The week between Christmas and New Year’s is a perfect time for navel gazing and deep thought. Let me share a little bit about where my head is today. This morning I was listening to an interview with thyroid health expert Dr. Izabella Wentz in which she brought up the idea that the population that survived events such as the Irish potato famine may have had a genetic propensity for hypothyroidism, that allowed their metabolism to significantly slow down so they didn’t starve to death.
Without any referenced studies, this may have been a musing or 
passing theory (hypothyroidism is very common around the world as famines are throughout history), but it caught my ear as my genetic ancestry is 46% Irish/British (don’t like the two being lumped together? take it up with 23andme).
Does my ancestry predispose me to hypothyroidism?? From what I can find, we don’t have the answer to that just yet, but I was intrigued by the example of how thyroid function may respond to stress to help the body adapt and survive tough times.
Let’s consider this theory that changes in thyroid function may be a form of adaptive physiology, whether or not we inherited the genes for it from a specific group of famine survivors. When times are good, the thyroid gland regulates our energy production. A healthy thyroid contributes to a healthy mind & mood, vibrant skin and hair, reproductive success and much more. When the body is severely stressed, the thyroid shuts down. There may not be anything inherently bad or wrong with our thyroid gland – it is simply responding (adapting) to stress!
“What kind of stress? I am not stressed!” you reply, “I even go to yoga.”
Oh, how about:
- The “false famine” of a low-calorie diet and hours at the gym?
- Exposure to environmental toxins?
- Exposure to acid suppressants that impede digestion and nutrient availability?
- Antibiotics and hormones that lead to abnormal gut flora and inflammation?
- Blood sugar spikes from an inappropriate diet?
There are a lot more ways we stress our bodies than simply over booking our calendar. Unraveling the root causes of thyroid dysfunction is multifaceted, and it begins with the understanding that a “sluggish thyroid” may not be the primary issue, but rather your body coping with other underlying malfunctions and imbalances.
On the surface, this is a contrasting perspective to many who have written about “fix the thyroid -> fix everything else,” but at the end of the day it comes down to building health holistically and going beyond simply selecting the right prescription or supplement to compensate for a dysfunctional thyroid.
Curious to read more? Here are two resources to get you started:
Who doesn’t love infographics? Here is one drawing connections between stressors and thyroid function from Dr. Izabella Wentz:
http://thyroidpharmacist.com/about-hashimotos
Dave Asprey interviewing FDN founder Reed Davis, with an emphasis on the contributing factors to thyroid dysfunction
https://www.bulletproofexec.com/reed-davis-master-your-lab-results-266/
(this interview, by the way, is a great introduction to the “health building” work that I do with clients, so if you aren’t familiar with Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, bookmark this one for a listen)
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Fascinating concept. It’s amazing how stress impacts our bodies, whether it’s ‘good or bad.’ I know that this is probably so unrelated to hypothyroidism (I’ don’t have much knowledge about the health niche) but in the last couple of months I read that there was a certain person that made the guinness book of records in the 70 I think that fasted for a whole year and survived. My point is that the body seems to have a strong survival mechanism in place. What’s your thoughts on that?
Holy moly! Well.. my thought would be that we are certainly built to survive a lot, and people do survive horrendous conditions. But surviving isn’t necessarily thriving – it involves trade offs where your body has to decide where to use its limited resources. And, given the opportunity to choose, I want to do everything I can to be able to think clearly, move with ease and enjoy a vibrant long life.
Thanks for commenting Shae!
You gave me something to think off. Should have a look into my family tree. Great article
What an interesting analysis here we talk about DNA at the end and I’m fascinated by it!
This was a really interesting read. I’ve never thought about how ancestry could play a role in future health problems before.
I really loved this. I have never thought about healthcare in terms of ancestry before, but it makes sense. I’ve heard before that people from certain areas are known to have certain problems.
I also have noticed that there is a relationship between certain areas and their health issues. I think our ancestry and our environment has something to do with it, which is an interesting aspect to look into.
This was extremely interesting. It is always fascinating to me to see how how ancestry can affect us so much!
I know that ancestry can definitely play a role into health problems. This is some great information you’ve shared here.
Interesting and fascinating, I do belive I have some digging to do myself… thanks!
The same here until I listened to that interview.
My theory is related to iodine consumption or absorption. Coastal people in Ireland and other places have used seaweed to increase the fertility in their fields and pastures. Seaweed and seafood has plenty of iodine, in fact an coastal people can be exposed to an excess of iodine, for generations. To adapt to excessive iodine we may have a reduced ability to absorb iodine. Diets nowadays with little or no iodine could be a concern for people who tend to absorb it poorly. Governments mandated table salt to be iodized to offset the health problems that low iodine diets were causing.
Wow I had never thought about health like this before, but this has been a very interesting read. thank you x
No problem. Our ancestry and its link to our health is definitely something interesting to look into.
I have struggled with thyroid issues for nearly a decade now and always viewed it as the root to my other issues. Not once has a physician mentioned something else could be triggering the thyroid problems. I prefer a holistic approach as well so I will be diving more into this. Thanks for the information.
This is super interesting. I feel like this is something I should really look into.
This was very very intriguing. I have a few friends with thyroid conditions and, who knows, why. But your post gave me something to think about concerning their conditions. It’s also much more common than I thought it was!
Very thought proving article! I often think of my ancestry and how it could play a role in future health concerns for me and my children. I was adopted and don’t have any medical history of my birth parents/family.
The immune system’s foul play could cause the thyroid gland to produce too much or too little hormone. I am glad that you fighting for this with great concept that you still doing exercise.