The butterfly effect

The butterfly-shaped gland at the front of your neck may be small, but its importance to your overall health is enormous. Tiffany Dunk gets an expert view on how to better care for the thyroid – our master energy controller.

- Tiffany Dunk

If you’re anything like me, the pandemic of 2020 has had a few lingering effects. You’ll have been steadily loosening your waistband thanks to lockdown snacking, suffering from mood swings and generally feeling fatigued.

However, as spring turns into summer and the world opens up again, those symptoms should be fading. Sunny days encourage outdoor exercise, boosting your mood and energy levels. The heavy comfort foods of winter have made way for sustaining salads and fresh fruit snacks. And the earlier dawn makes arising from a night’s slumber feel less of a chore and more of a pleasure.

But what if you’re still feeling sluggish and can’t shift the extra weight, even with a healthier routine? This could be a big indicator that your thyroid is underactive and in need of some TLC.

What is your thyroid?

Chances are you’ve never even noticed it because it’s difficult to see or feel. But sitting just below your larynx is your thyroid, a small, soft endocrine (hormone-producing) gland. Fuelled by the iodine we ingest from foods such as seafood, eggs and dairy, the thyroid produces the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). And they are vital to our wellbeing at every stage of life.

“All tissues in the body depend on thyroid hormone for optimal function,” says Professor Creswell Eastman, leading endocrinologist and principal medical advisor for the Australian Thyroid Foundation.

“It controls our metabolism, which is how we use and create energy. You need it to speed up. You need it to create enough energy so your heart can beat, you can breathe, you can walk, you can control your body temperature. And it is the master controller of growth and metabolism. This little gland produces the most important chemicals which regulate these functions in your body.”