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Alcohol and thyroid health – I get asked about this quite a bit and people are really concerned whether they can continue drinking alcohol when they are working with me to get their thyroid health in check. We often hear you can have everything in moderation. Sometimes, that’s just not true, when you are not balanced and struggling with some kind of flare as in autoimmune thyroid conditions.
Alcohol directly affects the hypothalamo-pituitary axis – think serotonin and dopamine – in the brain and is the reason why in some it can cause dependency. This axis directly affects thyroid function through a series of reactions. But one thing you need to understand about your health is that EVERYTHING is connected. Our bodies don’t work in parts. Conventional wisdom and set up of our medical systems, IMO, have forgotten this part. We have a specialist for everything but it’s often forgotten that a dysfunction in thyroid hormone can potentially affect female hormones…but it’s written off that there are different pathways so one doesn’t affect the other. This is just one example. Ok, back to it.
It’s not 100% conclusive but studies show peripheral thyroid hormone levels – T4 and T3 – are lower when there is chronic alcohol consumption. Abstinence of alcohol for a few weeks gets hormone levels back to normal.
Alcohol is known to have a direct toxic effect on the thyroid gland. Ethanol ablation is actually a treatment option for some thyroid cancers – an example of the toxic effect.
Just like any study, there can be conflicting evidence. Moderate alcohol consumption can actually reduce thyroid cancer risk.
But as I’ve mentioned before, when I work with people, I have to look at the whole picture…what are the complaints, what are the symptoms, what are the primary goals, what is going on in the lifestyle? How bad do you feel?
With that in mind, my main concern is how well the thyroid is optimized. Alcohol has to be processed by the liver. So does our thyroid hormones. The liver is involved in the conversion of T4 to T3 hormone and when we consume alcohol, processing our macronutrients and other body processes are put on hold to get that alcohol (a toxin) out of our system. Alcohol becomes the primary fuel for several hours after consumption.
Then, we need to address our stress and rest in order to give the thyroid underlying support. When we consume alcohol – even occasionally – our sleep is regularly interrupted or at minimum, not restorative and is actually pretty poor.
So, what can you do?
1. Remove it completely to get to the root of your thyroid problems and to help resolve them.
2. Work to improve your liver health with healthy, whole foods, filtered water, lots of plant foods that are full of antioxidants, add turmeric to your foods with good black pepper for better absorption.
3. Do a specific liver detoxification/gut health protocol to clean out your body so you can start from scratch.
4. Experiment with alcohol to add it back and pay attention but take note of your sleep and other factors and how it affects you during the day.
5. Try to use better quality alcohol when possible – organic wines