Functional Medicine

Natural Solutions for Hormonal Symptoms with Dr. Mariza Snyder

Dr. Mariza Snyder is a Women’s Hormone Practitioner and an essential oils expert. This episode is a recording of a webinar with Dr. Mariza on essential oils for hormones. We talk about perimenopause & menopause, the thyroid, nutritional tips & essential oils.

My Problem with Functional Medicine

How Coaching Makes Functional Medicine More Effective

My early career in medicine began as an acupuncturist. I went to school in a converted old house in New Mexico, with chickens in the parking lot and burritos at break time.

My teachers were mostly from China, and very smart, interesting people. I learned to read the signs of the body. Puffy tongue means dampness. Frequent sighing shows liver stagnation.

Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP

Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP

As I entered practice, I gave generously to my clients. I used essential oils and did massage. I counseled them on dating and workplace drama.

But when I got sick, I didn’t know enough to help myself. As I looked for solutions, I found functional medicine.

I didn’t know it by that name at the time, but I studied the body systems in a new way, and I studied a new body of therapeutic foods and supplements.

 

I was fascinated with this new world and reaped some benefits in my own health. I went on to study functional medicine in a more formal way, completing the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition program.

But then one very rainy winter in Oregon, I got really sick. And again my knowledge was not enough. I turned to lab testing and found mold and Epstein Barr. I found some great insight from functional practitioners but also fell into some serious gaps:

  • There was a rush to give supplements.

  • There was a ‘this should be working’ attitude.

  • There was an overlooking of me as a whole person.

 

One of the most disappointing things for me was the lack of empathy I felt from the functional practitioners that I saw. While I’m sure that they did care, I didn’t hear it in their communication.

 

I was really sick. I’m talking bone-tired, twitching eyelids, can’t hold a thought for two seconds sick. Beyond expensive supplements, I needed to feel heard and loved. I needed advice on how to make it through the day.

 

I’m not saying that one functional doc is meant to be an answer to all of life’s issues! When you are seriously ill, it’s going to take a village, persistence, & a good mindset. Eventually, I found a counselor who helped me address the stress of chronic illness and the displacement caused by mold.

As I struggled to figure out my illness, I had to re-calibrate my view of functional medicine. Was it not at all what I thought it was? Was it a waste of time and money?

I am very thankful for my roots in Chinese Medicine and life coaching that gave me a roadmap for how things could, indeed, be better.

 

My current practice is very progressive. It’s all online, and we run tests from mold to parasites. We have clients all over the world and use video chat and electronic intake forms.

 

But I have embraced wholeheartedly the old-fashioned values of listening to my client carefully, of reading between the lines and seeing what’s really stressing them and letting them have a voice in how their protocols proceed.

 

We remember to say, “you’re doing a great job,” and remind you that things will get easier. We help you deal with skeptical family members and birthday cake in the break room. 

We are coaches, and we help you navigate the hard parts of life.

 

The term ‘functional medicine’ was coined by Dr. Jeffrey Bland in 1991 as he and his wife established the Institute of Functional Medicine. Dr. Bland is a nutritional biochemist and we can really credit him for establishing and advancing this field.

 

Functional medicine excels at testing. It looks at how to best support the body’s systems without doing harm. But here’s the thing...

You are not a group of symptoms or test results.

You are person with a story of how you got sick, and the story of how you get well is still being written. Having a coach who truly listens and lifts you up will be an important a part of your healing journey.

Are you ready for the next level of holistic functional care?

Work With Us!

We would be honored to work with you as a private client. We provide testing and coaching options to women in most every state and country. Come check out our coaching options to see if it’s a fit. 

 

 

 


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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and HormoneDetoxShop.com.

Fixing Chronic Fatigue with Shelley Gawith

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Shelley Gawith is a Functional Nutritionist in private practice in Wellington, New Zealand. She completed Nutritional Therapy Association studies, IHS Advanced Functional Assessment Training, and is a Certified Gluten Practitioner. In this episode we talk about adrenal health, her amazing health history, and her work in helping busy career women overcome fatigue & anxiety.

