How to Heal the Thyroid Naturally

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping — summer is here. But if your energy hasn’t quite reached fun-season levels, take heart: Many women experience a 40 percent drop in thyroid function this time of year due to gland-sapping weather changes and allergy flares. Read on for easy lifestyle changes that will energize a weary thyroid — and yourself — in as little as one week.

Add a soundtrack.

Folding laundry or picking up around the house? Make chore time cheery by turning on your favorite music. According to Japanese researchers, regularly listening to songs that make you happy increases the thyroid’s production of energizing hormones in as little as 72 hours. The reason? The blissful feeling you get from listening to great music cuts your production of thyroid-damaging stress hormones by 46 percent — better results than weekly massages.

Put cod on the menu.

Just eating two 6-oz. servings of seafood weekly cuts your risk of a sluggish thyroid by 47 percent — and helps you feel eight years younger, report Australian researchers. Richard Shames, MD, co-author of Thyroid Mind Power ($11.59, Amazon), explains that these foods brim with vitamin B-12, iodine, and zinc — nutrients that the thyroid needs to produce energizing hormones.

Munch on a few nuts.

Enjoying 1/3 cup of Brazil nuts or sunflower seeds daily could be the ticket to a 38 percent uptick in your production of energizing thyroid hormones, plus a 55 percent rise in daytime energy and focus, German researchers have found. Nutrition researcher Silvia Cozzolino, PhD, explains that these snacks are rich in thyroid-nourishing selenium. Plus, their healthy fats steady blood sugar, which helps fuel the thyroid so it can produce hormones.

Read in bed.

Simply picking up a book for 20 minutes before turning out the lights can boost your thyroid function by 27 percent in 72 hours, report British researchers. Turns out, bedtime reading kick-starts the brain’s production of snooze-inducing theta waves, cutting your risk of restless sleep by 68 percent and providing the body with plenty of time to replace aging thyroid cells.