Posted on April 8, 2013
Did you know a healthy thyroid gland depends on the sound of your voice? It’s true – every time you speak you stimulate your thyroid gland. That’s because of the anatomical relationship between the thyroid and the voice box, or larynx.
Feel your throat and find your Adam’s apple. This is part of your larynx. Just below the Adam’s apple and surrounding your larynx, on both sides like a butterfly, is your thyroid gland.
How to create a healthy thyroid – naturally
The thyroid is responsible for producing the metabolic regulating hormone called thyroxine. The thyroid stores thyroxine in a gel-like substance within the gland.
Mechanical manipulation of the thyroid can release thyroxine into the bloodstream Thyroxine is a critical hormone that sets the cellular metabolic rate, as a thermostat sets the heat of your house.
Can the sound of your voice help balance hormones?
The release of thyroxine from the thyroid is controlled by the brain. There is a feedback loop between the hypothalmus and pituitary gland in the brain and the thyroid gland that keeps thyroid levels where they should be. However, there is another mechanism of thyroid release that relates to the voice box. When you make a sound with your voice, your larynx vibrates, providing a gentle massage to the thyroid that surrounds it.
Could this be the reason chanting or just singing is good for the soul?
If you suffer from hypothyroidism – speak your mind.
People who have hypothyroidism may be too quiet, under using their voices and thereby under-stimulating their thyroids. There are many cultural reasons for people not using their voices. For example, e-mail and texting has replaced the phone call; more people are living by themselves and have nobody to talk to; and the community “sing-a-long” has been replaced by professional entertainment.
Interestingly, children who are born as deaf mutes usually develop hypothyroidism by the time they reach puberty. They don’t use their voices.
They have also discovered that people who have taken oaths of silence, such as nuns, also experience low thyroid function.
How does anger threaten thyroid health?
Excessive yelling can over-vibrate and over-stimulate the thyroid, resulting in hyperthyroidism. Stress is a known risk factor for hyperthyroidism, and people often yell when stressed. Of course, people tend to raise their voice over loud music, too.
In fact, vibration of the thyroid from the loud music, especially low frequencies, may also cause damage to the thyroid tissue and result in excessive release of thyroid hormone. Thyroid damage has been associated with occupational noise.
Western medicine fails to understand how to properly treat thyroid disorders.
This role of the voice in regulating thyroid function is not yet recognized by mainstream medicine. There are billions of dollars made each year treating thyroid disease, which results in people being on lifetime thyroid medication. There is too much profit in treating this disease to look into non-medical solutions.
Here is a “self study” for you to try. If you have hypothyroidism, or suspect you do, try singing, humming, reading out loud, or just talking more. Do this daily, for several hours. This will also help you breathe deeply, which is good for you in any case. Focus on trying to vibrate your throat with your sounds.
Conversely, if you have hyperthyroidism, try not using your voice as much, or more important, stop yelling!
None of this can hurt you, and within a month or two you should be feeling a difference. If possible, try this before allowing the doctor to destroy your thyroid and put you on lifetime medication.