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 01:30 Introducing Shelley Gawith's work
Min 04:25 Shelley's health journey with chronic fatigue syndrome
Min 08:30 Shelley's steps to getting better
Min 12:10 Cellular energy & adrenal health
Min 16:40 Root causes of Shelley's health problems
Min 21:45 Work stress & its effects on the adrenals
Min 26:50 Shelley's advice for career women
Min 36:50 Hydrochloric acid
Min 39:05 Gulping water but getting dehydrated
Min 42:30 Using electrolytes
Min 47:40 Shelley's resources

To learn more about Shelley, visit her website here and follow her on social media:
Facebook
Instagram 


Resources:

Check out our summit recordings and programs at our shop.
31 Day Challenge 
Beautycounter products - non-toxic line of beauty products

Here's the video version of the interview with Shelley Gawith:

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to get our Hormone-Lovin’ Superfoods Guide here, and come on board!

We have lots of valuable, free resources for women's health we share weekly.

Create a Healthcare Revolution with Chris Kresser

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Chris Kresser is the founder of The Kresser Institute, co-director of The California Center for Functional Medicine, and author of the new book "Unconventional Medicine" as well as New York Times best seller "The Paleo Cure."

Here's what you'll hear:

Min 01:55 Introduction to Chris Kresser & his health history
Min 05:00 Chris Kresser's work & books
Min 06:25 The state of health care & chronic disease
Min 10:25 Working with health practitioners & the problem of insurance
Min 21:10 The pharmaceutical industry's influence & functional medicine
Min 26:25 Chris Kresser's clinical practice & programs
Min 33:50 Networking for health practitioners
Min 42:50 Chris Kresser's resources

To learn more about Chris Kresser, visit his website here and follow him on social media:
Facebook 
Twitter 
Pinterest 
Google+ 
YouTube 

Resources:

Get 50% off our Hormone Summit, Menopause Summit, & Perfect Periods Program using the code rock2018
Kresser Institute for practitioners
Beautycounter - non-toxic line of beauty products

Here's the video version of the interview with Chris Kresser:

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

If you have not yet joined our community, be sure to get our Top-Down Digestive Repair Guide here, and come on board!

We have lots of valuable, free resources for women's health we share weekly.

The Benefits of Lab Testing for Women's Health

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You are trying to fix your hormones, tame your hormones, survive your hormones…is it working? If not, here’s help and an explanation of why it’s so complicated.

Your body is complex- 11 systems comprised of 37.2 trillion cells working together with 100 trillion bacteria to keep you energetic, sleeping well and thinking clearly.  Source

Our modern environment is also complex. Wi-fi, international news reports, food additives, long work days…we all have a lot challenging us right now.

You are probably already trying to be healthy. Did you cut down on sugar, caffeine, gluten?  That’s great! Are you noticing some steadier moods or a slimmer waistline? I hope so. 

You may also be trying to get regular exercise, and maybe even meditating.  That’s great too!  How about reading blogs like this one and attending online health summits? Yup. These foundations of diet, exercise, stress reduction, and education are all very important.

But what if you are still tired? What if you still have no sex drive?  Raging acne? Creeping weight gain?

You may think, “well I must have adrenal fatigue.”  

That’s the mindset I had several years ago. I was eating really well but still had spotting before my periods and really low energy in the afternoons.  I thought, “Well, it’s the stress. I need to do a better job of handling stress.” But I never seemed to accomplish that.

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Later I had a DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) test, and it revealed something new to me.  It suggested I may have low thyroid function, which I had never suspected. I didn’t have the hair loss, weight gain, etc. that I had learned about with low thyroid.

Important Point #1: Your hormone problems are not always what you think. 

It’s easy to come to a conclusion that you have estrogen dominance, low hormone levels, low adrenal function, etc, but you don’t really know until you test. You can, like me, beat yourself about a diagnosis you’ve decided on and keep self-treating for it, but it’s better to test and really know.

After my DUTCH results suggested I had low thyroid function, I ran a full thyroid panel on myself for the first time. Although I had run blood tests in the past, I had never tested my thyroid antibodies as I hadn’t suspected an issue there.

My results showed a very low level of thyroid antibodies, and I’m so glad I caught it early.  Around the same time I was chronically sick, and, at first, I figured it must be this thyroid issue. 

But soon after we learned that we had toxic mold within the walls of our house, which took me down a deeper rabbit hole of testing.

Important Point # 2: Your hormone problems came from somewhere.

It’s important to realize that your body will not randomly give you a thyroid condition, or any other hormonal imbalance.  It wants to have a working thyroid gland and balanced hormones.

As I learned about mold, I learned that it, among other triggers, can contribute to thyroid issues. This is why I still do not identify with a Hashimoto’s diagnosis, but rather I consider myself a person in the process of healing and clearing deeper causes of illness.

Recently I had a new type of stool test. My past stool tests had revealed some bacterial imbalance and H. Pylori infection, an infection I cleared without any improvement in my gastrointestinal symptoms.  

