The Gut-Everything Connection: Thyroid, Skin & Anxiety
Your gut is the center of everything in your body, so it’s no surprise it is referred to as the second brain. It contains millions of neurons that communicate to all of our systems and organs. The gut microbiome is essential for not only digestion and absorption of our food, but it also plays a role in the immune system, mental health and inflammatory conditions.
The gut microbiome plays a critical role with how our thyroid functions, the health of our skin and even regulates symptoms of anxiety. This is why we are so passionate about understanding exactly what is going on in the gut in order to achieve symptom-free digestion, but consistent energy, clear skin and calm outlook from the thyroid, skin and anxiety connections!
Let’s take a big picture look at how the gut is connected to our thyroid, skin and anxiety!
The Gut-Thyroid Connection
You might think that the gut and the thyroid are two separate organs, but they are actually very connected and the optimal function of the gut can have a major impact on the optimal function of the thyroid.
Chances are, if you’ve gotten an abnormal thyroid lab, you’ve likely been sent home with a thyroid hormone prescription and told that that is the only fix with little to no curiosity as to why your thyroid is not optimally functioning in the first place.
Maybe you have been told your thyroid condition is genetic because your sister and mother also struggle with low thyroid or hypothyroid conditions but outside of medication there isn’t much you can do.
Maybe you found out your thyroid condition is actually an autoimmune condition called Hashimotos but conventional treatment still just tells you thyroid hormone medication is the only treatment.
Maybe your thyroid labs are all “normal” but you have every symptom for low or hypothyroid function and you don’t know where to go for help.
Conventional medicine treats all of the body systems as completely separate, suggesting there is no influence or impact on the thyroid from other systems. Unfortunately that belief is often the reason so many clients struggle with persistent thyroid symptoms even with conventional thyroid treatment and medication. This is because the optimal function of the thyroid is hugely influenced by what happens in the body, especially what is happening in the gut and effective thyroid support must be from a holistic approach that works on all the areas of influence.
The major root causes of low or hypothyroid:
Imbalanced gut environment
Low mineral levels
Imbalanced blood sugar
Cortisol and adrenal stress
Congested detox and drainage pathways
One of the major ways the thyroid and gut are connected is through the gut's role in activating the thyroid hormone to actually have beneficial effects in our body. This activation process is when the thyroid takes the inactive thyroid hormone called T4 and converts it into the active thyroid hormones called T3. This key conversation step doesn’t just happen in the thyroid, it actually predominantly happens in the liver AND the gut. This conversion is done by an enzyme that comes from your beneficial bacteria. So if your gut environment is being impacted by anything like an opportunistic pathogen or low commensal bacteria, this could impact the conversion of T4 into T3 and contribute to symptoms of low thyroid or hypothyroid function.
The gut is also in charge of the breakdown and absorption of key minerals that are needed to support the thyroid such as selenium, iodine and proteins. So first, we have to make sure we are eating the key foods that contain these needed thyroid nutrients. And second, if you experience GI symptoms regularly, like burping, bloating, gas, constipation, and loose stools, this is likely impairing the digestive process so you are not able to absorb the critical nutrients needed for the thyroid to function. We measure these nutrients in our clients and often see low levels of key minerals including selenium which can play a big role in the autoimmune thyroid process.
Bottom line is, you can’t have an optimally functioning thyroid, with a gut that’s out of whack! Stay tuned next month for a deeper dive into exactly how the gut and thyroid are connected, what you can do about it and how we support this in practice.
The Gut-Skin Connection
Imbalanced gut environment
Low mineral levels
Imbalanced blood sugar
Cortisol and adrenal stress
Congested detox and drainage pathways
One of the major ways the thyroid and gut are connected is through the gut's role in activating the thyroid hormone to actually have beneficial effects in our body. This activation process is when the thyroid takes the inactive thyroid hormone called T4 and converts it into the active thyroid hormones called T3. This key conversation step doesn’t just happen in the thyroid, it actually predominantly happens in the liver AND the gut. This conversion is done by an enzyme that comes from your beneficial bacteria. So if your gut environment is being impacted by anything like an opportunistic pathogen or low commensal bacteria, this could impact the conversion of T4 into T3 and contribute to symptoms of low thyroid or hypothyroid function.
The gut is also in charge of the breakdown and absorption of key minerals that are needed to support the thyroid such as selenium, iodine and proteins. So first, we have to make sure we are eating the key foods that contain these needed thyroid nutrients. And second, if you experience GI symptoms regularly, like burping, bloating, gas, constipation, and loose stools, this is likely impairing the digestive process so you are not able to absorb the critical nutrients needed for the thyroid to function. We measure these nutrients in our clients and often see low levels of key minerals including selenium which can play a big role in the autoimmune thyroid process.
