The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the front of your neck that plays a key role in the endocrine system, your body’s hormone-regulation network. Its two lobes contain tiny sacs, called follicles, that store thyroid hormones. These hormones affect metabolism, heart rate, breathing, digestion, body temperature, skin and bone health, fertility, and brain development.
“The thyroid gland, acting through the hormones produced, has an effect on every body system,” explains April Lind, MD, a board-certified internal-medicine, pediatrics, and functional-medicine physician.
When the body needs thyroid hormones, the brain’s hypothalamus sends a signal to the nearby pituitary gland to release thyroid-stimulating hormone. This tells the thyroid to make the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).
Adequate iodine levels are mission-critical to this hormone-synthesis process, as well as to the conversion of T4 to the more active T3 in organs and tissues throughout the body.
“Without consistent dietary iodine, your thyroid will under- or overwork to make thyroid hormones,” writes Malini Ghoshal, RPh, MS, in The Iodine Balancing Handbook. “Both of these situations will cause multiple iodine-related health problems in the long term if they’re not corrected.”
Thyroid-hormone imbalances can affect energy, weight regulation, metabolism, and blood pressure.
Understanding the Role of Iodine
We need just the right amount of iodine for health — not too little, not too much. Learn how to strike a balance at “Why Iodine Is Important for Your Health,” from which this article was excerpted.
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