Your thyroid is one of the most important glands in your body, but what exactly does it do?
In this article, we’ll talk about what your thyroid gland does, what the hormones it produces do, and what happens when something is wrong with it. We’ll also talk about what you should do to take care of your thyroid.
What Does Your Thyroid Gland Do?
As the name suggests, the thyroid gland is meant to create thyroid hormones. These thyroid hormones are important for optimizing metabolism and human growth. The thyroid also plays an important role in calcium absorption.
A part of the endocrine system, the thyroid gland is responsible for releasing the thyroid hormones into the bloodstream.
An example of how the thyroid gland works would be if the body needs more energy at certain times like if the body is growing, or if the environment is cold, the thyroid gland produces the additional hormones needed. A final example would be during pregnancy when additional hormones are needed to assist in the growth of the new baby.
The thyroid gland is butterfly-shaped, and it sits just on top of your windpipe. There’s a nerve that runs behind it called the recurrent laryngeal nerve. It helps control your voice box. Needless to say, this part of the body controls a lot of important bodily processes that we depend on.
In addition to controlling metabolism, assisting in energy production, and working to bolster general growth, the thyroid can affect your heart rate, how deeply you breathe, as well as whether you lose or gain weight. In addition to those crucial functions, the thyroid gland assists in controlling the body temperature, levels of cholesterol, and for women: regularity of menstrual cycles.
That’s why it’s so important to understand what the thyroid and its hormones do and how we can help take care of them.
What Do Your Thyroid Hormones Do?
Your thyroid produces three hormones. They are triiodothyronine (T3,) tetraiodothyronine (T4,) and calcitonin. T3 and T4 are primarily made of iodine. They’re the two hormones that are specifically for metabolism control. In this sense, they’re the only “real” thyroid hormones, because they’re the only two hormones that the actual thyroid gland uses. They’re primarily concerned with how fast or slow your metabolism is.
A gland known as the pituitary gland instructs the thyroid on how much of those hormones your body needs at any given time.
Calcitonin is involved in calcium absorption, and it’s only used by the parathyroid glands. These parathyroid glands are four small glands that sit on the back of the thyroid.
Your thyroid hormones are also responsible for other things such as:
- Maintaining body temperature
- Maintaining pulse speed
- Consumption of energy in food
- Maturation of children’s brains
- General Growth
- Concentration
- Reflexes
An imbalance in these hormones could cause a variety of problems for the human body.
What Can Go Wrong With Your Thyroid?
When it comes to thyroid hormone imbalances, you can either have too much hormone (hyperthyroidism) or you can have too little hormone (hypothyroidism). They can be present from birth, but more regularly develop as one ages.
The symptoms of hyperthyroidism can include:
- Unintentional weight loss
- Rapid heartbeat
- Increased appetite
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Tremors
- Sweating
- Sensitivity to heat
- Bowel movement changes
- Difficulty sleeping
- Much more
Symptoms of hypothyroidism can include:
- Yellowing of the skin
- An enlargement of the tongue
- Hoarseness
- Umbilical hernias
- Constipation
- Poor muscle toning
- Sleepiness
- Much more
There are man factors that go into what could cause these imbalances and issues with your Thyroid. Therefore there are many ways that you can look to correct these issues. Seeking medical advice if you feel there is a significant issue is always a good idea. You can also look at lifestyle changes such as improving your sleep quality, eating a more nutrient-rich diet, supplementing with herbal ingredients to help with natural thyroid production and overall health, lowering stress levels, and moving your body more.
In addition to hyperthyroidism, a few other thyroid-related issues include goiters and nodules.
Goiters happen when the thyroid gland swells up. It can cause the neck to swell up, make you cough, or make you sound chronically hoarse. On another hand, nodules are growths on the thyroid gland. The growths can sometimes be cancerous, and can also cause the thyroid to produce too much hormone.
A note: typically enlarged thyroid or nodules aren’t caused by anything serious. More than 10% of people will have some sort of mild problem with the thyroid during their lifetime, and women are more prone to thyroid issues than men.
Help Your Thyroid With 1st Phorm’s Thyro-21
If you’re thinking that your thyroid needs some help, you’re not alone. A lot of people take supplements to help maintain their thyroid health, and by extension, their metabolism.
For those of you who are looking for some help taking care of your thyroid, we recommend that you take 1st Phorm’s Thyro-Drive.
Thyro-21 is designed to boost your natural metabolic rate, increase caloric expenditure, balance your thyroid hormone production, and promote fat loss. All you need are two easy capsules, twice daily.
If you are on Thyroid Medication or have been diagnosed with a medical condition, you will want to check with your doctor before taking Thyro-21. You can check out Thyro-Drive here and learn more!
*This post was written by Will Grumke. He is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, NASM Certified Weight Loss Specialist, NASM Certified Behavioral Change Specialist, and CrossFit Level 1 Trainer.
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