Thyroid Naturopath & Nutritionist · Australia Wide
Root-Cause Support For Women's Thyroid Health.
Naturopathic Treatment For Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Subclinical Hypothyroidism & Hyperthyroidism
You have a thyroid diagnosis you have been left to manage on your own, or you suspect your thyroid is the problem and you have been told your bloods are fine.
Either way, your energy, your weight, your hair, your mood, and your thyroid are not where they should be.
They're not telling you everything.
Bachelor of Health Science ◆ Master of Advanced Naturopathic Medicine ◆ Grad Cert Culinary Nutrition Science ◆ A5M Certified Anti-Ageing
Member ANTA & NSA
8 years clinical experience · Australian Nutrition Ambassador MyFitnessPal · 1,000+ women helped
You have spent years feeling like your body is working against you, and no matter what you do, it is not getting better.
On a good day you can push through with enough caffeine and willpower to get to the end of the work day.
On a bad day you are exhausted by 10am, your hair is in the brush, your weight has not moved in two years, and your mood is somewhere between flat and snappy.
You have been put on thyroxine and told that is the full plan, or your TSH keeps coming back "in range" and you have been told to come back if it gets worse.
And the only solutions on the table are "your TSH is fine," "you'll need to take this medication for life," or "have you tried losing weight and exercising more."
This page is for women who want to understand what is going on with their body & get some answers.
The Symptoms I Hear Every Week
Does This Sound Like You?
You're between 25 and 60, and something with your energy, your weight, your mood, or your symptoms has been off for a long time.
Maybe it crept in.
Maybe it has been there since after a baby, after a stressful period of your life, or after a viral illness.
Maybe you have been on thyroxine for years and you still do not feel like yourself.
The list below is what comes up in my clinic every week.
Your fatigue is the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that 8 hours of sleep does not fix, and you wake up feeling like you have not slept at all
Your weight has stopped moving despite eating less than you used to and training harder than you ever have
You are losing significantly more hair than usual, your hair is thinning at the front, the temples, or the crown, and you are pulling clumps out of the brush, finding it on the pillow, and clogging the shower drain
Your hands and feet are cold most of the day, even in summer, and you are the one wearing socks to bed when nobody else is
Your skin has become dry, dull, and rough, particularly on your elbows, shins and the backs of your arms, and no amount of moisturiser is shifting it
Your eyebrows have thinned, particularly the outer third, and you have to draw them in or fill them more than you used to
Your bowel movements have slowed right down, you are constipated more often than not, and going every 2 to 3 days has become your normal
Your mood is flat and low motivation is the new baseline, and you have been offered an antidepressant when you know in your gut it is not depression
Your brain feels foggy, you are losing your words mid-sentence, and your memory and recall are nowhere near what they used to be
Your cycle has changed, your periods are heavier, more painful, or more irregular than they used to be, and PMS is significantly worse
You feel anxious, your heart races at random times, and you are waking at 3am wired even though you went to bed exhausted
Your TSH keeps coming back "normal" but you have never been told what your free T3, free T4, reverse T3, or thyroid antibodies are doing
If you're ticking five or more of those, your hormones are not where they should be.
Your bloods probably look "normal" because standard testing only checks TSH, which does not catch most of what is happening with your thyroid.
The Science, Simplified
What Is Thyroid Dysfunction
Thyroid dysfunction is the term used when the thyroid gland is not producing the right amount of thyroid hormone, or when the body is not using the hormone properly once it has been produced.
Your thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland that sits at the front of your neck, and it produces two main hormones, T4 (the storage form) and T3 (the active form your cells actually use). T4 is converted into T3 in your liver, gut, and other tissues, and your cells then use T3 to set the speed at which almost every system in your body works.
Thyroid hormone influences your energy production, your metabolic rate, your body temperature, your menstrual cycle, your mood, your brain function, your digestion, your bowel motility, your hair growth, and your skin turnover. When thyroid hormone is in the right range, you feel like yourself. When it shifts in either direction, the symptoms are widespread because almost every system in the body depends on thyroid hormone working properly.
The most common pattern I see in clinic is hypothyroidism, where the thyroid is producing too little hormone, or where the conversion from T4 to T3 is impaired so the active hormone is not reaching the cells in adequate amounts. This produces the bone-deep fatigue, weight that will not shift, hair loss, dry skin, cold hands and feet, constipation, brain fog, and low mood that thyroid women describe.
