riverside_sheree_& christa _ apr 11, 2025 001_wild_and well colle
===
Sheree Beaumont: [00:00:00] One of the key symptoms of Hashimoto's or one of the key symptoms of hypothyroidism, it's that low energy and that fatigue and the iron is really like critical for being able to transport oxygen around the body and to support our energy production. So if we aren't getting enough of that in our body on a regular basis, and obviously if we are getting a period or mentis, if each month you're gonna be shedding and losing it, so.
Again, we've moved away from eating, high quantities of red meat in many cases. So it's looking at how can we do this from us in a safe way. Ideally it's through food, but it may be when you're at that low of a level that you need to boost it up through an iron supplement. But like Krista just said, , we don't wanna be putting it in.
And outside of food sources, if you haven't made sure that you aren't chronically elevated too, because it can be a sign of high levels of inflammation.
Welcome to the Wild and Well Collective Podcast where we believe empowered health is your superpower. We have combined our expertise in medicine and nutrition to bring you the latest research expert insights and success stories of people on a mission to live a big life. So buckle up and get ready to learn [00:01:00] how to live wildly well.
Sheree Beaumont: Welcome back to another episode of the Wild and Wild Collective. Today we are diving into Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune condition that many people are getting diagnosed. In fact, the prevalence of thyroid issues are going up and up and up, and we're gonna address potentially why that might be happening, and then some really key strategies on how you can actually combat or.
Bring yourself back into balance with or without medication because a lot of the times we can be given a diagnosis, it can feel very overwhelming, but there's nothing from a nutritional perspective or a functional medicine perspective that's given to us, and that can feel really debilitating. And you know that we're all about empowered health here at Wild Mob Collective.
So we wanna give you some key strategies to implement. So Krista, do you wanna talk to us a little bit about what Hashimoto's thyroiditis is and. Some of the common deficiencies that we see.
Christa Elza: Yeah. So Hashimoto's has become [00:02:00] more and more common, and I think it's just because there's more awareness around it, which is great.
But it's, it can be confusing because if you're diagnosed with Hashimoto's, what do you do with it? Oftentimes practitioners will you nothing about it. Mm-hmm. Also. You don't know how to kind of support the thyroid in between time, and so it's important to first get tested for antibodies against the thyroid.
A lot of times we will have low levels of antibodies. Doesn't necessarily mean you have Hashimotos. It just means that you, there are some antibodies present, so that is a key indicator even then to be really focused on health perhaps. But testing, first and foremost, you want to do a thorough thyroid panel, but you also wanna look at TPO antibodies and thyroid block antibodies.
So those things are really, really important. The other thing that you wanna look at then is nutrient deficiencies. So [00:03:00] first, why would we have nutrient deficiencies? I mean, most of us are not starving, most of us who are eating daily. So why in the world would we nutrient. So we're eating, but oftentimes we can have nutrient deficiencies for multiple reasons.
The top reasons would be low stomach acid. I find that a lot, especially when people are aging or they're stressed. So when we naturally, as we age, can start to deplete the amount of stomach acid we have production, which ironically people say, oh, I've got a lot of. Reflux. And sometimes that also could be from low stomach acid because if you don't have enough stomach acid to activate that pyloric sphincter to shut, you can get some reflux up through that.
So that's kind of a, not something you would think is actually happening. But it is. And so if you're on proton pump inhibitors, you're on Prosac, Nexium, whatever, for years and years and years, it can lead to a low. Production of stomach acid and that our stomach acid is needed to pull nutrients from the foods that we eat.
So, low stomach acid is definitely a reason. [00:04:00] Inflammation from food sensitivities or from chronic infections, chronically dis microbiome that can lead to inefficiencies and deficiencies in nutrient absorption. We can also have medications that we don't know are actually depleting.
So the birth control pill I'm sure that, I know you focus a lot on that with your clients, but the birth control pill can actually deplete B12 over time. Mm-hmm. So when women have been on birth control pills for years and years, we can over, over time develop a problem with deficiencies in, in terms of nutrient absorption.
Sheree Beaumont: Yeah. Other ways that we can end up with this imbalance in nutrient absorption or these deficiencies? One of the key ways is in our soils, and we've talked about this a number of times on the podcast, but just to reiterate, if it's not in our soil, it's not gonna be in our food.
