Easy ways to “winterize” your thyroid

Your thyroid produces hormones that keep you happy and healthy. It also works hard to maintain a steady core temperature so you don’t catch a chill every time you go outside. No wonder Finnish researchers say your risk of a worn- out thyroid rises as winter drags on. Thankfully, experts say it’s easy to winter-proof your thyroid. Just…

Reach for plates

You can cut your risk of a sluggish thyroid in half by avoiding the chemicals (PFAS) that are used to make grease-proof food packages, such as pizza boxes, hamburger wrappers and popcorn bags. PFAS sneak into food when packaging is heated, so putting take-out food on plates before warming could cut your exposure by 30%. Tip: Yale University researchers say eating home-cooked meals most days of the week could drop your exposure by 63%!

Munch on a nut

Eating one Brazil nut daily will increase your thyroid’s production of its most energizing hormone (T3) by as much as 82%, Swedish researchers say. Explains nutritionist Denise Mafra, PH.D., each Brazil nut contains 68 to 90 micrograms of selenium, which helps your thyroid convert its weaker hormone into the much stronger T3.

Read in bed

Cozying up under the covers to read for 20 minutes before lights-out can make your thyroid (and you!) 35% perkier in five days. That’s the word from British researchers, who say bedtime reading makes your production of a thyroid-aging stress hormones plunge by 68%.

Remember a multi

According to a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, multivitamins can make a winter-weary thyroid 22% more active in one week. Explains study co-author Ali Keshavarz, PH.D., multis contain almost a dozen thyroidnourishing nutrients. Note: Check with a doctor before supplementing.