-surgery/the-thyroid-gland/
{source 1}
2. What does the thyroid do?
The thyroid is extremely important, it controls metabolism energy use wise, controls your body temperature (which is why a lot of the time people say if you get cold easily, you may have problems with thyroid), it affects the heart (how it beats and how strong), affects blood pressure and flow, extremely important for growth (helps bones grow correctly), affects brain and nervous system, helps maintain muscle and repair, affects hormone production, helps fertility, controls cholesterol, affects oxygen (helps body use it right), affects skin hair and nails, and immune system and it dictates your bodies speed (I’ll go into more detail about this specific one in chapters 4 and 5).
3. Thyroid conditions and symptoms
Now that I’ve talked about what the thyroid is and what it does, what are the conditions. There’s 2 main thyroid conditions, them being hypothyroidism³ and hyperthyroidism⁴, other than these two the other thyroid conditions are mostly autoimmune⁵ and a few others. People can also have an enlarged thyroid which are also called a goitre (I’ll go over this In chapter 6). There’s also a few thyroid conditions I won’t go over as I’ve already spent a while making this, but if you guys want I’ll discuss and talk about them). thyroid cancers, congenital hyperthyroidism⁴, thyroid hormone resistance and thyroid nodule.
4. Hypothyroidism³ (Too little thyroid hormone)
hypothyroidism³, which is also called an under active thyroid, is actually somewhat common, a statistic from NIDDK says 5 out of 100 Americans have it (20 million people), Hormones Australia has a statistic saying approximately 1 in 33 percent of Australians have it, and a statistic from the national institute of health claims that 5% of people have diagnosed Hypothyroidism³, and another 5% have undiagnosed. (Sources for statistics: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), Hormones Australia, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6587201/). Hypothyroidism³ causes fatigue, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, constipation, depression, muscle weakness and thinning hair or skin.
5. hyperthyroidism⁴ (too much thyroid hormone).
Hyperthyroidism, also known as thyrotoxicosis is when your thyroid produces too much thyroid hormone. It is dangerouse as it can even cause life threatening conditions. It causes your metabolism to enter an overdrive state, heart conditions like atrial fibrillation⁶ and even heart failure, it can also cause a medical emergency called thyroid storm⁷. The national institute of health says worldwide only 0.2 to 1.4 percent of people BUT another type of hyperthyroidism⁴ affects an additional 0.7 to 1.4 percent more people. Hormones Australia says In Australia, hyperthyroidism⁴ affects 0.3 to 0.5 percent of the population with an additional 0.7 to 1.7 percent more experiencing a different type of hyperthyroidism⁴. (Statistics are from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37847271/ , https://www.hormones-australia.org.au/endocrine-diseases/hyperthyroidism/ ).
6. Goitres
Goitres isn’t as much of a condition as hyper and hypo thyroidism is, but it’s still important enough that I should talk about it and it can also directly impact your looks {see source 2 and 3}. It’s basically an abnormally large thyroid Gland¹, and it can cause hyper and hypo thyroidism. Its Main cause is iodine deficiency, Autoimmune⁵ disease, and certain foods.
Source: https://www.eightygood.com/articles...CWzEk5SyNy6kfUVGYHZfcV8EuEpSb2vfRqRphOhnjOZUg
{source 2}
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29885-2
{source 3}
7. Thyroid inflammation
An inflamed thyroid, also known as thyroiditis, occurs when your immune system or an infection attacks the thyroid Gland¹. This inflammation can cause stored thyroid hormones¹⁸ to leak into your bloodstream. The condition can trigger both hyperthyroidism⁴ (anxiety, weight loss, fast heart rate) and Hypothyroidism³ (fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance) as the Gland¹ becomes damaged.
Hashimoto’s disease: This is where the body attacks the thyroid, leading to a permanent under active thyroid
Subacute thyroiditis: a painful and swollen thyroid it normally happens a few weeks after a respiratory infection
Postpartum thyroiditis: develops in some women after giving birth, it’s usually temporary and goes away on its own
Silent thyroiditis: similar to postpartum thyroiditis, its an enlarged thyroid but it’s just painless and is believed to be Autoimmune⁵ driven
8. How to test your thyroid
Now that you’ve hopefully read through the previous chapters, you should know what hyperthyroidism⁴ and Hypothyroidism³ is. If you have a goiter, then safe to say you already have a problem wrong with your thyroid, but for majority of people it probably won’t be so easy to tell. If you have symptoms of feeling colder than other people a lot more often, you gain weight a lot easier or even unexplained weight gain, feeling fatigued, and your hair and skin is thinning then you should go to a doctor to check for Hypothyroidism³. I’ll discuss exogenous thyroid hormone and supplements in the next part, but you shouldn’t go trying to fix it yourself, as giving yourself hyperthyroidism⁴ isn’t good either. hyperthyroidism⁴ gives you unexplained weight loss despite eating a lot and more appetite, rapid heartbeat, nervousness, heat intolerance⁸ and muscle weakness.
If you don’t have these symptoms but still want to check then look at source 4.
