How to Speed Your Metabolism When You Have an Underactive Thyroid

Your thyroid plays such a tremendous role in your metabolism.¹ When your thyroid is slow, it can impair your metabolism by up to 30%.

In this article, we will discuss how optimizing your exercise routine, TSH levels, and iodine intake can help restore you back to your normal metabolism.

Exercise & Metabolism

Exercise is very important for boosting metabolism and helping weight loss.² In fact, exercise has many additional benefits, including:

• Releasing endorphins
• Improving insulin sensitivity
• Helping with sleep

On top of this, an increase in appetite often outweighs increased metabolism. This equals 3 miles walking or running, up to 45 minutes of gym activities, or 8 miles of cycling.

Ultimately, a variety of exercise is important. No one type is “good” or “bad.” What you have to do is pick an exercise regime you enjoy doing and cycle through different types of exercises.

Some of the exercises you should be considering include:

• Steady-state cardio
• Flexibility training
• HIIT
• Strength training
• Long slow distance

TSH & Metabolism

There is a dramatic difference between normal and optimal ranges for thyroid dosing. Although you may fall within a normal reference range on your labs, you could still be underdosed.³

The reference ranges on labs are wide – up to 4.5, optimal TSH falls between 0.5 – 1.5 (Read: The right thyroid dose for better energy and weight loss).

Body-Mass Index

Within a normal range, your TSH is related to your body-mass index (BMI).⁴ Dialing in your TSH will help with maintaining an ideal weight. Overall, an Increase in TSH is correlated with an increase in weight.

Elevations of TSH in the upper half of the reference range have been shown to be associated with a risk for carbohydrate and lipid metabolism disorders in a recent study of teenagers.⁵ In turn, this increases your risk of metabolic syndrome.

Lower Iodine & Metabolism

Iodine is crucial for proper thyroid function. Here’s the thing, though: too much or too little iodine is harmful because it has a very narrow therapeutic index. This is what we know as the Wolff Chaikoff effect – above 300 mcg iodine can inhibit thyroid function.^6,7

While iodine deficiency is possible, it is very rare in America. Therefore, excess supplementation of iodine outside of the diet will place most Americans over the recommended limit.

Some common sources of iodine include:

• Supplements
• Multivitamins
• Thyroid medications
• Bakery items (dough conditioners)
• Dairy
• “Sea veggies”

Please keep in mind that it is important to remember that natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) does contain iodine and must be taken into consideration when taking supplements with additional iodine.

NDT & Weight Loss

At the same dose, NDT is more effective than synthetic thyroid medication for weight loss.⁸

NDT is a combo of:

• T4
• T3
• T2
• T1

Ultimately, this provides comprehensive thyroid support and benefits to your metabolism.

When we think of thyroid regulation, we are aware of T3 and T4 but often forget about T2 which has metabolic effects.⁹ With synthetic thyroid options, you will not have the additional benefit of T2 (Read: How to lose weight with thyroid disease).