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Sometimes, thyroid support dietary supplements sold online contain thyroid hormones that are not listed on the label.

While some contain glandulars  (powdered bovine thyroid, for instance) and would be expected to contain some T4 and T3, some contain more than would be expected. And some supplements that list only botanicals (herbal) as ingredients contain T4 or T3, which may mean they have been “spiked”, since plants do not contain thyroid hormones. Such products are adulterated and are breaking labeling laws.  The FDA is constantly enforcing those laws and shutting down companies that make adulterated products.

Here are some things you can consider

Do you catch “everything that comes around”?

Most people don’t think of their thyroid gland as part of the immune system, but it plays a crucial role in maintaining the body’s defenses.  Hormones produced by the thyroid help regulate the metabolic rate within each cell and directly influence over 100 different cellular enzymes. Research shows that thyroid hormones affect a long list of different types of immune cells (macrophages, T cells, lymphocytes, natural killer cells) and immune function, including replication, antibody production, and ability to recognize and respond to foreign invaders.

It’s

If you are gluten intolerant, you should check your body temperature to see if it is consistently low, which is an indicator of low metabolism. There is a good chance that your gluten intolerance is linked with low thyroid function, which can cause low body temperature and low metabolism.

Here’s how it works: Gluten intolerance or allergy (celiac disease) and autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s share a common genetic predisposition. That means the same faulty genes cause both problems. So if you have celiac disease, your risk

Can you guess the number one New Year’s resolution? It’s to lose weight. Also in the top ten: staying fit and healthy and quitting smoking. So whether it is with fresh determination or growing dismay–or both–during this time of reflection, we tend to know our priorities and what we need to do.

The problem is actually doing it. Research shows that only 8 % of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. The statistics for weight loss are especially disheartening. Even the most optimistic success rate for sustained weight loss

Low metabolism can impact your GI tract.

Every cell in your body relies on metabolism-regulating thyroid hormones to function properly, so it’s no surprise that low thyroid activity–and the resulting low metabolism–can cause gastrointestinal trouble.  A lot of that trouble is “functional.” That is, it has to do with the way the gut functions in real life and is not some structural abnormality that will show up on endoscopy, x-rays or blood tests. These functional problems are likely to involve GI tract motility–the coordinated movement of food from top to bottom. Chronic

If you’re going through menopause and having a hard time of it, you might have more going on. Research shows that about one in 12 women age 50 or older have inadequate thyroid function. That combination–low estrogen and low thyroid hormones–can make symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, dry skin and thinning hair–all worse. It can turn what might otherwise be a tolerable time of life into menopause-from-hell.

Getting a blood test to see if your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) is high is important. It

Recent research from the National Institutes of Health has shown that even modest calorie-cutting to lose weight affects thyroid hormone activity.  It leads to a drop in T3, the active form of thyroid hormone. While this drop is slight, researchers speculate that, over time, it could reduce your metabolism and encourage your weight to creep back up.

Other research, though, shows that exercising to lose weight has no negative impact on T3 or metabolism.  Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, studied a group of 50-to-60 year old

Iodine is a nutrient your thyroid gland just can’t function without. Iodine is actively concentrated in your thyroid gland and is used to make thyroid hormones. When iodine is in short supply, so are thyroid hormones.

That’s why it is so alarming to find out that, despite the widespread availability of iodized salt, iodine deficiency has re-emerged as a public health concern in the U.S. Population studies show that more than 11 % of all Americans, and more than 15 % of American women of child-bearing age, presently have urine

Are you becoming more anxious, shaky, or confused when faced with stress–or even for no apparent reason at all? If so, check your body temperature. It’s possible your metabolism has slowed down, making you more vulnerable to surges of adrenaline that come with even slight amounts of stress. Anxiety has a very real physical component that can explain why you might be having a hard time maintaining balance with life’s ups and downs.

Research shows that anxiety is more common in people with thyroid problems, both hyper- and hypothyroidism.