Recently I was reading this book about thermotherapy, which is otherwise known as heat therapy. Thermotherapy uses heat to give the body relief from pain and discomfort. Unfortunately cold hands and feet isn’t necessarily good and it means you could improve a few areas of your health. Cold hands and feet is hypothermia happening in the body, it’s your heart not being able to properly circulate enough warm blood all the way to your hands and all the way to your feet. As I was reading this book it mentioned cold hands and cold feet and I thought to myself that I have that sometimes!

I eat really healthy, and take supplements and use natural products, but I do remember from my last biofeedback computerized stress analysis test that my thyroid was the biggest health issue that I had. Guess what your thyroid controls in your body? Your temperature. The combination of poor circulation and a thyroid that is down can cause the feet and hands to be cold. So what can you do about this? How can you improve your circulation and thyroid health in order to have warm feet and hands again?

You can try any form of thermotherapy, sauna or anything else. Heat therapy or just warming up your body in any way that you can is beneficial to an underactive thyroid. Taking a hot bath or a hot shower and focusing on getting the hot water to really soak in and heat your hands and feet will be beneficial. This is only a temporary treatment though, I recommend doing it often if you have cold hands and feet but it’s also important to address the internal issues such as nutritional deficiencies in your diet that are causing an underactive thyroid.

I also recommend to begin exercising, moving your body, get your heart rate up for short periods of time. Even just walking if that’s all you are able to do. Walk, play a sport, do bikram yoga, martial arts etc. Do these things to get your heart rate up and increase circulation. By moving you are increasing your temperature as well as improving your circulation to your hands and feet at the same time so this is very beneficial.

Hot baths, warm showers, saunas and other forms of heat therapy exercise will be very beneficial to increase your body temperature and improve circulation to your hands and feet at the same time.

Beyond the external things though you want to get more iodine in your diet to feed the health of your thyroid. Iodine can be found in Kelp and Dulse as well as seaweed. Be sure to include these in your diet, add them to your salads, soups, raw food recipes etc. Another thing you can add to your diet is himalayan sea salt which contains a small amount of Iodine for the Thyroid as well.

Another strategy to activate the thyroid is to simply get neck massages and to massage around the thyroid. The thyroid is located on neck in the front center and if you or your partner simply massage it you can help to move it out of stagnation and to begin to activate it again. Who doesn’t love a great neck massage? Now you have an excuse to get one! or ask for one, either way!

Coconut oil is beneficial for the Thyroid gland as well because it helps activate hormone production from the thyroid. Coconut oil also helps to boost the metabolism which helps increase the temperature of the body and keeps it stable in order to keep your hands and feet warm. Coconut oil is mostly composed of saturated fats which are beneficial in promoting Thyroid function.

Seaweed is a great source of Iodine as well, so snack on seaweed, add it to your salad and include it in your diet daily. Seaweed is a great source of minerals as well as trace minerals which are tough to get in your diet so this is just a great food to incorporate into your life for health beyond thyroid function as well.

If you have an underactive thyroid it is also important to avoid goitrogens. Goitrogens are compounds found in flaxseed, broccoli, rye, apricots, soybeans, peaches, strawberries and millet and have been known to interfere with the natural function and hormone production of the Thyroid. Of course some of these foods are healthy otherwise, but limit their intake or just avoid them until you know that your Thyroid is working better and your body can handle it.