I receive daily emails from people worried about their TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), or wondering how to improve their T3 or T4 (thyroid hormones), or just general concern about how to cure their specific thyroid condition.
I always encourage folks to STOP focusing on the hormone levels in the blood tests!
Those tests are not accurate in the process of healing thyroid disease.
When I was first diagnosed with “incurable” thyroid disease almost two decades ago, I was originally suffering from hyperthyroid symptoms that included heart palpitations, anxiety, and poor immunity. But, I also had symptoms of hypothyroid like weight gain, fatigue, splitting nails, and hair loss.
I refused the recommended treatment for my condition (radioactive iodine and a lifetime of thyroid hormone) and instead focused on improving my diet and lifestyle.
As I altered my diet, my bloodwork began changing.
Each time I went for another blood test my thyroid had shifted into a new form of thyroid disease. First it was hyper, then it was hypo, and then it was Hashimotos Thyroiditis.
My thyroid hormone levels were all over the place! It was crazy.
But, my physical body was improving on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. So I disregarded the blood tests and the doctor’s fears, and listened to my body instead.
Our food creates our blood and that blood feeds all of our organs, systems and glands – including the thyroid gland. It’s basic common sense that as I adjusted the quality and type of food I was eating, my blood would be feeding my thyroid new nutrients, or nutrients it may have been lacking before.
If I had intervened using medication at any time during my healing process, by focusing solely on my bloodwork without looking at the BIG picture, I would have hindered my body’s healing process.
The body is a self-healing organism. It is perfectly designed. And, if you give it what it needs, it can literally heal itself.
Going for periodic blood tests is great – it can show you what may possibly be happening inside your body at any given period in time. Or, it could create a false sense of worry and stress if you get stuck chasing the hormone levels in the bloodwork.
We need to look at the body in a much bigger way.
Symptoms of thyroid disease are the body’s way of telling us that something is out of balance.
If you want to heal your thyroid condition, it would be wise to focus on getting to the root cause of the disease instead of treating the “symptoms” with medication.
If the thyroid is not functioning properly, there may be one or more underlying reasons for this:
- Are you getting proper nutrition?
- Are you overworked?
- How are your stress levels?
- Are you overeating sugar, stimulants or carbohydrates (that includes too many whole grains, beans and starchy vegetables).
- Are you neglecting quality protein and fat?
- Are you eating an extreme diet (paleo, keto) that excludes carbohydrates?
- Are your adrenals fatigued?
- Do you have mercury fillings in your mouth? Root canals?
- Are you eating too much refined foods that are high in iodized salt?
- Are you using chemical sweeteners that disrupt endocrine communication?
- Do you have digestive problems?
These are just a few of the many reasons why the thyroid may be out of balance. NONE of these reasons can be found on your thyroid blood test.
It’s time to put your attention on getting to the root cause to heal your imbalanced thyroid condition.
Whether you have hyper, hypo, hashimotos, graves, nodules, goiter, hyperparathyroidism, hypoparathyroidism or thyroid cancer – there may be an underlying reason that you and your doctor are not aware of.
Let me show you how to get to the root cause. Sign up here to receive the latest information about naturally healing the thyroid delivered directly to your inbox. Plus, get two FREE chapters of my best-selling book: Happy Healthy Thyroid
And, STOP chasing those darn numbers!

Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker and Herbalist. Named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, she is also a recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness the body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
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