Low Thyroid in 21 Lessons (Article 2)

Hello,

I am Dr Michael Teplisky, a holistic medical doctor from Low Thyroid Doctor.com and this is lecture 2 from our seminar Low Thyroid in 21 days. 

Last time I introduced the thyroid gland. I said that thyroid is a small organ, about 1 oz. It is located at the base of the neck, and it produces hormones, T3 and T4, that regulate the metabolism of the whole body. They are important for growth and development, repairs and maintenance, normal cell functions, basically all the activities in the body that require energy. 

All cells need energy to do their job. The cells run on energy; sort of like cars run on gasoline. The energy doesn’t come from outside, it is made inside each cell and that’s where thyroid hormones come in. 

The thyroid hormones do not provide the energy. What they do is make the cells of your body burn fuel to produce energy and heat.

Our cells have little “power houses” that make energy by burning fuel. These power houses are called mitochondria, which is pleural for “mitochondrion.” No cell has just one mitochondrion. The number usually ranges from a dozen to a few thousand, depending on how active the cell is. 

For example, a skin cell doesn’t really need a lot of energy to do its job. That’s why it has about a dozen mitochondria. On the other hand, a heart cell needs a tremendous amount of energy, so it has 4-5 thousand mitochondria. 

Imagine a fireplace, filled with wood, just waiting to be fired. All you need is a lighted match to start the fire. This is what thyroid hormone T3 does – it turns on the fire in the mitochondria, it starts and supports this process of burning the fuel to produce energy and heat. 

The fuel comes from the food we eat. It is usually the carbohydrates and fats that are used for fuel. Under some extreme conditions protein can be used as fuel also, but normally it’s just carbohydrates and fats. 

The easiest thing to turn into energy is a substance called glucose, or blood sugar. We make glucose from carbohydrates. Burning glucose is the preferred way to make energy. There is always a certain amount of glucose in the blood, plus some glucose is stored in the liver, in the form called “glycogen”, so there is usually enough for normal daily activities. I

If the activities are higher than normal, say you are doing a lot of physical work, or running a marathon, or you are not eating enough carbohydrates, then the body starts burning the stored glucose. After that is gone, the body starts burning fats.  And many of us have extra fat that is stored just for this eventuality, when we are getting fewer calories from food than we need for our daily activities. In other words, when we don’t eat enough. 

And only after that the body begins burning proteins. Proteins are the last to go into the oven, because while carbs and fats are mostly used for energy, proteins are used for many other things. 

All the enzymes, used by the cells to perform thousands of different processes, are made from protein. Many hormones are made from proteins, for example insulin, growth hormone, thyroid hormones and many others, Proteins are used for building and repairing the cells of the body. Muscles and the heart are made from protein. That’s why the body holds on to protein to the very last. 

How do thyroid hormones get inside the cells? Practically every cell in the body has thyroid receptors. A receptor is like a door that only a particular key can open. 

You see, each of our cells is like a house. When all the windows and doors are closed, you can’t get into a house, unless you are invited, or you have the key. 

And this is what receptors are for. They create an entrance for a particular substance. It could be a hormone, a neurotransmitter, a nutrient, a vitamin, whatever a cell wants to invite. 

So a cell has a special door for a thyroid hormone through which it enters and lights up the mitochondria. When I say “lights us” I don’t mean that it literally starts the fire. A better description would be that it turns on the mitochondria, which then start burning the fuel. And it keeps this process going.

For technically inclined, this process is called oxidative phosphorylation. It requires oxygen, just like the actual fire. And it produces a waste product called CO2 (carbon dioxide). That’s why we inhale oxygen and exhale CO2.

So now you know why thyroid hormones are essential for energy production. In the next lecture we’ll talk in detail about thyroid hormones, how they are made, how they become active. In the future lectures I’ll talk about how thyroid hormones are regulated and how they are distributed by the blood to all the cells of the body. 

You can go to my website LowThyroidDoctor.com where there is even more information about low thyroid. There are many reports that explain things in more details, and they can be downloaded for free any time. 

Please make sure to subscribe to my newsletter which you will get about once a week. If you know someone who might find this information useful, please forward it to them. Also, if you have questions or comments, please email to info@LowThyroidDoctor.com. I try to read and answer all of them, time permitting.  

Also, please keep in mind that if you suspect that you have low thyroid or you are being treated and are not getting better, you can get a free, no obligation 30 min phone consultation with me to see if I can help you get better. Just book it online or call my office at 718-769-0997. 

I’ll see you in lecture 3. 

Until then, I am Dr. Michael Teplisky from LowThyroidDoctor.com wishing you the best of health.