When I assess a woman with hypothyroid or subclinical hypothyroid symptoms, one of the first things I look at is her nutrient status, because the thyroid cannot make hormone without specific nutrients in adequate amounts. Iodine is the raw material the thyroid uses to build T4 and T3, selenium is required for the conversion of T4 to T3 and for protecting the thyroid gland from inflammation, zinc is required for the production of TSH and the conversion of T4 to T3, iron is required for the first step of thyroid hormone synthesis, and tyrosine is the amino acid the thyroid uses to build the hormone itself.
Most women I see are low in one or more of these, and the cause is usually a combination of dietary gaps and impaired absorption.
Low stomach acid (which is common in women on long-term reflux medication, women with chronic stress, and women over 40) reduces the absorption of zinc, iron, and B12, and over time this produces nutrient gaps that directly limit thyroid function. This is one of the reasons a clinical thyroid plan starts with food and digestion before it moves anywhere else.
Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in Australian women, and it is an autoimmune condition where the immune system produces antibodies that attack the thyroid gland and gradually reduce its ability to produce hormone. The two antibodies that confirm Hashimoto's are TPO (thyroid peroxidase antibodies) and thyroglobulin antibodies, and these are rarely tested in standard GP work-ups. A woman can have Hashimoto's for years before her TSH shifts enough to be diagnosed, because the immune attack on the thyroid is happening long before the gland fails to keep up.
Subclinical hypothyroidism is the early stage of thyroid decline, where the thyroid is starting to struggle but the TSH is only slightly elevated and is still inside the standard reference range. Standard reference ranges in Australia are wide, and a woman can have a TSH that sits inside the population reference range while her free T3 is low, her antibodies are positive, and her symptoms are full hypothyroid. This is where the symptoms, the full thyroid panel, and the antibody status need to be looked at together rather than relying on a single number.
Hyperthyroidism sits at the other end of the spectrum, where the thyroid is producing too much hormone. The most common cause in women is Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition where antibodies stimulate the thyroid to overproduce, and this produces heart racing, anxiety, weight loss, heat intolerance, tremor, and sleep disruption.
Standard pathology in Australia tests TSH alone in most GP work-ups, and TSH on its own does not give you a complete picture of thyroid function. TSH is the signal your pituitary sends to your thyroid, asking it to produce more hormone, but it does not tell you how much T4 is being produced, how much of that T4 is being converted into active T3, or whether thyroid antibodies are attacking the gland and reducing its function over time. A woman can have a TSH that sits inside the standard reference range and still have low free T3, elevated reverse T3, or thyroid antibodies that confirm Hashimoto's, and these are the markers that catch what TSH alone misses. The full functional thyroid panel I run in clinic includes TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, TPO antibodies, and thyroglobulin antibodies, because every one of those markers measures a different part of how the thyroid is functioning, including hormone production, conversion to the active form, autoimmunity, and clearance.
Thyroid dysfunction is also rarely happening in isolation. The thyroid is directly affected by your gut, your liver, your adrenals, and your sex hormones, and a thyroid that is struggling is often the consequence of pressure coming from one or more of those other systems. The Australian Thyroid Foundation has a good overview of hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's if you want to read further on the conventional clinical picture.
I find in my clinic that most women have been dealing with thyroid symptoms for 5 to 10 years before they walk into a consult with me, and the first thing I do is run the full functional thyroid panel and explain what is happening, because nobody has done that yet.
From the Clinic
Thyroid Symptoms I See Most Often
These are the symptoms that come up in my clinic every week.
If you are ticking multiple, it is worth investigating rather than waiting to see if it gets worse.
Bone-deep fatigue (hypothyroid pattern), where you wake up feeling like you have not slept, you are tired through the day no matter how much rest you get, and you need coffee to get through to the end of the work day.
Weight gain or weight that will not shift (metabolic slowdown), particularly around the midsection, hips, and thighs, despite eating less and training harder than you ever have.
Cold intolerance, where your hands and feet stay cold most of the day, getting easily cold, even in summer, and you are wearing socks to bed when nobody else is.
Diffuse hair loss and thinning, particularly at the front, the temples, and the crown, with significantly more hair coming out in the brush, on the pillow, and in the shower drain than is normal for you.
Loss of the outer third of the eyebrows (Queen Anne's sign), which is one of the more specific clinical signs of hypothyroidism and is rarely mentioned in standard work-ups.
Dry, rough, dull skin, particularly on the elbows, shins, and the backs of the arms, that does not respond to moisturiser.
Constipation and slowed bowel motility, where you are going every 2 to 3 days and your stool consistency has changed, because thyroid hormone directly regulates the speed of the digestive tract.
