Thyroid Hormone Conversion: The Hidden Solution for Thyroid Issues?

Have you ever been told your thyroid labs are “normal,” but you still don’t feel like yourself? The issue might not be how much thyroid hormone you have; it may be how your body is using it.

You’ve probably heard of T3 and T4, but there are actually dozens of biologically active thyroid hormones, called thyronomines, that your body must carefully convert and regulate in different tissues.

When conversion is off-even slightly, it can leave you feeling tired, foggy, and frustrated, no matter what your labs say. More meds or stricter diets usually don’t help. That’s why I want to talk to you about thyroid hormone conversion and how supporting it might be the missing link to feeling better.

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Table of Contents

Understanding Thyroid Hormones
Thyroid Medication & T4
The Role of T2
Best Practices for Thyroid Hormone Conversion
Developing a Supplement for Thyroid Hormone Conversion
Who Might Need T2-T3 Converter?

Understanding Thyroid Hormones

The active hormones that we hear the most about are T4 and T3. The numbers there simply correspond to the number of iodine atoms attached to a modified protein called thyroglobulin.

And it’s not just these two. There is also T2, which is biologically active, regular T3 and reverse T3, and a lot more that we know about used in different tissues (but can’t be measured directly).

How this conversion occurs is based on a few different factors, including:

• Genetics
• Iodine consumption
• Where in your body it is happening

All of these things can be affected by stressors, inflammation, any kinds of illness, and can change things quite dramatically. We may also see issues when someone is taking medication.

Thyroid Medication & T4

Now, most thyroid medication out there is primarily T4. And that’s okay.

But there are times when someone is getting way too much T4, or they are taking medication they don’t need, which their body is now resisting.

Part of the way that their body may be resisting that is by making inactive hormones on a much more preferential basis. The result is a lot more reverse T3.

That can have a pretty profound impact on the ratios of reverse T3 to T3 to T4. That means that the wrong type or amount of medication can have a pretty big impact.

The Role of T2

The hormone T2 is one that has the most direct impact on how your body makes energy and how your liver burns fat. Basically, it burns fat more effectively for fuel.

If you’re taking medication, medication won’t contain T2 with the exception of natural desiccated thyroid (NDT). But your body can still make it.

The trick is that we don’t know how much T2 people should take. We know that T2 does help, but when it is taken in nutrient form (like supplements or creams) the results aren’t good.

But what we do want is for your body to be better able to make T2 on its own! The good news is that nutraceuticals can help, all by assisting these conversion pathways in the body.

Is Reverse T3 The Bad Guy?

Reverse T3 is often talked about as the bad guy or the villain of thyroid hormones. If there is way too much of it, that’s a sign that something is wrong, but it’s not the problem.

When we think about reverse T3, we need to think of it as a symptom and not the problem on its own. In fact, we need reverse T3 as one of the main sources of T2 and for our brains.

Best Practices for Thyroid Hormone Conversion

In this guide, I’ll take you through the various steps to help ensure that you’re putting your body in the best position to succeed with thyroid hormone conversion.

Let’s take things step by step in order to better break them down…

1. Avoiding Excessive Iodine

Thyroid medications contain iodine. Full stop. That means that when you’re on thyroid medications, you’re getting an extra dose.

That stacks on top of the iodine you’re already getting from:

• Your diet
• Salt
• Supplements
• Personal care products

If that total dose is pushing you past 200 micrograms, it is pretty hard to regulate the result is that your body ends up being more resistant to thyroid hormones.

That means that the first step is getting into a really good iodine window and going from there. If you’re actively trying to correct a thyroid issue, that window is likely below 100 micrograms per day from all sources.

If you’re stable and want to simply keep things working well, that window expands to between 50-200 micrograms per day. This is a big reason why I wrote the Thyroid Reset Diet, and it continues to be a good way to get your iodine levels in order.

2. Getting Adequate Selenium

My favorite version of selenium is called selenocysteine. That’s because it has been shown to help conversion between T4 and T3, as well as into reverse T3 and T2.

It’s a safe thing and a good thing. Selenium, when found in supplements, is appropriate up to 400 micrograms per day — but you shouldn’t be getting less than 100 micrograms daily.

Selenium is also great in the diet. That’s because supplementary and dietary forms do different things when brought into the body, so we need a good diversity there.

