The Connection Between Adrenals and Thyroid

Did you know there is a connection between the thyroid and adrenals?

“Think of the Thyroid as the gas pedal in your car, and the Adrenals as the engine. Both have to work, and communicate with each other.”¹

People given medication for a low-functioning thyroid may respond negatively as increasing metabolism can worsen a condition of adrenal insufficiency. This can lead some people to think that the thyroid treatment is incorrect or insufficient. Or it can unmask an underlying adrenal issue.

Finding the correct treatment can take time and much fine-tuning. For optimal thyroid health, addressing adrenals in a health approach is essential.

Chronic stress plays a big role in our general well-being. The simplest way to understand this is to remember that the body is intelligent. When faced with a threat, the body goes into fight-flight-freeze mode to ensure the highest chances of survival. This means the body is focused on channelling resources to the most vital functions to fight tooth and nail, run (ok fly) like a bat out of hell, or freeze and hope for the best.

Being in this constant state of fight-flight-freeze mode pulls energy away from the functions that allow us to thrive and not just survive. This means many systems in our body slow down – digestion, immune system, reproduction, and thyroid function. The body cannot fully rejuvenate and heal under these conditions.  Many people experience adrenal fatigue.

What a stress hormonal imbalance can feel like

Many of the symptoms for thyroid dysfunction and adrenal fatigue are similar.

According to Dr Amy Myers, chronic stress affects thyroid function in the following ways:²

People understand the pressures of stress, and live it. If you don’t, think of the trash compactor scene in Star Wars.

Our world is fast-paced, the speed of data exchange and the number of stimuli having skyrocketed exponentially. The old socioeconomic cultural structures in place are no longer there. Or they are not supportive enough of today’s needs. Here’s something to remember – community and strong social network, research shows, are cornerstones to happiness and health.

To resign to the idea that chronic stress is just part of life and to declare a state of helplessness is part of the larger issue of self-betrayal. So let’s find delve in to see how we can reduce stress and specifically support and rebalance the adrenals.

① Dietary Clean Up

In this video Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of Beat Sugar Addiction Now, explains about adrenal fatigue, the symptoms, his “Feed Me Now” test, how adrenal fatigue is tested, and what he suggests, including increasing water, salt, B5, licorice, and Vitamin C.

Because of the connection between the adrenals and thyroid, we can first restore our adrenals. When we can reduce stress, boost our immune system, and enhance our gut health, our adrenals and overall well-being improves. It gives a clearer picture of the thyroid condition as well.

When we are stressed, we gravitate to the sweet, caffeinated, and starchy which gives us (temporary) satisfaction. This combo leads to tired but wired.

So what to do? Low sugars, grains, and carbs, moderate clean proteins, and higher fats, with high-quality plant food, is a way to lower the burden on the body.

And then there is bone broth, which has had some kind of cultural revival of late. Bone broth comes highly recommended by Jordan Rubin, co-founder of Garden of Life, health expert, and author of books such as Patient Heal Thyself. Protein, in the form of collagen as bone broth, is adrenal-and thyroid-friendly. ³

The ideal foods in TCM for adrenals, according to Dr Josh Axe, are the dark coloured ones – black, purple, and red such as cranberries, blackberries, blueberries, and pomegranates. Dr Steven Gundry, world-renowned heart surgeon and best-selling author of Dr Gundry’s Diet Evolution, also loves these dark fruits, high in polyphenols which boost energy production and metabolism.³ With the correspondence of these foods with the Water Element, the adrenals and kidneys also benefit from good sources of fish and seaweed.

Here is a meal suggestion from Jordan Rubin ⁴:
– appetizer of kimchi or sauerkraut. Add an avocado.
– Try a one-pot meal. Cook either purple or black rice or quinoa in bone broth with onion (which is anti-inflammatory). Sauté fish in coconut oil with vegetables – mushrooms, onions, and add everything to the rice/quinoa.