Cognitive symptoms (brain fog, slowed processing, word-finding difficulty), where you are losing your words mid-sentence, your recall is slower than it used to be, and you feel mentally flat through most of the day.
Low mood and reduced motivation, often misdiagnosed as depression, where the flatness is biological rather than situational and lifts when thyroid hormone is restored.
Menstrual changes (heavier periods, longer cycles, more painful periods, worsened PMS), because low thyroid function slows oestrogen clearance through the liver and shifts the oestrogen-to-progesterone balance.
Subclinical hypothyroidism, where TSH is mildly elevated but still inside the standard reference range, free T3 is low, and the woman has the full hypothyroid symptom set despite being told her bloods are normal.
Elevated thyroid antibodies (TPO and thyroglobulin), which confirm autoimmune thyroid activity (Hashimoto's) and are often the first marker to shift years before TSH moves out of range.
Hyperthyroid symptoms (anxiety, heart racing, weight loss, heat intolerance, tremor, sleep disruption, hair loss), which point toward Graves' disease or another cause of overactive thyroid and need urgent investigation.
Nutrient deficiencies that limit thyroid function (low iron, low zinc, low selenium, low B12), often present alongside low stomach acid, that prevent the thyroid from producing or converting hormone even when the gland itself is structurally fine.
If you are ready to get to the root cause of your thyroid symptoms with a clinical plan built around your body and your life, this is where we start.
The Mechanisms Behind It
What's Going On With Your Thyroid
Most thyroid advice stops at "your TSH is normal" or "you'll need to take thyroxine for life." Both are true in their own way, and neither is enough to explain why your symptoms are not improving, why your fatigue, hair loss, and weight gain are getting worse, or why a woman on thyroxine for 10 years can still feel exhausted, cold, and flat.
The useful question is what is happening upstream and downstream of the thyroid itself, because the thyroid does not work in isolation from the rest of your body.
This is what I look at in clinic.
Why TSH alone is not enough
TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is the most commonly ordered thyroid test in Australia, and in most GP work-ups it is the only thyroid test that gets run. The problem is that TSH on its own does not tell you how your thyroid is functioning. It tells you how your pituitary is talking to your thyroid.
TSH is the signal your pituitary sends down to your thyroid asking it to produce more hormone. When TSH is high, the pituitary is asking the thyroid to work harder, which usually means the thyroid is underperforming. When TSH is low, the pituitary is asking the thyroid to slow down, which usually means there is too much thyroid hormone in circulation. But TSH does not tell you how much T4 the thyroid is producing, how much of that T4 is being converted into the active T3 your cells use, or whether thyroid antibodies are present and reducing thyroid function over time.
The other issue with TSH on its own is that the standard reference ranges in Australia are wide. A woman can have a TSH that is technically "in range" on standard testing and still have full hypothyroid symptoms, low free T3, and elevated antibodies, because the population reference range and the range associated with the lowest symptom burden in the research literature are not the same thing.
The full functional thyroid panel I run in clinic includes TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, and both TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies. Each of those markers measures a different part of how the thyroid is functioning, and looking at them together is the only way to see what is happening with your thyroid.
The conversion problem (T4 to T3)
The thyroid gland produces two main hormones, T4 (the storage form) and T3 (the active form your cells use to set the speed at which almost every system in your body works). Around 80 to 90% of what the thyroid releases is T4, and only a small amount is T3. The T4 has to be converted into T3 before your cells can use it, and most of this conversion happens outside the thyroid itself, in your liver, your gut, your kidneys, and your peripheral tissues.
When the conversion is working well, T4 is steadily turned into T3 throughout the day, and your cells receive a consistent supply of the active hormone. When the conversion is impaired, the thyroid can be producing adequate T4, the TSH can sit inside the standard reference range, and the woman can still have full hypothyroid symptoms.
There are several reasons conversion slows down, and most women I see have more than one of them happening at once. Chronic stress raises cortisol, which directly reduces the conversion of T4 to T3 and increases the conversion of T4 into reverse T3 (an inactive form covered in the next section). Nutrient deficiencies (selenium, zinc, iron, B12, and tyrosine) reduce the activity of the deiodinase enzymes responsible for the T4 to T3 conversion. Chronic inflammation from any source, including gut dysbiosis, autoimmune activity, or unmanaged blood sugar, also slows the deiodinase enzymes. Calorie restriction and undereating reduce conversion as a metabolic protective response, which is one of the reasons aggressive dieting often makes thyroid symptoms worse.