Bottom line is, you can’t have an optimally functioning thyroid, with a gut that’s out of whack! Stay tuned next month for a deeper dive into exactly how the gut and thyroid are connected, what you can do about it and how we support this in practice.
If you’ve ever experienced a skin condition like acne, eczema or psoriasis, chances are you’ve been given a topical treatment, an antibiotic or spironolactone, and been sent on your way. This may have worked as a short term treatment, but when you stop using the product, your skin condition reappears instantly!
This is because the topical treatment or the antibiotic isn’t addressing the root cause that is driving the skin symptom in the first place. The truth is, skin symptoms are most often due to inflammation coming from somewhere else in the body and to address the real root cause of skin symptoms we have to become inflammation detectives to identify and address the source as our solution.
The major root causes of your skin symptoms are:
The gut environment
Imbalanced blood sugar
Low mineral levels
We see so many skin conditions being driven by an imbalanced gut environment. When there are imbalances in the gut from things like inflammation, low beneficial bacteria, impaired gut barrier or opportunistic infections, we can see symptoms show up on our skin as a result. The imbalance gut environment is the source of inflammatory compounds that are leaking out into the systemic body, causing inflammation and aggravation of skin conditions including acne, psoriasis, eczema and dandruff. Caring for our skin goes above and beyond topical treatments or daily pills, it requires a total body treatment, and it starts in the gut.
Our gut environment is also responsible for the breakdown and absorption of the key skin nutrients such as minerals, healthy fats and proteins. If our gut isn’t functioning optimally then we aren’t getting the key nutrients we need to maintain healthy skin. If a client is experiencing disruptions in their skin like acne, rashes, eczema, or psoriasis, we do a deep dive on their unique body to understand what root causes are at play by looking deeper through functional testing at the gut, mineral status, blood sugar markers and hormones so we can customize their solution using nutrition, lifestyle and targeted short term supplements.
If you are curious on how to strengthen your gut, a good place to start is our Nourished Gut Guide (NGG). The health of our skin is greatly impacted by our nutrition, lifestyle, and stress and we see huge improvement when our clients focus first on the foundations which we walk you step by step in how to implement inside of NGG. Your skin is a symptom, understanding what is causing that symptom is the solution.
The Gut-Anxiety Connection
If you experience symptoms of anxiety - taking a closer look at the health of your gut will help you get to the root cause of your symptoms and turn down the volume on your anxiety.
The conventional treatment for anxiety is typically a medication. But what if we told you that the root cause of your symptoms could be coming from a dysregulation in your gut?
The gut-brain connection is a two way communication system between our brain and our gut. The brain is constantly talking to the gut and the gut is talking back! The role of the gut isn’t just about breaking down food, it can influence our emotions, pain levels, social interaction and even the decisions we make.
The root causes of anxiety are:
Imbalanced gut microbiome
Imbalanced blood sugar
Cortisol and adrenal stress
Low mineral levels
Did you know that 70% of our body's neurotransmitters are actually made and stored in our gut and some are directly created by our gut microbiome. This is why symptoms of anxiety can be directly related to a dysregulation of the gut microbiome. Some of the major contributors to anxiety that we can see from a stool test is when there is low beneficial bacteria. Our beneficial bacteria produce by-products called short chain fatty-acids (SCFA) that are anti-inflammatory compounds and are very soothing to the gut brain connection. When the beneficial bacteria are lacking, we can see exacerbations in symptoms of anxiety like racing thoughts, irritability, nervousness and constant worrying. Once we know what is imbalanced in the gut and driving the symptoms of anxiety, we can create the solution.
Another of the foundational pieces we see driving symptoms of anxiety is imbalanced blood sugar. Low blood sugar symptoms can actually mirror the symptoms of anxiety. But managing blood sugar involves more than just eating a balanced meal. The gut bacteria produce byproducts that actually control how the liver sends glucose into the blood, so strengthening the gut as a whole is a major strategy in supporting more balanced blood sugar. Balancing blood sugar through food combinations, meal timing and supporting digestion is key to reducing symptoms of anxiety and may be a major reason why you are having the symptoms in the first place.
Anxiety is not just “in your head”, there are many major contributing factors that exacerbate anxiety that you have control over. The goal is to identify which root causes are at play in your unique body and address those through nutrition, lifestyle and targeted short term supplements to find your relief. If you don’t know where to turn for help, we can help you.
Stay tuned!
In the coming months we will dive into exactly how the gut plays a major role in the thyroid, skin and anxiety connection. We will share a deeper dive into what we see driving these conditions and symptoms in practice and how we work with clients to address the root cause of their symptoms. So stay tuned, this is only the introduction!
But if you are looking to jump into action, our Nourished Gut Guide is first place to start in addressing the foundations through our self-paced program you can learn more HERE or if you are ready to get customized support based on your unique body through functional testing and 1:1 support schedule a strategy call HERE or click the button below, we would love to support you!
