5 Lifestyle Changes to Improve Thyroid Function

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The thyroid gland plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism, energy levels and overall health. If you have a thyroid disorder, certain lifestyle changes can support thyroid function and improve your well-being.

By restricting processed foods, managing stress, and incorporating important vitamins into your diet, you can positively impact your thyroid health.

Limit Processed Foods

People with thyroid disorders can benefit from following a Mediterranean diet plan, which focuses on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats and whole grains. Reduce any processed foods, sugar and saturated fat, as well as soy and soy products. Another group of foods to avoid for people with thyroid issues are cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

Particularly for patients with hypothyroidism, ultra-processed foods can increase inflammation markers and oxidative stress, so limit the amount of preservatives, processed snack foods and soda.

Implement Stress Management Techniques

Stress can impede thyroid function, so including relaxation techniques—such as mediation or yoga—can help reduce thyroid resistance and increase mindfulness and awareness. To begin a meditation practice, experts recommend beginning your practice by sitting in a quiet, calm place, noticing how your body feels, and following the sensation of your breath. When first starting out, try meditating for a short time—only 5 to 10 minutes will still allow you to reap the benefits of the practice. If your mind starts to inevitably wander, recognize it and return to a focus on the breath.

Get Enough Rest

Patients with thyroid issues, even those with well-maintained disease, often experience fatigue. Ensuring adequate rest can help improve this common symptom. A study linked thyroid disease and sleep quality, with results revealing patients with poor sleep—such as a shorter sleep duration and longer sleep onset—were more likely to have subclinical hypothyroidism compared with controls. The study also noted women, younger patients and those with a lower body mass index (BMI) were more likely to experience poor sleep.

Get Your Steps In

Even short amounts of exercise (10 – 20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week) can help improve energy levels and boost your metabolism. A recent study showed daily physical activity was not only linked to improved cardiovascular health, better mood, reduced mortality and increase cognitive function, but it also improved thyroid function.

“Physical activity is essential for maintaining cardiometabolic and cognitive health, particularly as we age,” researchers said. “Regardless of their energetic mechanisms, reduced inflammation and other regulatory impacts of exercise clearly contribute to the protective benefits of exercise.”

Increase Iodine and Selenium Intake

Iodine is crucial for thyroid health and helps the body produce TSH. Although most foods in the Western diet contain this mineral, to get the most iodine in your diet, eat foods that are high in iodine, including eggs, meat, dairy—including ice cream and frozen yogurt—and flavor your dishes with iodized salt. Other foods, like salted nuts and baked fish, are rich in selenium, which helps to support a healthy thyroid. Seaweed, including kelp, nori and wakame, is also a great source of iodine. You can buy packaged seaweed for an on-the-go snack option or get some of your iodine intake from sushi!

Load Up On Important Vitamins

Certain vitamins, such as fat-soluble D, A and E as well as water-soluble B12, can help mitigate the underlying causes of thyroid disorders. Vitamin D can aid in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and ease joint and muscle pain, while vitamin A can moderate the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Although vitamin E, found in eggs, meats and animal fats, can help with gut health and overall wellbeing, it can also help with thyroid health and protect the cells from oxidative stress. Vitamin B12 promotes the proper function of nerve cells and the formation of red blood cells. This is particularly important for patients with Hashimoto’s disease, in which a B vitamin deficiency is common.