This is also one of the most important mechanisms in women on thyroxine who do not feel better. Thyroxine is T4, the storage form, and the assumption built into the prescription is that the body will convert that T4 into T3 at the rate the woman needs. If the conversion is impaired by stress, nutrient deficiency, inflammation, or any combination of those, the T4 dose can be adequate on the prescription pad and the active T3 reaching the cells can still be too low. This is why I see women whose TSH and free T4 sit inside range on thyroxine, who still have full hypothyroid symptoms, and whose free T3 has never been tested.
The clinical answer is to assess and address what is impairing conversion. That means treating cortisol, the gut, the nutrient panel, and inflammation alongside the thyroid panel, rather than relying on TSH and a thyroxine dose alone.
Reverse T3 (the forgotten marker)
When the body converts T4, it can go in two directions. Most of the time, the T4 is converted into the active T3 your cells use, which is the conversion covered in the previous section. Some of the time, the T4 is converted into reverse T3 (rT3), an inactive form of thyroid hormone that the body produces as a brake on metabolism. A small amount of rT3 is produced as part of normal thyroid metabolism in a healthy state, but when the body is under stress or unwell, more T4 gets shunted down the rT3 pathway and rT3 levels rise.
The clinical problem is that rT3 binds to the same receptors that active T3 uses. When rT3 is elevated, it occupies the receptors and blocks active T3 from doing its job. This means a woman can have a TSH inside the reference range, T4 inside the reference range, and free T3 inside the reference range, and still feel hypothyroid, because the active T3 in her bloodstream cannot reach the receptors it needs to bind to.
The most common reasons rT3 rises are the same reasons conversion to active T3 slows down, which is one of the reasons these two mechanisms often happen together. Chronic stress and chronically elevated cortisol push T4 toward rT3 instead of active T3. Acute or chronic illness, including viral infections, surgery, and chronic inflammation, increases rT3 as part of the body's metabolic protective response. Calorie restriction and undereating signal to the body that food is scarce and metabolism needs to slow down, and rT3 is one of the ways the body achieves that. Selenium and zinc deficiency also push T4 conversion toward rT3 rather than active T3, because the deiodinase enzymes that direct the conversion need these nutrients to function.
Standard pathology in Australia almost never tests rT3. Most GP work-ups stop at TSH, and a comprehensive panel will usually include free T3 and free T4, but rT3 is rarely on the list. This is why a woman with elevated rT3 can present with full hypothyroid symptoms and a thyroid panel that looks unremarkable, because the marker that would explain her symptoms was never measured.
The clinical answer when rT3 is elevated is to address the upstream causes. That means treating the chronic stress, the gut inflammation, the nutrient deficiencies, and the chronic illness or inflammation that is keeping the body in a metabolic brake state.
Once the chronic stress, gut inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies are addressed, rT3 typically comes down within 8 to 12 weeks, and the active T3 can reach the receptors and work.
Thyroid antibodies and autoimmune activity
The most common cause of hypothyroidism in Australian women is Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune condition where the immune system produces antibodies that attack the thyroid gland and gradually reduce its ability to produce hormone. Two antibodies confirm Hashimoto's clinically, TPO (thyroid peroxidase antibodies) and thyroglobulin antibodies. Both are produced by the immune system and both target structures inside the thyroid that are required for hormone production.
Antibody status changes what the protocol needs to address. A woman with positive TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies is dealing with both a thyroid issue and an immune issue, and the protocol has to address both. The thyroid work alone (testing, supporting conversion, replacing nutrients, supporting the gland) does not address the immune attack happening alongside it, and the autoimmune work needs to be done in parallel, not as a separate consideration. That means addressing gut permeability, removing inflammatory triggers, and calming immune reactivity at the same time as the thyroid hormone deficit is being managed.
One of the most important clinical points about thyroid antibodies is that they often elevate years before TSH moves out of range. The autoimmune attack on the thyroid happens long before the gland fails to keep up. A woman can have positive TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies for 5 to 10 years with a TSH that still sits inside the standard reference range, and during those years the autoimmune disease is progressing. By the time TSH finally rises and a Hashimoto's diagnosis is given, significant thyroid tissue has already been lost. This is one of the strongest arguments for testing antibodies as a baseline marker for any woman with thyroid symptoms, regardless of TSH.
