Introduction:
Thyroid health is a crucial yet often misunderstood aspect of overall well-being. Millions of people suffer from hypothyroidism, experiencing symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, mood swings, and muscle pain—often without realizing the root cause. Conventional medicine typically addresses this condition by increasing T4 levels with synthetic medication, yet many patients continue to struggle with symptoms.
In this insightful post, Dr. Brian McLaren illuminates the essential role of iodine and selenium in thyroid function, how T4 is converted into the more potent T3, and why some individuals remain hypothyroid despite standard treatment. He also shares a simple yet powerful iodine absorption test that can help determine if an iodine deficiency is contributing to thyroid dysfunction. Could a missing nutrient be the key to restoring thyroid balance? Let’s explore the science behind this natural approach.
Dr. Brian McLaren dixit 2013:
“The thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), are protein (tyrosine) based hormones produced by the thyroid gland that are primarily responsible for regulation of metabolism. Iodine is an essential element in all cells and is necessary for the production of T3 and T4. A deficiency of iodine leads to decreased production of T3 and T4, and if severe enough enlarges the thyroid tissue and will cause the disease known as goitre. While the major form of thyroid hormone in the blood is thyroxine (T4), the ratio of T4 to T3 released into the blood is roughly 20 to 1. T4 is converted to the active T3 (three to four times more potent than T4) within cells, by enzymes known as deiodinases (5′-iodinase). All three isoforms of the deiodinases are selenium-containing enzymes, thus dietary selenium is also essential for T3 production.
In the daughter’s case she is still classified as being ‘Hypothyroid’. Hypothyroidism may be due to either a nutritional iodine deficiency or a non-diagnosed deficiency in the ability to convert T4 to T3. Western Medicine’s answer is to increase the T4 even though this often does not fix the problem, and 16-20% patients suffer severe side effects, such as weight gain, fatigue, muscle pain, severe mood (and behaviour) changes, localised swellings, and oedema. Do these side effect symptoms sound familiar? All protein has the ability to rotate light either to the right or left (Dextro-rotatory and Levo-rotatory) or may consist of pure or mixed forms e.g. 20/80 or 60/40, etc. While ‘D’ forms can be manufactured chemically in nature, ‘L’ forms can only be produced biologically (hence the search for life on other planets, etc. rely on looking for L forms). In all medicine L forms are therapeutic whereas side effects are due to D forms. The medication (Eutirox) given is Levothyroxine, T4, though it may not be 100 % pure L form.
Prior to the manufacture of Levothyroxine, people took desiccated pig thyroid glands with success. My answer to this problem, which will take less than 1 week to produce an effect, is to paint a patch of visible skin on one wrist or forearm (25 mm radius) with tincture of iodine. If the iodine is absorbed within 3-4 hours (stain disappears) then apply another patch tomorrow and continue with a new patch (in a different place). If iodine is applied to the same patch of skin for 3-4 days you will get an iodine burn (nasty, red scaly, painful skin). Do not be tempted to take the iodine orally or you can easily poison the patient.
Once the stain stays for more than 4 hours, leave off treatment for 3 weeks then start again. Usually the first time takes a week or more to satisfy the body’s requirement, the second course of treatment only takes 3-4 days. If the patient uses a patch on the stomach, this is OK but they can not readily examine the time taken for the stain to disappear. I have had one lady (in Arizona) paint both inside forearms totally at 7 AM, only to have not the slightest stain at 9 AM. She repainted a patch just on one arm, and at 12 Noon there was only the faintest outline of the stained patch. She asked if I really thought she was iodine deficient. By the next day her mood change was obvious to the whole class, and she was positively bubbly.”
#Thyroid #T3T4