I was ‘inspired’ to run a GI Map test by Diagnostic Solutions laboratory after interviewing Dr. Todd Watts about parasites on my podcast, and then promptly passing a worm in my stool the next day! What timing. Side note: if you see something that looks like a pad thai noodle or a bean sprout in your stool, but you’ve didn’t eat either the day before, you should be highly suspicious!

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The GI Map is different because it looks for DNA fragments of parasite and other infections in your stool.  So it doesn’t miss much.  However, according to Dr. Watts, it is still inadequate because it does not test for every type of parasite.

But for me, a parasite was found, and it did appear to roughly match the specimen I had found in my stool.  I lived a year in rural South America about 20 years ago, and I had suspected a parasite back then.  But you don’t need to leave the country to get a parasite!  Again according to Dr. Watts, “everyone who has a pulse has a parasite.”  According to the Center for Disease Control's website, " Parasitic infections affect millions of people in the United States every year."

I mention stool testing because 100% of the clients in our coaching program have GI issues contributing to hormonal issues.

When you are housing candida infections, aberrant bacterial growth, parasites, H. Pylori infection or Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), it’s a chronic stress or your body, leading to inflammation, malnutrition or even autoimmune disease. It’s incredibly common, and digestion and hormones are not often enough linked in the medical conversation.  

Important Point # 3: Your primary care doctor probably doesn’t take a functional approach to health care.  

Many people comment to me that they want to feel better and they are very interested in the functional approach, and then their next question is, “Can my doctor run these tests for me?”

Yes and no. Sometimes your doctor to run a full CBC blood panel for you, and have them add vitamin D and thyroid antibodies. However:

  1. Within a conventional medical system, she can’t run labs for diagnoses they don’t suspect based on their training

  2. If she is not a functional practitioner, she will not interpret your results in a functional way, and may tell you you are fine (when you don’t feel fine)

  3. She definitely cannot run the advanced urinary, saliva and stool tests we use because these tests are not available to them through the conventional medical system

You can’t ask your doctor to practice functional medicine if that’s not what she practices.

It’s like asking your massage therapist to give you acupuncture.  It's not within their training.

Our clients can sometimes get helpful blood tests through their doctors that we can review, and I also encourage them to use a Health Savings Account (it’s pre-tax money you put towards health expenses) when possible.

I understand that spending money out-of-pocket on medical expenses is not fun. I understand that many people are living on modest means and supporting kids, parents, and other family members financially.

Our family has spent, get this, at least $100,000 in remediating mold in our house, replacing all our stuff, missing work, moving to a safer space, and treating our health.  And the spending hasn’t stopped because I’m not all healed up yet, and we still have some mold-infected belongings to replace.

Still dealing with mold, over a year after it was found.

Still dealing with mold, over a year after it was found.

So I am sympathetic, but at the same time, I have made incredible sacrifices to heal myself and my family.  And I would do it again in a heartbeat.  

The experience I went through with mold was a huge growth opportunity.  It made me realize how short and fragile life is, and gave me a deep hunger to get well and live my life to the fullest.

I recently read this quote in the book, Gratitude, by author and physician Oliver Sacks, after he learned he had advanced liver cancer, "It is now up to me to choose how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can."

I had a firsthand experience with the web of diseases and how they interconnect. It was not easy to identify my root causes nor navigate the options for care. 

As a health coach, my experience made me a strong advocate for my clients to persist and get well, even if the path seems impossible to find, or the mountain too big to climb.  

We have women in our program who are too sick to work, homemakers or who are working low-wage jobs. I am fiercely proud of them for choosing to invest in their health. Others have parents that choose to support them in their healthcare, often in cases of infertility where the odds of becoming a grandparent are increased!

It comes down to choosing more for yourself- to believing your health could be improved, which allows you to be happier and more productive.  You also have to be willing to work and to pick yourself up when you have a hard day of symptoms.

If you'd like to have a conversation with me about your health journey and what we do in our functional health coaching program, please check out our current coaching options  Our private coaching program does include choosing the best lab test for your case, placing the orders for you, interpreting your results, setting a protocol based on those results, and adjusting and monitoring your protocol for best results.

Free Educational Videos on our Favorite Lab Testing

In this video, Ann Melin is describing about the DUTCH i.e Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones by Precision Analytical. She will also explain about different types of hormones and organic acids.
In this video, Ann Melin is describing about the GI-Map from Diagnostic Solutions Lab. She will also explain about Stool testing techniques, different types of pathogens, worms and intestinal health.

