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Your thyroid makes two primary hormones: one is called T₄ and the other is called T₃. “T” stands for the amino acid tyrosine, and the numbers 4 and 3 stand for the number of molecules of the mineral iodine in each hormone. Through these two hormones, your thyroid literally ignites every cell of your body and brain by activating its genetic coding.

Within the cells of the brain, your thyroid converts T₄ (its more passive, storage hormone) into T₃ (its activator hormone). This, for example, transforms the sleeping cats into a vigorous, healthy depression-fighting force. Without proper thyroid function, specifically in regard to T₃ activation, the brain’s neurotransmitters cannot alter your moods effectively. You may have the blahs because without enough T₃ your brain’s nerve cells cannot transform the tyrosine you ingest into enlivening cats. In fact, the areas of the brain that should contain the most T₃ also contain the highest concentration of cats.

Without adequate T₃ your brain cells not only can’t produce adequate amounts of the cats, they can’t effectively produce enough of other key neurotransmitters, like serotonin, either. If you identify with symptoms anywhere on the Four-Part Mood-Type Questionnaire, but the aminos don’t work for you, it’s very likely your thyroid that’s the problem.

Several things can interfere with your having a perfect thyroid-brain connection. Let’s look at each possible cause separately.

Could it be genetic programming? If you’ve inherited a slow thyroid, your brain will become sluggish right along with the rest of you. Do you have a mother or any other relative who has the low-thyroid symptoms listed above or who has been treated for them?

Most of our low-thyroid clients do have family members who share their symptoms of depression, low energy, weight gain, and cold feet. Typically these clues have been ignored, dismissed as inevitable family traits (like blue eyes), and never explored or treated. In other cases, our clients have been amazed to discover that some of their family members had actually been diagnosed and put on thyroid medication for years or had even had their thyroid glands removed surgically. No one had ever mentioned it until they asked.

Give this possibility some thought and talk with your family members about it. Any information you get can help you figure out whether you have inherited an impaired thyroid that may be negatively impacting your mood.

Could it be the food you’re not eating? If you are dieting or just not eating often enough (that is, less than three meals a day), you may not be getting enough “thyroid food.” Low-thyroid depression is a common consequence of dieting, when so many nutrients typically get depleted. During the first day on a low-calorie diet, as supplies of all nutrients (including tyrosine and iodine) run low, your body wisely responds by slowing down your thyroid function. With each succeeding day (or diet), your thyroid can turn down another notch. Over time, especially if you tend frequently to diet, skip meals, or eat as little as possible, your thyroid function can forget to turn back up. This is what accounts for the “yo-yo syndrome”: your thyroid may no longer keep calories burning efficiently, so you’ll tend to gain back all the weight you lose, and more, time and time again. And, of course, your thyroid won’t be able to keep your brain working efficiently, either.

We’ve found that protein and the amino acid tyrosine are particularly helpful to ex-dieters who complain of depression and the other symptoms associated with the blahs. Getting adequate calories and avoiding low-cal dieting is essential for keeping the thyroid gland turned on or for turning it up once it’s been turned down. According to the World Health Organization, that means approximately 2,100 calories or more per day for females and 2,300 or more for males. We’ve found that although individual caloric needs vary, this rule of thumb allows our clients to maintain healthy weight and lose unneeded weight.

Iodine deficiency can be a contributor to thyroid problems and has caused big problems in parts of the world where the natural iodine supply is low. The American Midwest, for example, is called the “goiter belt,” given the high incidence of disfiguring neck swelling caused by an iodine deficiency in the local soil. Since iodine was added to table salt years ago, and since midwesterners now tend to eat food from many different regions, goiter has become an unusual sight. In fact, these days exposure to too much iodine from iodized salt may be a more common thyroid hazard.