Graves' disease is the autoimmune condition at the other end of the spectrum, where antibodies (TSH receptor antibodies, also called TRAb) stimulate the thyroid to overproduce hormone. The result is the heart racing, anxiety, weight loss, heat intolerance, tremor, and sleep disruption of hyperthyroidism, and Graves' is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in women. Like Hashimoto's, Graves' is an immune system condition expressing itself through the thyroid, and the same root-cause work applies (gut, immune regulation, inflammation, stress, nutrient status), although the thyroid management itself is different and requires close work alongside an endocrinologist.
The triggers for thyroid autoimmunity are the same triggers behind most autoimmune disease.
Gut permeability (also called leaky gut) allows partially digested food proteins and bacterial components to cross into the bloodstream, where the immune system mounts a response that can cross-react with thyroid tissue.
Gluten is one of the most common triggers in Hashimoto's specifically, because the gluten protein has structural similarity to thyroid tissue, and the antibody response to gluten can attack the thyroid through molecular mimicry.
Viral infections, particularly Epstein-Barr (the virus that causes glandular fever), are a known trigger for Hashimoto's onset. Chronic stress and hormonal shifts (postpartum, perimenopause) are also documented triggers, and nutrient deficiencies (selenium, zinc, vitamin D) reduce the immune system's ability to regulate itself.
The clinical answer when antibodies are elevated is to address the immune system alongside the thyroid. That means working on the gut, removing inflammatory food triggers, supporting nutrient status, regulating the nervous system, and giving the immune system a chance to settle. Antibody levels can come down significantly with this kind of comprehensive root-cause work, and the rate of thyroid tissue loss can slow.
Gut, thyroid, and the inflammation loop
The gut is one of the most influential systems on thyroid function, and a thyroid that is struggling almost always has the gut contributing to it. There are three direct ways the gut affects the thyroid, and most women with thyroid issues have all three happening at once.
Stomach acid and nutrient absorption.
Adequate stomach acid is required to break down protein into the amino acids the thyroid uses to build hormone (including tyrosine), and to release minerals from food into a form the small intestine can absorb.
Low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) is common in women on long-term reflux medication, women with chronic stress, women over 40, and women with a history of restrictive eating, and it directly reduces the absorption of zinc, iron, selenium, and B12, the nutrients the thyroid depends on.
A woman can be eating a perfectly adequate diet on paper and still be deficient in the nutrients her thyroid needs to function, because the absorption is impaired upstream.
The gut microbiome and T4 to T3 conversion. Around 20% of the T4 your thyroid produces is converted into active T3 in the gut, and that conversion depends on a healthy population of gut bacteria. When the microbiome is disrupted (from antibiotic use, chronic poor diet, low fibre intake, chronic stress, gut infections, or dysbiosis), the gut's contribution to T4 to T3 conversion drops, and the active T3 reaching your cells decreases.
This is one of the reasons women with chronic gut symptoms (bloating, irregular bowel habits, reflux, food intolerances) often present with full hypothyroid symptoms even when the thyroid gland itself is structurally fine.
Gut permeability and the autoimmune loop.
The gut lining is meant to be a tightly controlled barrier that allows nutrients in and keeps everything else out. When that barrier becomes permeable (also called leaky gut), partially digested food proteins, bacterial components, and inflammatory compounds cross into the bloodstream, where the immune system mounts a response. As covered in the previous section, that immune response can cross-react with thyroid tissue and trigger or worsen the antibody attack on the thyroid.
This is the mechanism that connects ongoing gut inflammation to ongoing autoimmune thyroid activity, and it is one of the reasons antibody levels often do not come down on a thyroid-only protocol that ignores the gut.
Chronic gut conditions worth specifically naming here are dysbiosis (the wrong balance of gut bacteria), SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which produces persistent bloating, food sensitivity, and inflammation), and food sensitivities to gluten and dairy, both of which are documented triggers in autoimmune thyroid disease. Each of these keeps the immune system activated, which keeps thyroid antibodies elevated, which keeps the thyroid under attack.
The clinical answer is that gut work is part of any serious thyroid protocol, not an optional add-on. That means assessing stomach acid, the microbiome, gut permeability, food sensitivities, and any active gut conditions, and treating them in parallel with the thyroid itself. I see this in clinic week after week, women whose thyroid antibodies do not shift on thyroxine alone but come down significantly once their gut is being addressed.
Nutrient cofactors your thyroid needs to work
The thyroid cannot produce hormone, convert T4 to T3, or maintain immune regulation without specific nutrients in adequate amounts.
Most women I see with thyroid symptoms have one or more of these sitting low or borderline, and addressing nutritional status plays a significant role in any naturopathic thyroid protocol.
