Episode 233: Why So Many People with Thyroid Problems Have Gut and Gallbladder Issues
About this episode
Dr. Eric Balcavage discusses the connection between thyroid function and digestive health, including gut and gallbladder issues.
Many people with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's are surprised when they begin experiencing symptoms like bloating, constipation, food sensitivities, gallstones, fat intolerance, reflux, or elevated cholesterol. These issues are often treated as separate conditions, but they may all be connected through one important physiological relationship: the connection between thyroid function, bile flow, gallbladder health, and digestion. In this episode, Dr. Eric Balcavage explains why thyroid physiology influences far more than metabolism. Thyroid hormone signaling affects stomach acid production, digestive enzymes, gut motility, bile production, gallbladder contraction, cholesterol metabolism, microbiome balance, nutrient absorption, and even the integrity of the gut barrier. When thyroid physiology is altered, digestive function often changes along with it. Dr. Balcavage explores the critical role bile plays in digestion and overall health, including how bile acids function as powerful signaling molecules that influence metabolism, inflammation, blood sugar regulation, thyroid hormone activation, microbiome health, and immune function. He also explains why reduced T4-to-T3 conversion…
More episodes of Thyroid Answers Podcast
- Episode 240: What Mitochondrial Testing Can and Cannot Tell You - Why a Bottleneck is Not Always a Deficiency
- Episode 239: Stress, Food, and the Hypothyroid Body with Ginny Mahar
- Episode 238: Mitochondrial Dysfunction: The New Functional Medicine Rabbit Hole?
- Episode 237: Why Thyroid Medications and Supplements Work at First… Then Stop
- Episode 236: Why Does Cholesterol Rise When Thyroid Physiology Slows Down?
- Episode 235: Your Thyroid Labs Are "Normal"… But Are They Appropriate?
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