Source: https://www.verywellhealth.com/thyroid-disease-detection-neck-3233223
{source 4}
9. Exogenous thyroid hormone.
To start us off with helping the thyroid, i figured i should talk about thyroid hormone. If you think you have a thyroid disorder and you’re thinking of getting thyroid hormone, visit a doctor or someone who can reliably check for you before. If you do have exogenous thyroid hormone, then take it on an empty stomach atleast 30-60 minutes before breakfast, or three hours after eating. Theres three types of hormone therapy for it, levothyroxine (standard synthetic T₄ (definition for T₄ is In the glossary, only reason I put this separately is so there’s no confusion, same with T₃), Liothyronine (Cytomel) which is synthetic T₃ and acts faster, Desiccated Thyroid Extract (Nature-Throid, Armour) which comes from animal thyroids and is a mix of T₄ and T₃.
10. Supplements for thyroid
What supplements should you take to help your thyroid? Well here is everything actually useful for it; selenium (a conversion catalyst⁹ and protects the Gland¹ from oxidative stress (might make a guide on oxidative stress if there isn’t one but idrk), zinc (zinc is essential for the initial production of of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)¹⁰ in the brain), iron (helps convert T₄ into T₃), vitamin D and vitamin B12. I’ll also talk about iodine (might make an iodine guide) but although iodine is probably one of the best supplements out there, unless you have an explicit iodine deficiency taking high strength iodine can worsen thyroid inflammation and thyroid conditions (try getting it naturally). And if anyone’s wondering about L-Tyrosine if you have an over active thyroid it will make it worse and enter dangerous levels of thyroid hormone. Also I’ll add something about myo-inositol, when you pair it with selenium clinical tests show it boosts TSH
11. How to safely maximise thyroid using supplements (doeses and dosing)
Selenium: 55 to 70mcg for adults and 15-70mcg for teens
Zinc: for adolescent: 9-11 milligrams and adults 8-11. Safest upper limit is 34mg for teens and 40mg for adults (I remember reading that zinc was lowering people’s testosterone because of misuse of it. Use it wisely and with research).
Iron: for teenage 11mg for men, women is 15mg. For adults 8mg for men and 18mg for women (For women, the iron changes if they’re lactating and stuff so if you are a woman then just keep in mind).
Vitamin D: adult and teen dosing is the same basically and it’s 15mcg but a lot of health experts say 25mcg to 50mcg
Vitamin B12: kids 9-13 need 1.8mcg and teens 14-18 need 2.4mcg and adults need 2.4. Pregnant teens and women need 2.6mcg and breastfeeding teens and women need 2.8mcg.
Also stay away from processed foods and eat whole foods as they will support the thyroid.
12. 100% natural maximising the thyroid
If you don’t want to take any supplements (even though they are natural) here’s what you should do. You want to eat foods that contain the same things as above but also try getting natural iodine (I know I said it can make it worse, but naturally getting iodine is a good idea). Another thing is processed food which damages the thyroid. Keep your gut healthy, eat cooked Goitrogenic¹¹ vegetables properly (do not eat too much of them, or too little as too much damages the thyroid via iodine, and too little also is not good), these are vegetables like Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. Some soy products too like Tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. And Cassava, millet, lima beans, and sweet potatoes. Also prioritising good micronutrients, reducing as much stress as possible and being active will help keep your thyroid healthy naturally, so will getting 7 to 9 hours of good sleep, and ontop of all of these, avoid crash dieting because that can also shut down your thyroid, so can cutting calories too much and to an amount too low.
13. Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person
Taking exogenous thyroid as a healthy person. The reason I didn’t put this with the exogenous thyroid hormone chapter, was because it would be way too long. Taking thyroid hormone as a healthy person isn’t recommended as it can cause hyperthyroidism⁴, and if you didn’t read chapter 5, or you forgot then it can cause; irregular heart beat, high blood pressure and osteoporosis¹².
14 Anabolic hormones and the thyroid
testosterone:
The thyroid Gland¹ influences test production , metabolism, transport and availability. As it impacts the body's production, transport, and availability of testosterone, the effects differ depending on the condition
Hgh:
Hypothyroidism³ tops the brain from getting the signals it needs. This lowers growth hormone levels and causes growth hormone deficiency.
hyperthyroidism⁴ makes turnover and urinary clearance of hgh. While it can cause an elevated state of hgh secretion, it often reduces the pituitary Gland’s¹ response to growth hormone stimulating hormones, meaning the body is clearing out the GH just as fast as it produces it.
igf’s:
Thyroid hormones T3 and T4 have a large impact on the production of insulin-like Growth Factors (IGFs)¹³ but mostly IGF-I. They regulate the growth hormone (GH)-IGF-I axis¹⁴ by controlling pituitary hgh release, hepatic GH receptor gene expression¹⁵, and the binding. If you have Hypothyroidism³ then you’ll have less IGF-1 and less IGFBP-3¹⁶ harming growth especially in young children. If you have hyperthyroidism⁴ than your IGF-1 levels will vary but won’t be low and you’ll have more IGFBP-2¹⁷ and IGFBP-3¹⁶
this is my first guide, I know that this was pretty long and it took me a while to make, please bump
God bless 