{"id":4928,"date":"2017-12-13T01:58:19","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T01:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/food4healthybones.com\/?p=4928"},"modified":"2022-01-01T02:15:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T07:15:18","slug":"thyroid-can-make-break-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food4healthybones.com\/blog\/thyroid-can-make-break-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Thyroid Can Make Or Break Your Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know your thyroid can make or break your bones?<\/p>\n

Chances are you know someone with an underactive thyroid. Maybe it\u2019s you\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not surprised. Hypothyroidism has become an epidemic. It\u2019s estimated to occur in up to 6.5 percent of people. It\u2019s twice as likely to hit you if you\u2019re a woman and three times more likely if you\u2019re white.[i]\n

In a minute, I\u2019ll share with you a great new resource Skelly and I have found for making sure your thyroid is always in tip top shape - naturally.<\/p>\n

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But if you have an underactive thyroid you know it\u2019s no fun. It causes fatigue, weight gain, and constipation. You can have aches, dry skin, and thinning hair. You might always feel cold. And it can also cause a slowed heart rate, depression, and impaired memory.<\/p>\n

All of that is bad enough. But a slow thyroid can also weaken your bones. Let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n

Your thyroid plays a pivotal role in building bones. Research shows having too much or too little thyroid hormone can have a harmful impact on bone tissue.[ii]\n

You see, your pituitary gland secretes Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). TSH in turn stimulates your thyroid to produce its main hormone T4.<\/p>\n

But TSH has another job...<\/h3>\n

It also communicates with your bone-building osteoblast cells. TSH signals your osteoblasts to build bone or to slow down bone-building. And if you have too much TSH you can get too much bone breakdown.[iii]\n

In addition, your body has to convert the thyroid hormone T4 to T3 to help build new bone. Without enough T3, bone building slows down and your risk of osteoporosis goes up.<\/p>\n

Low thyroid has been linked to an increased risk of fractures.[iv] That\u2019s because hypothyroidism usually comes along with a general slowing of the body\u2019s metabolism. Bone breakdown \u2013 what we call \u201cresorption\u201d \u2013 can slow down by 40 percent. Bone formation slows down by 50 percent.[v]\n

In one study researchers found hip fracture risk rose in the first two years after a low thyroid diagnosis - especially in women over 50.[vi<\/a>]\n

And if you take drugs for low thyroid, you could still risk a broken bone.<\/h3>\n

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association<\/em> (JAMA) found that people who took too high a dose of thyroid replacement hormones had an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures.[vii]\n

That makes sense because a high dose can swing you from a slow thyroid to an overactive thyroid. A fast thyroid speeds up the process of bone remodeling from 200 to 113 days. But more of that time is spent on bone breakdown and less on bone building. So resorption is faster and bone formation just can\u2019t keep up.[viii]\n

To keep your bone remodeling at a healthy clip, it\u2019s important to keep your thyroid in balance.<\/p>\n

And the first step to a healthy thyroid \u2013 just like the first step to strong bones \u2013 is the right food.<\/p>\n

My colleague Jill Grunewald, HNC has just written the definitive book on thyroid and food with her co-author Lisa Markley, MS, RDN. It\u2019s called:<\/p>\n

The Essential Thyroid Cookbook: Over 100 Nourishing Recipes for Thriving with Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto\u2019s<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I met Jill when I was working on my bone-healthy cooking class for PBS. I had to go to Minnesota and I put out a call to my bones community for some contacts there.<\/p>\n

As always, you came through. Wendy Buckley put me in touch with Jill and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

I was so impressed with Jill,  her story and her healing energy as soon as I met her. And now I LOVE her book.<\/p>\n

This is the best guide I\u2019ve found for using food to keep your thyroid in optimal health. It will help you use food as thyroid medicine at every meal.<\/p>\n

I love their unfussy, mouthwatering recipes designed with the home cook in mind. Most are so easy you can make them in just 30 minutes or less. And they are all:<\/p>\n