Each nutrient has a specific role, and when one is low, thyroid function is impaired.Iodine is the raw material the thyroid uses to build T4 and T3. Each T4 molecule contains four iodine atoms, and each T3 molecule contains three.
Without adequate iodine in the diet, the thyroid cannot manufacture hormone at the rate the body needs.
Iodine deficiency was historically the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide, and while iodised salt and iodine-fortified bread have reduced overall deficiency rates in Australia, mild iodine deficiency is still common in many women including, pregnant or breastfeeding women (plus chronic stress & low stomach acid).
Iodine status needs to be approached carefully, because excess iodine can also worsen autoimmune thyroid disease, which is why iodine work in Hashimoto's needs to be guided clinically rather than self-prescribed.
Selenium is required for the conversion of T4 to T3, for protecting the thyroid gland from oxidative damage during hormone production, and for regulating the immune response in autoimmune thyroid disease. Selenium deficiency is one of the most clinically relevant deficiencies in Hashimoto's specifically, because adequate selenium has been shown to reduce TPO antibody levels in multiple studies.
Australian soil is low in selenium, which means dietary selenium intake in Australia is lower than in many other countries, and most women I see do not have adequate selenium intake from food alone. Brazil nuts are the most concentrated dietary source (one to two per day usually covers the daily requirement).
Zinc is required for the production of TSH, for the conversion of T4 to T3, and for the activity of the deiodinase enzymes covered in the conversion section above. Zinc deficiency is common in women with low stomach acid, vegetarian or low-meat diets, chronic stress, and high alcohol intake, and it causes symptoms that overlap with thyroid symptoms (fatigue, hair loss, slow wound healing, and low immunity).
Zinc and copper need to be looked at together because they compete for absorption, and a long-term zinc deficiency can also create a copper imbalance that further affects thyroid function.Iron is required for the very first step of thyroid hormone synthesis.
Adequate iron is needed for the enzyme thyroid peroxidase (TPO) to do its job, and iron deficiency directly limits how much thyroid hormone the gland can produce.
The clinically important point about iron in thyroid work is that the standard test most GPs run is haemoglobin, which only shifts when iron deficiency is severe. The marker that catches early or borderline iron deficiency is ferritin (iron storage), and the optimal ferritin range for thyroid function sits well above the lower end of the standard reference range. A woman can have a normal haemoglobin and a ferritin in the low end of "normal" and still have iron-related thyroid dysfunction.
Tyrosine is the amino acid the thyroid uses, alongside iodine, to build the hormone itself. Tyrosine comes from dietary protein (meat, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, nuts, seeds), and women on chronically low protein intake or who eat little throughout the day often come into clinic with tyrosine intake below what the thyroid needs.
Vitamin D is required for immune regulation, and low vitamin D is associated with higher rates of autoimmune thyroid disease, including Hashimoto's. Most Australian women are below optimal vitamin D, particularly through winter, and supplementation alongside dietary support and safe sun exposure is often part of the clinical work.
B12 and folate are required for energy production, neurological function, and methylation pathways that the body uses to clear hormones (including thyroid hormone) and to regulate immune activity.
B12 deficiency is common in women with low stomach acid, women on long-term reflux medication, women on metformin, and women on plant-based diets, and active B12 testing (rather than serum B12) gives a more accurate clinical reading.
Most women I see have at least three nutrient deficits limiting thyroid function, and addressing them is one of the changes that makes the biggest clinical difference.
My Approach
How I Work With Thyroid Issues
My approach is root-cause, systems-based, and built for real life.
You have a job, a family, a schedule that does not pause for your hormones.
Your plan is built around that, not against it.
And I am not going to dismiss you the way you have been dismissed for years, or send you away without a clear plan.
Food as Medicine
Nutrition is the foundation of your thyroid plan, and thanks to my Graduate Certificate in Culinary Nutrition Science alongside my clinical qualifications, your food plan is delicious, practical, and designed around your life.
It is built around what your body needs based on your clinical presentation, not a generic template pulled off the internet.
I look at your symptoms, blood sugar response, inflammation levels, nutritional gaps, and the specific foods that support the systems under most pressure in thyroid dysfunction: thyroid, gut, liver, adrenals, and immune system.
Your food plan is built to address the nutritional gaps impacting thyroid function, alongside supporting the gut, the liver, and the immune system.
You also get a custom recipe book matched to your plan, so you are never staring at a protocol wondering what to cook on a Tuesday night.
The goal is a way of eating you can sustain for the long term, that still lets you enjoy a margarita or pizza on a Friday night.
