About your Thyroid

Our thyroid gland sits in the throat and its job is to determine the rate at which everything happens in the body. It can be compared to the accelerator of your car - if it’s functioning too fast then everything moves too fast, if too slow then everything moves too slow. This includes your metabolism, energy production, digestion, circulation, reflexes and the rate at which you hear.

Most people will routinely have their thyroid levels checked via blood tests, consisting of mainly the TSH, considered as the “Gold Standard” for thyroid testing. Unfortunately blood tests have limited value in diagnosing hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), especially in the early stages. Therefore you can feel awful, but you may still be told you are ‘fine’.

There is another problem with routine blood tests for the thyroid; T3, the most biologically active thyroid hormone is not tested. Also, even if T3 is tested, we cannot see how much T3 is actually in our cells, which is where it does it’s work- helping the body produce adequate amounts of energy for the body.

Thyroflex testing can indicate whether we have enough intracellular T3 or not. As mentioned, the thyroid hormones regulate the speed at which everything happens in the body, including the reflexes. Thyroflex measures the speed of the reflexes to within 1/1000th of a second, using a simple, non invasive method. The results are instant and accurate.

If you think you may be suffering from hypothyroidism, we can help you to identify it and fix it. Often, we simply just need to nurture the thyroid with nutrients, as our soil in Australia is extremely deficient in nutrition, especially for the thyroid. Sometimes it’s a little more complicated as your thyroid works in symphony with your other hormones, including oestrogen, progesterone and cortisol. The thyroid is also affected by toxins (especially chromium, mercury and lead to name a few).

At Bayshore Naturopathic Clinic we can evaluate your individual health status and treat you accordingly.