Do you eat like a bird and still gain weight? Feel depressed and exhausted even though you eat well and sleep enough? Do you have high cholesterol? It might be low thyroid, also known as hypothyroidism.



Low thyroid affects one in seven people, five to eight times as many women as men, probably because women are more likely to get tested than men are.



It's more common than most of us realize. Here's the symptoms, causes, and some effective solutions.





The Thyroid Hormones



Your thyroid gland sits on the front of your throat. Its primary role is to regulate metabolic rate.



The hormones include:




thyroid-stimulating hormone



thyroxine (T4)



triiodothyronine (T3)



reverse T3



thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies.




Technically, thyroid peroxidase is an enzyme, and the test looks for antibodies to that enzyme. It's not a hormone. However, it's usually measured with your hormones.



Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH)



Your pituitary gland produces and secretes thyroid-stimulating hormone as means of notifying your thyroid gland to produce hormones. TSH is usually the first (and unfortunately, sometimes only) thyroid-related hormone doctors measure. TSH stimulates the thyroid gland to produce T3 and T4, the hormones that act on your cells.



Elevated TSH levels indicates your T3 and T4 may be too low. Low TSH suggests they may be too high.



When doctors test only TSH, they make assumptions about your thyroid function.



The only way to know whether your levels are optimal is to test T4 and T3.



The main difference between T3 and T4 is that T3 has three iodine molecules, and T4 has four molecules. Interestingly, almost all the body's iodine is bound to these thyroid hormones, making iodine a critical nutrient for thyroid function.



Thyroxine (T4)



Between T3 and T4, T4 is the weaker of the two. But it is 30-100 times more concentrated in the body than T3. Even though it isn't as powerful, there's so much more T4 than T3 that T4 has the most significant impact on metabolism.



Free T4 is the T4 available for use by the body.



Triiodothyronine (T3)



T3 is the more potent. Some T3 is produced directly by the thyroid gland, and some is converted from T4.



Reverse T3 (rT3)



As a way to remove excess T4, the body converts T4 to rT3. Reverse T3 increases during excessive stress, chronic calorie restriction, or illness, which helps conserve energy.



Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Antibodies



Thyroid peroxidase is an enzyme necessary for proper thyroid function. When antibodies are present, it is a sign that your immune system is attacking TPO. Left unmanaged, you can destroy your thyroid gland. The most common thyroid-related autoimmune disease is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.



HormoneNormal Levels of Thyroid HormonesThyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH)0.45-4.21 mIU/L (optimal: 0.45-2.3 mIU/L)Thyroxine (T4)0.93-1.71 ng/dLTriiodothyronine (T3)2.3-4.2 pg/dLReverse T39.2-24.2 ng/dLThyroid Peroxidase (TPO)<34 IU/mL



The American Thyroid Association says that 12% of U.S. citizens will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetime. They also say 20 million Americans have some type of thyroid disease. If you don't have an issue, you probably know someone who does.



The first stage of hypothyroidism is called "Subclinical Hypothyroidism." In this stage, you have elevated TSH, but T3 and T4 are normal.




Thorne Thyroid Test





Thyroid imbalance is more common than you might think. This at-home blood test provides insights into thyroid function by measuring key hormone levels. Results include a personalized health plan.












LEARN MORE





Your thyroid regulates the speed of your muscle contraction, thinking, digestive system, energy and heat production, and most other metabolic processes. When you're hypothyroid, you feel like you're living in slow motion.



Hypothyroidism shares some symptoms with other conditions. You'll even notice some symptoms as similar to symptoms of low testoster...