Supplements and Herbal Medicine
Supplements and herbal medicine are two of the most powerful clinical tools I use in thyroid dysfunction, and you get access to practitioner-only prescriptions built specifically for your body.
These are the highest-quality clinical formulations available in Australia, with therapeutic doses and activated forms that absorb and work in the body.
A different tier entirely to anything on a chemist shelf.
Your protocol is matched to your thyroid symptoms, test results, and the systems we are working on, whether that is thyroid function, energy, metabolism, or immune balance.
Herbal medicine is one of the oldest and most evidence-backed forms of medicine in existence, and when prescribed correctly for thyroid dysfunction, it often produces results faster than women expect.
I adjust your prescription across the package as your body responds, so you are always taking what is clinically useful and nothing you do not need
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Nervous System Regulation
Your nervous system regulates almost every other system in the body, and when it is held in a chronic stress state, thyroid function is further suppressed.
Digestion slows, thyroid function gets suppressed, sleep quality declines, inflammation rises, and your body holds onto weight regardless of your diet.
Chronic stress is one of the most significant contributors to thyroid symptoms, and it is the part most treatment plans overlook.
Your plan includes clear, practical strategies that fit into a busy life: vagus nerve support, short breathwork practices, sleep support including circadian rhythm work and clinical strategies if your sleep is disrupted, stress regulation built around your capacity, and movement that supports your system rather than adding to it.
Most women notice improvement within the first few weeks.
Advanced Testing & Integrative Pathology Review
You have access to advanced functional testing when it is clinically useful for your case and your budget.
This includes a full functional thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies) plus the nutrient testing the thyroid depends on (full iron studies, zinc, selenium, active B12).
When clinically useful, I also use GI-MAP for the gut-thyroid connection, full functional blood panels, DNA and nutrigenomic testing, organic acids, and food sensitivity testing.
I only recommend testing that is going to meaningfully inform your treatment direction.
I also review your pathology through an integrative lens using functional optimal ranges, which are tighter than standard population reference ranges.
A result can sit inside the "normal" range and still be contributing to your thyroid symptoms, and this is often where the clinical answers are found.
80/20 Always
You can have the wine. You can have the margarita on a Friday. You can have the pasta, the cheese platter, and the slice of birthday cake.
Restriction, perfectionism, and constant dieting work against your thyroid, your nervous system, and your long-term consistency, which is the last thing your body needs when you are working through thyroid dysfunction.
They also compromise your relationship with food, which is one of the most difficult things to repair.
Your plan is built to be sustainable for life, not for 30 days, so you can continue addressing your thyroid and enjoy your life at the same time.
The goal is a way of eating and living that fits into a full social life and continues to support your clinical outcomes.
Realistic & Built Around Your Life
Your plan is designed around how busy you are, your schedule, who you cook for, how much time you have, and the capacity you are carrying in this stage of life.
Simple, sequenced, and achievable.
I will not hand you a protocol that requires hours in the kitchen, a fridge full of obscure ingredients, or a morning routine longer than the average commute.
No plan produces results if it does not fit your life, which is why most generic programs fail women working through thyroid symptoms.
Yours is built to fit yours, step by step, in the clinical order your body needs.
Naturopath In Your Pocket
Between consults, you have direct messaging access to me for questions about your protocol, new symptoms you want to flag, situations that change the plan, or progress you want to share.
You are not waiting for weeks with a clinical question until your next appointment, and you are not working through the complex parts on your own.
Thyroid symptoms shift month to month, and having clinical support between sessions makes a significant difference to outcomes across a multi-month protocol.
Most women tell me this is one of the most valuable parts of working together.
Mindset & Your Relationship With Food
Most women I see with thyroid symptoms already have a bit of an idea of what they need to do.
They have read the books, followed the accounts, bought the supplements, and started the protocols.
What keeps them stuck is what is underneath: all-or-nothing thinking, self-sabotage when progress begins, food guilt, body image concerns, and years of yo-yo dieting that now feel amplified when you are working through thyroid symptoms.
This thinking consistently undermines the clinical work in every protocol a woman has tried before.
Your plan includes work on these patterns as part of your clinical care, because a treatment plan does not produce lasting results if the thinking underneath it is pulling in the opposite direction.
This is part of your care, not an extra.
Your Questions, Answered
Thyroid FAQs
Can a naturopath and nutritionist help with thyroid issues?
