Cold Hands and Feet? Why Your Thyroid Matters

By Andrea Bartels CNP NNCP RNT Registered Nutritional Therapist 01 Nov 2024

Cold Hands and Feet? Why Your Thyroid Matters

Heading into colder weather it’s important to maintain good circulation to keep your extremities warm.  Besides common sense, a good pair of boots and some warm mittens, what else can you do?  You can nourish your thyroid gland. Here’s how.

The role of the thyroid gland

The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland situated in the neck that controls the speed of all chemical reactions that happen in the body. Processes like digestion, the conversion of food into energy, the synthesis of new hormones, tissue repair, the processing and elimination of waste, and so much more are regulated by the thyroid hormones. But when levels of thyroid hormones are too low, these activities slow down.  This can cause us to feel tired, sluggish, and cold; we may feel depressed, experience dry skin and hair; we also may gain weight or have trouble losing it. 

Your ability to regulate your body temperature is influenced in part by your nutritional status.  Your thyroid is like a furnace, sending heat to different parts of the body by way of hormonal signals to every type of tissue so they produce energy.  How well your thyroid is functioning determines the size of your ‘furnace’; that is, how efficiently you make energy. A well-functioning thyroid gland provides you with a strong furnace to heat your entire body, from head to toe. An over-active thyroid gland is like a furnace that burns too hot—and will cause to use up nutrient at a rapid rate.  Meanwhile, sub-optimal thyroid function means your thermostat will be too low to sustain a healthy rate of function.  So, in order for the body to sustain healthy levels of thyroid hormones, we need to supply enough of the key nutrients that serve as the building blocks for these hormones:  

Iodine is essential to the production of thyroid hormones T4 and T3.  Deficiency in iodine stunts fetal brain development, and in adults, causes hypothyroidism, with goiter (enlarged thyroid), digestive problems, mental health problems, elevated blood lipid profiles and high blood pressure among the complications if left untreated. Yet iodine can be difficult to obtain in diets that don’t include seafood regularly.  That’s why table salt is iodized---to guarantee intake of iodine.

Be careful about relying on sea salt as your main source of iodine. Although it’s less processed and contains a wider array of naturally occurring minerals, sea salt loses most of its iodine during the drying process. This can be remedied by adding some good quality iodized salt to your meals.  Yet low-sodium diets are necessary for some, which makes it difficult to get enough iodine through diet alone.  That’s why we recommend a standardized amount of potassium iodide as a source of iodine. It’s a more reliable source of iodine compared to sea vegetables, as concentrations in sea vegetables vary depending on where they were harvested. 

L-Tyrosine is an amino acid that forms the main ‘backbone’ of thyroxine—that’s thyroid hormone. Although the body can make from another amino acid called l-phenylalanine, this process becomes impaired when the thyroid gland is under-performing.  Supplementing l-tyrosine is a sure-fire way to support thyroxine synthesis. 

Zinc is used by the body to regulate the synthesis of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone).  Zinc is a cofactor for more than 300 metalloproteins; plus, it activates specific thyroid enzymes that convert inactive T4 into T3—that’s active thyroid hormone. For a more highly absorbable form of zinc, choose a product containing zinc glycinate.

Selenium is another mineral that serves vital functions to thyroid hormone production and metabolism. In fact, the thyroid gland contains more selenium than any other organ.  Thyroid function depends on selenoproteins, and also, a selenium-containing antioxidant called glutathione peroxidase—an antioxidant that provides immune defence functions.  The selenium from selenomethionine has an absorption rate of over 90 percent, making it far superior to selenium selenite.

Copper is needed for iron metabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis. Since these functions influence physical and mental energy, it makes sense to keep your copper levels in balance with zinc. If you’ve been supplementing zinc without copper, the imbalance in these two minerals should be corrected to avoid problems. To replenish copper levels, copper glycinate is a highly absorbable form of copper.

Pure Lab’s ThyroPure is a vegan and herb-free formula of 5 thyroid-essential nutrients in their most bioavailable form: l-tyrosine, zinc, iodine, selenium, and copper. One capsule of ThyroPure can be taken twice daily with meals. Keep in mind that if you’re already taking a synthetic thyroid hormone prescribed by your doctor, you may require an adjustment in your medication when you add ThyroPure to the mix.

Iron is another mineral whose deficiency can be implicated in cold hands and feet. That’s because iron is required for proper oxygen delivery to the tissues. Without iron, cells cannot make energy (expressed as heat). Iron is also important to thyroid hormone metabolism.  Studies have shown that thyroid hormone levels are lower in individuals with iron deficiency anemia, especially in pregnant women.

The higher the quality of iron, the less risk of constipation your iron supplement will have. Pure Lab’s Carbonyl Iron was designed with better bowel tolerance in mind. It’s non-constipating because it’s so well absorbed. The formulation contains 22.5 milligrams of elemental iron, with an absorption rate of 69 percent compared to ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate (11 percent). The formulation also contains 100 milligrams of vitamin C to aid solubility.  One capsule of Pure Lab’s Carbonyl Iron can be taken once or twice daily, away from calcium-containing foods and supplements, for best results.

Get Tested

If you’re not sure your cold hands and feet are caused by iron deficiency, ask your primary health care provider to test your ferritin levels before taking an iron supplement.  If your ferritin result is under 30 you will need to supplement your diet with a high-quality, well-absorbed iron.

On top of a ferritin test, get your thyroid hormone levels checked thoroughly by asking your MD or ND for a full thyroid panel. Even if your levels are ‘borderline’, boosting your thyroid nutrients may make the difference between a healthy thyroid and a sub-optimally functioning one.

Fuel your body’s furnace with the nutrients it needs to keep you warm this winter. Feed your thyroid gland!

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