Tyrosine is by far the most important thyroid food, but for the thyroid to make and properly use its hormones, it requires other nutrients as well. One of them, vitamin B₁₂, which is made in the gut, is ironically often underproduced when digestion-enhancing thyroid levels are low. Other vitamins and minerals that are crucial to thyroid function are iron, selenium, zinc, folic acid, and the other B vitamins. Are you eating plenty of the colored vegetables and fresh fruits that provide these thyroid-crucial nutrients? When was the last time you ate some sautéed spinach or chard? If not, work more of them into your daily diet.

Could it be the antithyroid food you are eating? The foods listed below are well-known goitrogens (can cause goiters or swellings on the thyroid) because they interfere with thyroid function:

Wheat and its cousins rye, barley, and oats—These are the most exhausting foods on the planet. They’re the only foods that can typically make you sleepy (and bloated) after meals and lower your vitality level all day. They are known to cause thyroiditis, a common and debilitating low-thyroid condition. I talk about these grains and how to know if they’re a problem for you, in chapter 10.

Soy foods—As little as 3 to 4 tablespoons of soy per day can powerfully suppress your thyroid function and lower your metabolic rate.¹⁹ This applies to soy-based infant formula and protein powders, soy milk, and tofu. For further discussion of my concerns about soy, see chapter 10.

Cruciferous vegetables—So named for their cross-shaped blossoms, these vegetables include cauliflower, cabbage, collards, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, turnips, and swede. These thyroid-suppressing veggies also contain indoles, dithiolthiones, and other chemicals that activate enzymes that destroy carcinogens, so don’t eliminate them, just don’t eat them daily.

Millet—This is another grain that can be a thyroid suppressor.

Could it be chronic stress or emotional or physical trauma? Any of these things—particularly injury to the head or neck—can reduce thyroid function. Thyroid malaise can be part of the permanent aftereffects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Your thyroid pumps out its T₃ and T₄ as soon as a stressful event begins, and it can get overwhelmed if the stress is intense or prolonged. Some stressors, such as starvation or major injury, actually cause the brain to order a turning down of the thyroid to preserve calories and slow down the metabolic pace.

Chronic or severe stress can also wear out your stress-fighting adrenal glands, which are partners with your thyroid in providing energy and a positive attitude, especially during times of adversity. If supplies of Cortisol, the adrenals’ galvanizing antistress hormone, get depleted, your thyroid can be affected in several ways.²⁰ The adrenal hormone Cortisol is required for converting T₄ to T₃, so if it’s not available because your adrenal glands have become too depleted to produce it, your thyroid function also suffers. If your Cortisol levels stay high for too long, as they always do in the initial stages of extreme stress, your thyroid may slow down its hormone production to compensate. (Otherwise Cortisol could literally tear your body apart, scavenging for nutrients that it takes from your flesh and bones to use for its battle with stress.) Be sure to read up on stress and the adrenals in chapter 6, if high stress has been a problem for you.

Could it be your tap water? If you drink unfiltered tap water, the added fluoride and chlorine can interfere with the proper functioning of your thyroid. Both chemicals can be mistaken for thyroid-vital iodine (all three are similar chemically) and, therefore, displace iodine in your thyroid.

Fluoride has actually been used to suppress thyroid function in people with overactive thyroids. Chlorine is also associated, in both animals and humans, with reduced T₄. ²¹,²²,²³ (By the way, no major study has ever found that fluoridation is effective in reducing cavities!²⁴)

Avoiding fluoride and chlorine is a good reason to drink purified water, preferably filtered in your own home. Make sure the filtration system eliminates both fluoride and chlorine, as well as the harmful hydrocarbons in unfiltered water that have also been shown to suppress the thyroid.

Could it be your medication? Certain prescription drugs can inhibit the thyroid. Estrogen (including the estrogen in birth control pills) and lithium are the most well-known thyroid-inhibiting drugs. Sulfa drugs and antidiabetic drugs also slow thyroid function.²⁵ Other drugs can as well, so review any drugs you are taking with a pharmacist and your physician to find out. You can also study the information on the enclosure that should accompany all medication.