Yes. A naturopath and nutritionist can be one of the most useful practitioners to see for thyroid issues because the approach is root-cause and systems-based. I look at hormones, gut, thyroid, insulin, cortisol, liver function and nutrition together rather than treating one symptom at a time. For Australian women who feel dismissed by conventional care, or who want support alongside thyroxine, T3 medication, or natural desiccated thyroid, it is often the part they have been missing.
What is the difference between a naturopath and nutritionist and a GP for thyroid issues?
A GP is usually your first stop for diagnosis, medication, and conversations about thyroxine or other thyroid medication, which is valuable clinical care. A naturopath and nutritionist takes a root-cause, holistic approach to your health, because what happens in one system of the body affects every other system. Your hormones, gut, thyroid, nervous system, and metabolism all communicate with each other, and treating them in isolation rarely gives lasting results.
In clinic, I use functional testing (full functional thyroid panels, DUTCH, GI-MAP), practitioner-only supplements, custom herbal medicine, and personalised nutrition to support all of these systems together.
This is a comprehensive, intensive, and hands-on approach. You get a personalised clinical plan, ongoing support between consults, and the time to work through your thyroid symptoms.
The two approaches are complementary. I work with many women who are on thyroxine, T3 medication, or natural desiccated thyroid through their GP and working with me on the gut, nutrition, nervous system, and lifestyle foundations that medication does not replace.
How long does it take to see results for thyroid issues?
Energy and digestion usually start to improve in the first 2 to 4 weeks. Mood, skin, and early symptom relief follow between 4 and 8 weeks. Deeper thyroid function changes come across the 3 to 6 month mark. Every woman is different, but most describe significant improvement within the first few months of working together.
Can I work with you if I am on thyroxine or other thyroid medication?
Yes. I work with women on thyroxine (Eutroxsig and Oroxine), T3 medication, and natural desiccated thyroid regularly. The goal is to support your body through thyroid dysfunction regardless of what else you are taking.
I do not prescribe or deprescribe any medication, that conversation belongs with your GP or specialist. I support the foundations (gut, nutrition, nervous system, nutrient status, lifestyle) that medication does not replace.
What testing do you use for thyroid issues?
Tests vary depending on each person, and recommendations are based on your history and symptoms. Not every woman needs every test.
Commonly, I will run a full functional thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies), full iron studies, zinc, selenium, active B12, vitamin D, and inflammation markers. Alongside this, fasting insulin, HbA1c, and lipids when clinically relevant.
Where it is clinically useful and fits your budget, I also use GI-MAP for the gut-thyroid connection, DUTCH Complete for cortisol and hormone analysis, and other functional tests when indicated.
Do I need a GP referral to see you?
No. Naturopaths and nutritionists in Australia do not require a GP referral. You can book directly.
Do you consult online across Australia?
Yes. All my consultations run online via telehealth, which means I work with women in every state and territory. Most of my clients are in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and regional NSW, but geography is not a barrier.
What does it cost to work with you for thyroid issues?
The initial consultation is 90 minutes and includes a personalised plan you leave with. Follow-up consultations run 30 to 60 minutes depending on what is needed. Testing is additional and quoted up front so there are no surprises. Full pricing is on the Consultations page. Private health rebates may apply depending on your fund.
Do you order blood tests?
Yes. I can organise pathology and functional testing directly through the private labs I use in clinic, including full functional blood panels, full functional thyroid panels, GI-MAP, DUTCH Complete, DNA and nutrigenomic testing, and other specialised tests when indicated.
These are out of pocket because they are not covered by Medicare. Some standard blood tests are covered by Medicare when ordered through a GP, so for those panels I will write you a clear list of exactly what to ask your GP for, which keeps the cost down.
Functional tests like GI-MAP and DUTCH are not available through Medicare or the public system, so these are always out of pocket. I will give you the cost up front before we commit to any testing, and I will only ever recommend testing that is going to meaningfully inform your clinical plan.
Will I have to give up wine, coffee or sugar?
Not forever. Not all at once. I work on the 80/20 rule personally and professionally. There will be periods where reducing certain things speeds the process up (particularly in the early weeks of rebalancing blood sugar or the gut), but the plan is always built for sustainability.
You can have the glass of wine. You can have the margarita. Restriction is not the strategy.
Credentials
Bachelor of Health Sciences (Naturopathy)
Master of Advanced Naturopathic Medicine
Graduate Certificate in Culinary Nutrition Science
A5M certification in anti-ageing medicine
8+ years of clinical practice
1,000+ women worked with
Australian Nutrition Ambassador for MyFitnessPal
© Michaela Sparrow 2026