And we're gonna dive into some of the nutrients deficiencies that are most common very soon, but two that are very, very prominent, particularly across the western world and countries like New Zealand, Australia, and the us. In iodine and Selenium. Now [00:05:00] these are two essential micronutrients to support our thyroid function, and so if we are, that's why they added iodine to our salt in the 1920s.
But the problem is we've moved away from that. We've moved to the pink kaan rock salt, or we've moved to other different. Things of salt, or we've moved away from salt in general. 'cause there's this fear mongering around it. And so what we need to do is start to look at ways that we can boost this up. If it's not in our food, do we need to be adding it supplement wise?
And then we do have to be careful because too much can also be a bad thing. Right?
Christa Elza: Yeah. And when it comes to the soil, not only those minerals, but also magnesium and magnesium across the board, most people are really deficient in and that's also playing a role. In supporting thyroid health. For sure.
It can also lead to cardiovascular issues like heart palpitations. Low magnesium can also lead to muscle cramping, fatigue and some insomnia. So magnesium is one that most across the board, Hashimoto's are not. We need to be replacing magnesium. The [00:06:00] other one that I find is pretty common is vitamin D being low.
I can't even tell you how many times I look at vitamin D and. They're in the twenties and we really need to be aiming to have our vitamin D levels between 60 and even up to 80. Mm-hmm. Especially with autoimmunity, because we want the body to be balanced. Hormonally, we want the body to be regulated in terms of our immune system, and vitamin D is really, really important.
And people will say, oh, I'm out in the sun and I should probably, I probably get plenty. It. It doesn't always work that way because some people don't absorb it well in the diet genetically. And so yes, you're getting it from foods. Yes, you're hopefully getting it from the sun, but we don't make vitamin D, so you've got to get it from either food or supplement.
So getting that checked regularly is also important.
Sheree Beaumont: Mm-hmm. So vitamin D is one of those really common ones, and again, lots of people are afraid to be out in the sun, and we're wearing a lot of sunscreen instantly. So we need to check it first and foremost, and look at ways of getting it in either naturally as we head into summer here in the States.
Or if you're going into a [00:07:00] period of winter, it may be looking at. Rewind, like adding it in to make sure that you're supported through those winter months. If we come back to selenium and iodine and how they really support the thyroid, Selenium is one of the key ones in reducing those thyroid antibodies.
So if you ask someone that's actually presenting with not just hypothyroidism but Hashimoto's, you are gonna wanna make sure you're getting in your selenium. And that can be as easy as getting to Brazil nuts in each day. It doesn't have to be in a supplement form. Similarly with iodine, we need that for the conversion.
So if we are not getting enough of those supplements, then you're not gonna be getting regulated levels of your thyroid stimulating hormone either,
Christa Elza: right? So I think it's always best to get. Most of the nutrients from food, if you can. Mm-hmm. So we're not suggesting that you need to buy all of these in supplement form, but a lot of these are safe to be taking without testing.
The ones that you wanna be tested for would be vitamin D because that's a fat soluble vitamin, so you don't wanna be overloading with that. 'cause once you get too high in vitamin D, it can actually have the reverse effect on your [00:08:00] immune system. Mm-hmm. So definitely testing those. The ones that you know that we're mentioning, magnesium, selenium, iodine for the most part.
Those you wanna look for the foods rich in that, especially if you've been diagnosed with Hashimoto's. But you don't necessarily have to be tested for those in order to start that. Another one would be zinc. definitely affect thyroid function as well as the immune function. I think a lot of times you think of zinc and or immune system, take a zinc laws when you have a cold.
But zinc is also one that is really important for the function of the thyroid. Another big one is iron and ferritin. So this one is not a panel that people tech check. Often you'll see A C, D, C where you see like your red blood cells and your red blood cell count. Mm-hmm. But they don't. The common, iron panel is not necessarily tested every year, and I think that's really important, especially for women.
If you have heavy periods if you just had a baby, if you've just had surgery, um mm-hmm. Those things can really lead to a deficiency in iron. And iron is responsible for that conversion from T four, which is the [00:09:00] inactive. Thyroid hormone to T three, which is the active thyroid hormone. And in some forms of Hashimoto's, you have an antibody against the TPO antibodies, which, or TPO enzyme, which converts T four to T three.
