From Fatigue to Freedom: Healing the Thyroid Beyond Lab Tests

Mark Hyman

Sep 29, 2025

Episode description

Thyroid trouble often starts as a whisper—tiredness, stubborn weight, dry skin—until a closer look shows the tiny neck gland that sets the body’s “speed” is out of tune. Basic tests can miss the real issue, so checking active hormones and thyroid antibodies—and hunting for triggers like stress, gluten sensitivity, toxins, nutrient gaps, and gut imbalances—can reveal what’s really going on. When understood this way, thyroid health is no longer just about numbers on a lab report—it’s about restoring balance in the whole system. With the right testing, nutrition, and support, energy, mood, and metabolism can all return to their natural rhythm.

In this episode, I discuss, along with Dr. Elizabeth Boham and Dr. George Papanicolaou, thyroid conditions such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, thyroid autoimmunity and how Functional Medicine practitioners take a different approach to find the root cause of the imbalance.

Dr. Elizabeth Boham is Board Certified in Family Medicine from Albany Medical School, and she is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and the Medical Director of The UltraWellness Center. Dr. Boham lectures on a variety of topics, including Women’s Health and Breast Cancer Prevention, insulin resistance, heart health, weight control and allergies. She is on the faculty for the Institute for Functional Medicine.

Dr. George Papanicolaou is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is Board Certified in Family Medicine from Abington Memorial Hospital. Over time as the healthcare system made it harder for patients to receive personal care, Dr. Papanicolaou decided a change was needed. He began training in Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine. In 2015, he established Cornerstone Personal Health—a practice dedicated entirely to Functional Medicine. In August 2017, I invited Dr. Papanicolaou to join The UltraWellness Center and we’ve been successfully helping people together ever since.

This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers.

Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%.

Full-length episodes can be found here:
How To Treat The Root Cause Of Thyroid Problems

Is An Underactive Thyroid To Blame For Your Mysterious Symptoms?

A Root Cause Approach to Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease

Episode description

This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers.

Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%.

Full-length episodes can be found here:
How To Treat The Root Cause Of Thyroid Problems

Is An Underactive Thyroid To Blame For Your Mysterious Symptoms?

A Root Cause Approach to Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Consider bioidentical pig thyroid hormone for effective treatment

Instead of synthetic T4-only medication like Synthroid, a bioidentical hormone from pig thyroid, such as Armor Thyroid, can be more effective as it contains T4, T3, and T2.

#thyroid

Recognize optimal TSH range to identify thyroid issues

The 'normal' range for the key thyroid test TSH is broad (0.5 to 5), but the optimal range is much narrower, meaning many thyroid issues are missed by doctors.

#blood-test

#thyroid

Request comprehensive thyroid panel for accurate assessment

A basic TSH test is insufficient; you should request a comprehensive panel including TSH, free T3, free T4, and both thyroid antibodies (TPO and anti-thyroglobulin).

#testing

#thyroid

Address gluten sensitivity to improve thyroid function

Gluten sensitivity is a huge and often overlooked factor in low thyroid function, with up to 30% of cases potentially linked to it.

#gluten

#thyroid

Limit raw kale intake to protect thyroid function

Consuming large amounts of raw cruciferous vegetables, like juicing kale daily, can interfere with thyroid function and cause problems.

#nutrition

#thyroid

Understand DIO2 gene's impact on thyroid medication effectiveness

A common genetic variation in the DIO2 gene can prevent your body from converting standard thyroid medication (T4) into the active form (T3), explaining why some people don't feel better.

#genetics

Focus on symptoms, not lab numbers in thyroid treatment

When taking T3-containing thyroid medication, the TSH level often becomes very low, which alarms doctors, but treatment should be guided by symptoms, not just lab numbers.

#thyroid

Manage stress to reduce parasite risk

Chronic stress reduces stomach acid production, which allows more bacteria and parasites to survive and enter your intestinal tract where they can wreak havoc.