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How Iodine Supplements & Other Nutrients May Support Your Thyroid Health

by Jaime Keiller

Let’s talk about the nutrients to help maintain thyroid health‡

It’s Confusing:

It just might be the time to ask yourself if you should have a conversation with your healthcare provider about that little butterfly-shaped organ in your neck: your thyroid. If you’re looking for supplements to support your thyroid, it’s essential to talk to your provider first. In the meantime, let’s talk about some researched nutrients that may help support your thyroid health. One of the options to consider may be iodine supplements.‡

The Butterfly Effect

It seems a little ironic that such a small butterfly-shaped organ has such a big impact on how your entire body functions. The thyroid helps synthesize hormones that help regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and metabolism including the rate at which food is converted into energy.1 The thyroid hormones, thyroxine or tetraiodothyronine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), are vital for the function of the cells in the body. It’s like the ripple effect, just… with butterfly wings.

  • Optimal vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc, and selenium help to maintain healthy thyroid cell metabolism and support triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) hormone function.1,2,3,4 ‡
  • Forskolin in coleus extract, found in our Thyroid Support Complex, has been shown to support thyroid hormone metabolism by potentially promoting adenylate cyclase activity.5‡
  • Vitamin C, selenium, guggul, and curcumin may help neutralize free radicals that may affect enzyme activity of iodothyronine 5’-monodeiodinase, the limiting factor responsible for converting the thyroid hormone T4 to the active T3 hormone.6‡

The key takeaway? There's much that can be done to help support healthy thyroid cell metabolism, especially those T3 and T4 hormones. It's important to keep them happy since they regulate and synthesize the hormones responsible for the healthy functioning of many of the body's vital organs and processes.

Running on Empty?

Remember when I said that the thyroid produces hormones essential for regulating the rate at which food is converted to energy? Let’s take a deeper look at that to understand why that is so important:

  • The thyroid and our adrenal glands are an important part of our endocrine system, or the system that regulates the hormones in the body. Our Phyto-ADR contains Panax ginseng and Eleutherococcus senticosus, or eleuthero, which are highly recognized adaptogens. They help to moderate the production of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and ultimately corticosterone, which plays a role in stress responses.7,8 ‡
  • Feeling occasionally tired? Rhodiola rosea, containing rosavins and salidrosides, also acts to balance hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity. Research suggests rhodiola may help to moderate mild fatigue under stressful conditions.9 ‡

It’s always good to know which nutrients help support the hormones responsible for converting our energy stores into usable energy.‡

Pass the Salt, Please!

Let’s forget about the 2020s and instead go back in time to the 1920s. You know those Roaring 20s when there was prohibition, flappers, the Great Gatsby, and speakeasys. What a time to have been alive! So much of that era was so influential to our current, modern-day culture and lifestyle. Did you know that something else happened in the 1920s that still to this day influences us every single day of our lives? I’m talking salt. That’s right! The 1920s was when governments started adding iodine to salt to create some of the most popular salt on the market: ionized salt. So, what is it about this element that makes it so crucial to our health? Turns out, iodine supplements may support our thyroid health.‡

  • Iodine is absorbed by the thyroid gland and supports the formation of thyroid hormones.10 ‡
  • Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) are made from iodine and tyrosine, an amino acid you get from protein-containing foods.
  • Thyroid hormones have the ability to cross cell membranes, thereby supporting many types of cells in the body.11 In the cell, these T3 and T4 hormones promote metabolic function by enhancing mitochondrial activity and enzyme synthesis, particularly in the muscle and liver.‡

Bring it on Home!

There are so many nutrients out there that may help support your thyroid. From herbs to minerals, there are many options to choose from. As always, please consult your Healthcare Practitioner before using a supplement. Check out our different iodine supplements and see which one works for you.‡

    1. Farhangi MA, et al. J Am Coll Nutr. 2012 Aug;31(4):268-74.
    2. Mazokopakis EE, et al. Hell J Nucl Med. 2015 SepDec;18(3):222-7.
    3. Kilic M. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2007 Oct;28(5):681-5.
    4. Combs GF Jr, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;89(6):1808-14.
    5. Godard MP, et al. Obes Res. 2005 Aug;13(8):1335-43
    6. Mahmoodianfard S, et al. J Am Coll Nutr. 2015;34(5):391-9.
    7. Hiai S, et al. Endocrinol Jpn. 1979 Dec;26(6):661-5.
    8. Gaffney BT, et al. Life Sci. 2001 Dec 14;70(4):431-42.
    9. Olsson EM, et al. Planta Med. 2009 Feb;75(2):105-12.
    10. Gardner DF, et al. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1988 Mar;28(3):283-8.
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