So you wanna really have a good iron and ferritin level to support. Port that conversion with that. That is one that you have to be tested for though, because you don't want to overload yourself in iron if you are post-menopausal, if you don't have periods. Women tend to be more anemic and have more iron deficiency than men, but on both sides, men or women, you need to be tested before you start taking an iron supplement.
Sheree Beaumont: Yeah, iron's a big one and you do see it all the time. In fact, I just had a client go and get her bloods tested recently, and her ferritin is down at 15. Right. And it takes for it to get that low before the doctors start to do something about it. And it's really important that we address it far further or far earlier on then, because when we think about.
One of the key symptoms of Hashimoto's or one of the key symptoms of hypothyroidism, it's that low energy and that [00:10:00] fatigue and the iron is really like critical for being able to transport oxygen around the body and to support our energy production. So if we aren't getting enough of that in our body on a regular basis, and obviously if we are getting a period or mentis, if each month you're gonna be shedding and losing it, so.
Again, we've moved away from eating, high quantities of red meat in many cases. So it's looking at how can we do this from us in a safe way. Ideally it's through food, but it may be when you're at that low of a level that you need to boost it up through an iron supplement. But like Krista just said, , we don't wanna be putting it in.
And outside of food sources, if you haven't made sure that you aren't chronically elevated too, because it can be a sign of high levels of inflammation.
Christa Elza: Right. Absolutely. So I think, wrapping some of this up, it's really important to test, it's important to look at your B complex or B12, uh mm-hmm.
Your vitamin D levels, your iron levels. Those are ones that you definitely wanna be tested in the blood. The others, having a good multivitamin can be helpful. Especially if you're suffering with a [00:11:00] specific. Condition like Hashimoto's. I don't always grab a multivitamin depending on how you're feeling.
I like to have supplements that have the full dose in them. I find that, multivitamins can kind of fill in the gaps, but if you are definitely struggling with fatigue, if you know that your thyroid is needing some support, you not only wanna integrate the foods that are high in them, but you also want to be taking like, a high dose of zinc, maybe 30 grams milligrams a day.
A higher dose of magnesium, things like that. So I kind of separate, even though it means more pills, you get a bit more of the quantity. It's also really important to address gut health and stomach health. I want you to, can you address a little bit of gluten and why it's important for not only gut health, but also thyroid health, particularly if you've been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition.
Sheree Beaumont: There are three really key things when it comes to Hashimoto's in particular, or even just the thyroid health, and that's the relationship that the thyroid has with gluten. The first one we call molecular mimicry, and so [00:12:00] there is the structure, the protein and gluten, the glyadin, which is actually really similar to your thyroid tissue, and so.
People who have a genetic predisposition may, they may find that the gluten actually can, is confused with the thyroid and the immune system starts to attack the thyroid. And because it thinks that it's gluten. And so as a result, you almost like that's where the leaky gut can come in, which is the second thing.
But as a result, the body starts to ke, like keep you in a chronic state of inflammation. It'll throw out your thyroid hormones that we've talked about, and the body starts to attack itself, which is ultimately what autoimmune. Is right. So we need to make sure that if you have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's, or if you are someone who's seeing your TSH levels climb up trial, a gluten-free diet, because it could be that the body's attacking itself based off thinking that there is actually too much of the thyroid tissue there versus is having too much gluten, The other side of things with gluten is the leaky gut connection, which you've mentioned the strong connection between the gut and the thyroid, and so when people [00:13:00] have gluten, it, depending again on your genetic predisposition, will affect how much. The gut wall opens or the permeability of the gut wall, and that then allows undigested food particles and toxins to enter the bloodstream and that further fuels this autoimmunity.
The third side of this, when it comes to gluten and the thyroid, is the cross-reactivity with someone who has celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. So again, coming back to the link from a genetic. Predisposition side of things, when you've been diagnosed with one autoimmune condition, you're far more likely to be diagnosed with another one within about two years.
And we see this very, very commonly with the crossover 'cause of the relationship with the thyroid and gluten, with people with Hashimoto's and Celiacs. So if you are already someone you know that may be a gluten sensitive, really do be mindful to keep it out as much as possible. 'cause we don't wanna tip you into that hypothyroid or the Hashimoto's.
But if you have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Taking the gluten out could really drop those thyroid antibodies massively and [00:14:00] reduce the inflammation you're experiencing.
