What Causes Thyroid?

All people have that little gland in their body that we call the thyroid. Though small, the thyroid plays a big role in our body. The thyroid is responsible for keeping our metabolism work properly. When something goes wrong to our thyroid, then it can create chaos in our system. Let’s talk about thyroid more and what causes thyroid problems in greater detail.

The thyroid keeps on functioning properly with a delicate balance in our body’s system. When something goes wrong to this small gland, it is called hypothyroidism. Simply put, it is a disease or dysfunction of the thyroid. So what causes thyroid problems? Below are the three cases where in the thyroid gland causes itself a thyroid malfunction:

1. When our thyroid gland produces too little of thyroid hormones, then we can experience the thyroid dysfunction called hypothyroidism.
2. On the other hand, when it produces too much thyroid hormone, again hyperthyroidism will occur.
3. Now, if the thyroid gland collects extra flesh, it will form a nodule that can actually be cancerous or not.

So if these three things happen to your thyroid, it can cause hyperthyroidism. But the big question is why these three things happen? What causes thyroid to act up? There are many possible reasons and sometimes the causes can be vague. Let’s discuss the most common causes that lead to a thyroid dysfunction.

1. Poor nutrition seems to be among the top causes of thyroid problems. People who develop such thyroid dysfunctions such as hypothyroidism are mostly those who have iodine deficiencies. Iodine is an important trace mineral that can be absorbed from food. This mineral along with tyrosine, help the thyroid in creating the T3 and T4 hormones. The lack of these hormones will then result to under-production of the thyroid hormones. As mentioned above, that can lead to hypothyroidism.
2. On the other hand, some research states that eating too much of certain foods can also interfere with how our thyroid functions. Such foods like soy, cassava, or millet are among those foods that when taken often in large quantities, can affect the thyroid. However, this one still needs more research.
3. Aside from iodine, deficiencies in magnesium, iron, and Vitamin A may also cause thyroid problems.
4. Stress is also a factor in thyroid malfunctions. When a person is under stress, the body creates certain hormones. An example would be the cortisol hormone. Creating such hormone will disturb the normal production of hormones of the thyroid and can lead to hormonal deficiencies that will affect our endocrine system as well as the thyroid. On the other hand, when you experience low thyroid function, you will also feel mental illnesses such as depression and stress. Low thyroid function can mimic stress so all these can occur to you at the same time without knowing which came first – the stress resulting to low thyroid function or – the low thyroid function mimicking stress.