The Hypothyroidism Revolution PDF / Program Diet System Cookbook Free Hypothyroidism Revolution Tom Brimeyer | Page 29

Think of your thyroid like using a garden hose to fill a bucket. The faucet represents
your thyroid gland, the hose represents your thyroid hormone pathway, the water
represents your thyroid hormone, and the bucket represents your cells that rely on
getting adequate thyroid hormone to survive and function properly.
TSH is the equivalent of the water pressure. Normally, when
you turn the water pressure up then you get more water (thyroid
hormone) into your bucket (cells).
But what happens if your garden hose (thyroid hormone
pathway) is kinked and water (thyroid hormone) can’t get
through?
You can turn the faucet on as high as you want, but regardless
of how high the water pressure is you can’t get any water
(thyroid hormone) into your bucket (cells).
This is one of the biggest problems with relying on TSH testing.
It’s simply a measure of how stimulated your thyroid is, but it doesn’t tell you the most
important piece of the puzzle that you need to know which is how much thyroid
hormone you’re getting into your cells.
TSH testing can be influenced by a number of extraneous factors unrelated to the direct
function or health of the thyroid gland including:






Aging
Stress
Infection
Blood Sugar
Excessive T4
Etc.
It’s important to understand that any thyroid test is merely giving you a snapshot of your
hormone levels at one single moment in time. Any factor, including the list above, can
cause an immediate or drastic change in your hormone levels. So, let’s say you’re
under a considerable amount of stress, you’ve caught a cold, or you didn’t have time to
eat before your doctor’s appointment… these variables can affect the outcome of your
test and lead to false results.
There are a number of factors that can drive TSH down to within “normal” range without
actually removing the kinks in your thyroid hormone pathway or helping you to get the
right thyroid hormone you need to your cells.
4