3. Incorporate More Vitamin Es

There is a big spectrum of compounds that are encompassed by the umbrella term “vitamin E.” They’re helpful specifically because they help support the deiodinase enzymes.

These are enzymes that help specifically with thyroid conversion. They help them work better, especially in cases where there is oxidative stress.

This is really important if there is chronic inflammation or if there is exposure to things like heavy metals (like lead). Vitamin E can play a helpful role here.

4. The Role of Zinc

Zinc and vitamin E are ones that are both good to have in baseline micronutrient supplementation. But extra amounts are good for those struggling with conversion.

And zinc is especially helpful because it is part of the same enzymes that convert thyroid hormones, as well as activating and informing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).

If zinc is lacking, you may not be making or responding to TSH, and this can have a direct impact on your body. It also helps with the formation of thyroid hormone within the follicles.

5. Compounds for Glucuronidation

Glucuronidation refers to your body’s ability to detox — it’s how you clear out the less needed thyroid metabolites. But sometimes that elimination doesn’t work as well as it should.

Our body does very well with redundancy. The result is that we typically make more thyroid hormone than we need, and then we clear out the hormone we don’t need.

But when that elimination factor isn’t as strong, then thyroid hormone can accumulate in our body and have a negative effect. Worse yet, it can make us resistant to active thyroid hormones.

The two things that help the most with this are D-limonene and calcium D-glucarate. These help the phase two liver enzymes that conjugate and eliminate thyroid hormones.

They can improve the balance with no drawbacks or negatives.

6. Ellagic Acid

An acid found in pomegranates, ellagic acid, can help in a couple of ways. One of which is that it inhibits beta-glucuronidase. It helps improve your thyroid receptor activity, as well as your adipose tissue responds better to thyroid hormone.

Studies have shown that it can help with basal metabolic rate and with T3 formation in brown fat (the most metabolically active fat tissue in the body).

7. Turmeric or Curcumin Extracts

There’s good evidence that curcumin can support NRF2 activation, which results in less inflammation and oxidative stress within thyroid cells.

It has also been shown to stabilize T3 and prevent drops in T3 that are caused by inflammatory cytokines. This is especially good for those with chronic stress or prolonged illnesses.

8. Grape Seed Extract

This is one of the most powerful antioxidants for general thyroid support. In human studies, markers of inflammation have improved when people are taking thyroid medication, and they respond more effectively to the same dose.

Even if a dose is not perfect, when you’re healthy, your body can utilize and amplify the effects of a dose that is low, or block the effects of a dose that is too high. This is one of the roles that these deiodinase enzymes play.

Whenever those things are disrupted by oxidative stress, grape seed extract has been shown to help.

Developing a Supplement for Thyroid Hormone Conversion

Like a lot of the things that I’ve made, when I was trying to find a solution for optimal thyroid conversion, I simply turned to the human studies that exist.

From there, I took those ingredients and used the amounts in the studies, turning them into an active blend that people can use on a daily basis.

This is exactly the case for T2-T3 Converter. It’s made up of all the things that have been shown to make a big difference for thyroid hormone conversion and activation in the body.

All you have to do is take one capsule once daily. The only thing to note is that you need to take it an hour before you take your thyroid medications, not at the same time.

And these are ingredients that are not problematic for medication absorption. But, as always, you should speak to your doctor before you make any major changes.

But T2-T3 Converter is made to be free of:

• Hidden iodine
• Gluten
• Soy
• Dairy
• Artificial colours, flavors, or preservatives
• GMOs

The formula is also vegan-friendly, but it does have gelatin caps. The only reason I avoided veggie caps is that they’re almost always made with alginate or carrageenan compounds, as well as inappropriate amounts of iodine.

Who Might Need T2-T3 Converter?

The general intention of this blend is for those who need thyroid medication long-term or those who are on a certain kind of medication, but they still don’t feel quite right.

The truth is that adding in T2-T3 Converter is going to be way less complicated than trying to change your medication outright. These can be valid steps on their own, but the first step is to really hone in on whether your body is getting the right things in the right quantities.

Ultimately, it is so much simpler to help your body work well by itself, rather than trying to be heavy-handed and force it one way or another. And when it does, your levels won’t always be perfect, but you will feel better.

I’d love for you to consider incorporating T2-T3 Converter into your routine, or by taking this quiz to get a quick sense of where else you might benefit from incorporating more Thyroid-Specific Formulations into your life. Thanks for reading, and here’s to your best health!