Many of the women that I see in my clinic are concerned that a thyroid malfunction may be the cause of their unwanted symptoms. In fact, you may have already been prescribed some form of thyroid medication. 
If this sounds like you … you’re not alone. I’ve found that one in three are taking thyroid medication!
This might be an acceptable short-term strategy, but I don’t recommend taking any supplement or medication long-term. Medication … or even a natural supplement … should be used in the short-term to buy you some time to figure out what’s really going on.
I recently heard someone refer to the thyroid as the “canary in the coal mine.” The canary stops singing 
when the oxygen levels are critically low.
Similarly, the thyroid malfunctions when your energy levels are too low to support all of your internal systems. Boosting your thyroid with medication ignores what’s draining your energy.
We need to stop suppressing symptoms and get to the bottom of what’s really going on … to restore our body’s energy reserves. That’s going to require that we take a different approach.
We need to …
- Be patient with our bodies
- Develop awareness
- Learn how to be our own PCP
In my book, “What’s Your Kryptonite?”, I encourage readers to be their primary care person. You know best what’s really going on with you …
… what works for you and what doesn’t.
If you’d like to have a quick at-home way to evaluate how well your thyroid is regulating your metabolism, body temperature, and energy levels, I share what I have used myself in the most recent episode of Let’s Talk Toxins. It’s more helpful than bloodwork for many.
When your thyroid needs a boost, it’s best to get the extra micronutrients through food sources. This allows your body to fill the tank with what it does need and let go of what it doesn’t.
Digestion naturally handles what we don’t need … assuming it’s functioning properly. 
We may need to supplement in the short-term because we’ve got a deficiency that wouldn’t be practical to address with food. But we don’t want to take this approach long-term for many reasons.
When you focus on the root cause of the problem, you’re going to experience other positive side effects as the primary concern begins to fade. And, in the process you’ve learned to become your own PCP.
That’s the best positive side effect!
Until next week …
Be Well!
Dr. Gala