Christa Elza: Yeah. I think it's important to recognize that if you have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's, I mean, sometimes I'll see TPO antibodies in the thousands.
Right? So, you know it, the goal then is to, we may never eradicate them completely, but the goal is always to track them and to use that as a marker of, Hey, there's a lot of inflammation going on. Or, yeah, check in. Have I been. Eating a lot of gluten, how are my nutrients? Where can I kind of support it? And so it's key to keep track and monitor these.
I think it's also important that to recognize that some practitioners will say, well, you have Hashimoto's. We'll just put you on a thyroid medication to, lower your TSH and hopefully improve your energy. But the thing is you want to be preserving the thyroid gland. And so you want those.
Antibodies, although you might not be able to completely eradicate them, and they go up and down depending on stress and inflammation and illness they can go up and down. But the key there is to just know, have the knowledge [00:15:00] of the nutrients that can be supportive of the lifestyle, that can be supportive in terms of like managing your stress and eating in a calm setting where your stomach acid has the best chance to be.
Present there because we also don't produce good stomach acid when we're eating on the run. So just doing some of those things, getting tested for vitamin D, iron V 12, like we mentioned, and then really supporting yourself and filling in the gaps with possibly a supplement to make sure that your nutrients are on point, that you're doing all that you can do to support your thyroid.
Anything else that you wanna add, Shari, that we've left out?
Sheree Beaumont: I think we've got a really beautiful episode on, like, that dives into this in so much depth. Not so much specifically on Hashimoto's, but just the thyroid health in general with Dr. Amy. So if you wanna go back and look at that, I think that gives us so much more insight if this is something that you are particularly struggling with.
The other thing is we, and we address this as well in that. Episode, but making sure you get your thyroid tested. It's very, very easy for a doctor to just [00:16:00] go, we're just gonna test your TSH. Right? And they won't do anything until it's well out of range. In fact, the client that I mentioned just earlier where her ferritin was at 15, we've just had her results back.
And thankfully they tested her antibodies as well as her T four, 'cause her T four has come back low. Her TSH is at a 10. Right. Functionally it should be between one and two ideally. And her TSH prior was at a four. And so it, the thyroid antibodies have come back at 89. Like we are seeing really, really elevated states.
And if we had have recognized the, and tested the T four and the T three, like she's a new client, so we hadn't tested till now. She would've been able to identify this a lot earlier and potentially. Prevent something like Hashimoto's, which again, we don't have that diagnosis right now. Her blood work has literally just come back in, but she's on the verge there with those antibodies being that high and a TSH being that high.
So be an advocate for your own health here. Make sure you're getting the T four, the T three. The TSH, ideally the antibodies, if you [00:17:00] can, the reverse T three if possible, especially if you're struggling with your metabolism and you're getting cold hands and feet, or you're someone that's just cold in general all the time.
If your hair's falling out or you feel like you're experiencing more heal loss, a lot of those can be symptoms that your thyroid's not happy and we don't wanna overshadow them. And I know women do. We kind of just suck it up for a while.
Christa Elza: Yeah. I wanted to add too that when I'm looking at patients and their TSH is elevated and their T three is low.
Mm-hmm. I always like to work on iron before I'm throwing a T four, T three combination, because iron is important for curing around our oxygen. And so if we start to stimulate the thyroid too much, and so now our heart rate's higher and we're moving around more and we falsely feel somewhat better.
You could find that you do have a bit more heart palpitations, you might have a bit more anxiety, and that could be due to the body's inability to really be active to that level because of oxygen levels being low with low iron. So you just wanna make sure that your practitioner is testing not only your thyroid, but [00:18:00] also your iron and your ferritin.
Before you initiate any kind of thyroid medication, if your ferritin is below 40. 'cause sometimes you can have a little bit more, can be more symptomatic with the thyroid medication. So it's kind of a both and part of this is just educating you so that you can help yourself and be more proactive in your practitioner's office.
Sheree Beaumont: Well, we hope you got plenty out of that today. And again, if you are experiencing any of those symptoms, this does not replace medical advice, but we just wanna give you some insight into what you can do to bring the empowered health back to yourself.
If you love this episode, be sure to leave us a review, download, and subscribe. If you know someone that could also benefit from this conversation, please share. That's how we Spread Empowered Health. We'll see you again for another episode of the Wild and Wild Collective.