Here are the other recommendations from Jordan Rubin to consider:³

② Adrenal Issues, a Miscommunication Problem

Dr Carrie Jones discusses on High Intensity Health adrenal “malfunction” as a problem of miscommunication, often stemming from the hypothalamus and pituitary. The causes of this miscommunication? Chronic stress, inflammation, and obesity.

In this informative video, learn about cortisol production, cortisol from fat, how sometimes it is a rhythm issue (timing of cortisol production) and not an adrenal problem plus the role of the liver and more.

Tips : Milk Thistle, choline, and detox tea to support the liver. Go with your natural rhythms and minimize exposure to blue light, mobile phone, and radiation. These disrupt melatonin production. Turn off your router at night, detox your environment of radiation toxins, and bring down the brightness in the bedroom for sleep. Stop hassling – have downtime. Get to why you are stressed.

③ Find your sources of stress

For some people, where their stress is coming from is obvious. For others, journalling to see the patterns can be revealing and productive. Finding out what causes us stress and why is a long-term approach to adrenal and overall health.

Learn to say yes when you truly want to say yes. We have all said yes because it’s the “nice thing to do” or we don’t want to disappoint or somehow we feel pressured.

While pressures appear from the outside – last minute changes to a project deadline, your children getting sick on an important work day when you are holding down the fort yourself, for example, the most intense pressures come from within.

Do interior work to discover where the inner judgment comes from, what are we trying to avoid, and where and why we yearn for belonging. Perhaps dedicated inner child work through meditation, regression, and EFT may be the next step for you. Perhaps it is dreamwork. Or…

What we think is causing us stress is usually a symptom or a reflection of something going on inside. Next time someone “makes” you to feel like demolishing a punching bag (or a whole tiramisu), take a deep exhale (several times) and feel where this tension is showing up and follow it to see what is being triggered.

➝ Are you over-caring? Here is an article for caregivers.

④ Build Your Resilience

There is a lot of research on meditation as an effective method to reduce stress. You can begin by watching your breath for 10 minutes and experience how your body-mind responds. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now” so a Chinese proverb reminds us.

You can learn Transcendental Meditation, Loving Kindness Meditation, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and other methods to minimize rumination and thought avoidance and to increase focus and awareness.

The Institute of HeartMath has decades of research behind them. Feeling a state of appreciation, for example, can start a cascade of positive hormones in the body and can bring on a state of coherence. You can find more information on their website and their shop for resilience-building technology.

The core of Jin Shin Jyutsu is the Self-Help. These are simple and effective gentle holds that you can apply to yourself and others. Simply holding each of your fingers is a Self-Help that can bring balance to your organs, harmonize your attitudes (worry, fear, anger, grief, and trying), and more. Much more. Another wonderful Self-Help to do before sleep or upon waking is the Main Central Vertical Flow, the source of our life energy.

➝ Learn how to do the Main Central Vertical Flow

Find your own favourite ways to reduce stress and it can go a long way to improving the function of your adrenals.

⑤ Live Your Truth

The thyroid is part of the throat chakra. This chakra is about communications and expression. When it is blocked or imbalanced, we may not speak the truth for fear of rejection and judgment. These fears can also disrupt the proper functions of the chakra and related organs.

High Maintenance cocreator Katja Blichfield shared in the January 2018 edition of Vogue how she suffered from anxiety and depression until she got honest about her identity (especially with herself).

One day, I could barely get out of bed and I couldn’t stop crying. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety all my life, but this was different. Ben [her then-husband and co-creator of High Maintenance and my best friend, Russell, called a therapist and practically dragged me to her office….

Katja Blichfield, Girl, Interrupted

Some people in the world are not very accepting of what is different or what is considered a sin by their religious teachings. As long as we agree to disagree, each to their own, this may not be an issue. It is unfortunate (understatement) that some people take this to a violent end and that of course plays an understandably considerable part in whether we live openly as who we are.

It can be anything, any aspect that makes us different, from our spiritual leanings to our gender identity. Seeking counseling, coaching, and other support is highly recommended for any and all of us to truly walk our talk.