What your poop says about your thyroid

Many people with hypothyroidism suffer with chronic constipation. It’s a sign of hypo in fact. 

When you’re hypo, your entire body is slowed down and so is each of your organs, including your digestive system.

Pooping daily (yeah, I talk about poop and periods because they are indicators of your health and not enough people normalize talking about this kind of stuff) is important for feeling good because when you don’t go every single day, you hold on to toxins and have symptoms like “heartburn” (which we know is actually LOW stomach acid which we talked about in this blog post last time.)

It can add to your fatigue and sluggishness too. You don’t need that to be any worse!

A healthy body should poop once a day AT LEAST, but I know that is not the case for many hypothyroid patients because it wasn’t for me either when I was severely hypo. And if your gut is functioning optimally, up to 3 times per day after each meal is ideal. (This is not the same if you have lost your gallbladder which I will do a separate blog post about. That changes the game.)

When you get things running smoothly, you can even start to predict WHEN you’ll poop because it will be around the same time each day.

Some argue that 3 times a week is enough, but just because something is common for most people does NOT make it normal or even ideal.

Not only that, but the consistency of your poo is also important!  Stools should be soft and relatively easy to pass. They most commonly resemble a snake or sausage because this mirrors the inside of the intestines. Generally speaking, stool should be brown due to the breakdown of red blood cells in the body. It should not cause you to strain or wipe a million times.

SO WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE HYPOTHYROID AND CONSTIPATED?

I have a few simple tips to get you going more regularly. No, its not taking laxatives or Mirilax (those are terrible for you). STOP THAT!! We do things as naturally as possible here. My clients will tell you that this combo works wonders for them. It’s easy and doable for anyone.

1. Drink at least 2 liters of filtered water (we want water with no fluoride or chlorine because those can cause a decline in thyroid function and are commonly found in tap water, no plastic bottled water either because it has toxins too) a day and one of those liters as soon as you get up, before you eat or drink anything else. You need to hydrate to get things moving FIRST THING and its good for your body and thyroid too. Chronic dehydration stresses your thyroid. You can see the water filter we use and recommend HERE!
2. Take a high quality, highly absorbable magnesium glycinate supplement like this one HERE before bed. Not only will it help you to relax and sleep better but it can help you poop in the morning too. Glycinate is best for relaxing and is better absorbed than other types of magnesium. I take between 400-600 mg a night. Start with 200 and work your way up to see what works best for you. Most of my clients do well in the 400-600 range.
3. IF 1 AND 2 DON’T WORK ADD IN SOME MOVEMENT: Move more. Get your steps in and get up and move more throughout the day. Exercise can help to keep things moving along. You don’t have to go crazy with it. Just move your body.

Happy pooping!!

Until next Thyroid Thursday,

Melodye