Supplements for hashimoto's

[Johnljc]

Hi , been watching some videos on YouTube and a few of them reccomend zinc and selenium for hashimoto's.

Does anyone supplement with these or others and would you recommend.

Cheers

[humanbean]

They get a lot of mentions on this forum so it would be worth searching for them.

Zinc and copper have a see-saw relationship in the body. When one goes up the other goes down. In people who are hypothyroid a very common finding is that copper is high and zinc is low, although I have come across just one person on the forum who was the opposite. It is worth getting zinc (or zinc and copper) tested if you can get your doctor to agree or you can afford it, and if zinc is low in range or below range then supplement with a standard supplement.

Do a general web search for "zinc hypothyroidism" to get info on the problems of low zinc.

As for selenium, it is also commonly found to be low in hypothyroidism and low levels can reduce conversion of T4 into T3. SeasideSusie has info on the best forms of selenium to supplement.

Before supplementing any nutrient I would suggest that you find links to lists of symptoms of deficiency and excess, and find out how it is excreted if you take too much.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Johnljc

I've seen it said that supplementing with selenium can help reduce antibodies but as antibodies fluctuate anyway I'm not sure there's any guarantee.

As Humanbean says, selenium is said to help with conversion of T4 to T3.

A safe amount of selenium to take daily is said to be 100mcg, some say 200mcg, but not more without testing.

Selenium l-selenomethionine or yeast bound selenium are the best forms, avoid selenite and selenate forms as they are the least absorbable.

Testing zinc, or zinc and copper, as Humanbean says, would be best I think before supplementing.

As for other supplements, it's best to test key nutrients

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

Because Hashi's can cause gut and absorption problems, this can lead to low levels and deficiencies, so testing these and supplementing at the appropriate dose if and where necessary will be beneficial.

The cheapest way to test these is with a thyroid/vitamin test bundle with either Medichecks (Advanced Thyroid Function Test) or Blue Horizon (Thyroid Premium Gold), details of discounts can be found by clicking on the appropriate lab here:

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

[Greeneyes14]

I've also looked into supplements too, but decided to go with the natural route by eating 2-3 brazil nuts and grazing on pumpkin and sun flower seeds. From my thyroid journey in the last few months, and being on levo, everythings going in the right way and very quickly.

[CatsofCatford]

Hello John, I take Selenium (200 mcg) and feel I have fewer autoimmune flares when I do so regularly