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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and HormoneDetoxShop.com.

Guest Blog: 9 Things You Don’t Realize May Be Causing Your Thyroid Disease- With Heather & Damian Dubé

An estimated 27 million Americans alone have thyroid disease.  An additional 13 million are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and those numbers are on the rise.  Chances are, one out of five people you know have some sort of thyroid disease, are you one of them?

Diagnostic & Functional Nutritionists, Damian & Heather Dubé, are the Co-Founders of e3 Energy Evolved™, a thyroid, adrenal & metabolism restoration system helping women & men create their lifetime-best natural wellnes…

Diagnostic & Functional Nutritionists, Damian & Heather Dubé, are the Co-Founders of e3 Energy Evolved™, a thyroid, adrenal & metabolism restoration system helping women & men create their lifetime-best natural wellness & metabolism for fat loss with ease vs. force.

The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland sitting just above the trachea in the throat.  Three of the major hormones it secretes are Thyroxine (T4), Triiodothyronine (T3) and Calcitonin.  Aside from vitamin D, the thyroid hormones are the only hormones in the body that affect every cell in the body.  It’s no wonder why under or overproduction of its hormones lend to so many symptoms, including weight gain/decreased metabolism, fatigue/insomnia, elevated cholesterol, intolerance to cold, poor concentration/mental fog, digestive issues, constipation, infertility, aches & pains, and much more.

In the modern world you live in, there are so many factors that could not only negatively influence your thyroid’s ability to function properly, but also affect how your cells utilize its hormones.  Some of these influencers can actually create additional issues which further influence function, creating somewhat of a snowball effect.  Below are some of the factors that affect the thyroid’s ability to perform as intended.

Nutrition & Nutrient Deficiencies

There are several nutrients that are necessary for the thyroid gland to function.  The minerals iodine, selenium, chromium and zinc, as well as tyrosine (an amino acid) are required for T4 production.  Selenium and zinc are also required for the conversion of T4 to the more active hormone, T3. If any of these nutrients are depleted, the thyroid will not function properly.

There are many factors that can cause any or all of these nutrients to be depleted.  First and foremost, a diet high in processed or refined foods is these nutrients because they’re destroyed in the refining process.  Also, eating conventionally grown fruits & veggies are missing many of these nutrients.

Studies have shown that conventionally grown produce contains less than half the nutrient quantity of organically grown produce.  In addition, genetically modified crops (GMO’s) contain chelating agents that leach to the minerals making them unable to be absorbed when ingested.  So, even if you’re eating a bunch of fresh fruits and veggies, if they’re not organic, you may not even be obtaining the nutrients that otherwise should be inherently available.

In addition, all medications prescribed by your doctor deplete the body of certain vitamins and minerals.  So, if you’re like most Americans who are taking medications, prescription or OTC, they may be causing nutrient deficiencies, and our bodies run on nutrients, not drugs.  Aside from medications, there are many other toxins in our homes and environment that also use up these nutrients, which will be discussed shortly.

Food Sensitivities

Not to be mistaken by food allergies, food sensitivities can have a huge impact on thyroid function.  When your immune system is compromised (if you’re having a thyroid problem, it likely is), the mucosal lining of the intestinal tract can become overly permeable, allowing partially undigested food particles to seep through into the blood.

Eating certain foods, whether “healthy” or not, can trigger an immune response, where the immune system will begin to attack those undigested amino acid strands. This can not only create further permeability, but also overwhelm the liver and use up many the nutrients needed for thyroid function like glutathione and selenium.

The immune system has a fantastic memory, so it remembers those undigested amino strands, which can resemble proteins elsewhere in the body, like the thyroid.  Then, the immune system may begin attacking the thyroid gland, causing autoimmune hypothyroid or Hashimoto’s.

Bowel Terrain

To piggyback off what was mentioned about food sensitivities, intestinal health can influence thyroid function in several ways. Aside from an overly permeable intestinal lining, a compromised immune system can also prevent the body from properly dealing with parasites, bacteria or fungus.  These pathogens emit toxins that cause further dysbiosis (imbalance in friendly bacteria) and further intestinal permeability.

An example is yeast.  When a dysbiosis is present, yeast can build up within the intestines.  Yeast emits very toxic compounds called exotoxins.  These exotoxins not only feed the bad bacteria like e. coli or enterobacter, but can also bind with cell receptor sites, making them think they’ve bound to a hormone (hormone masking).

Thyroid hormone receptor sites are extremely vulnerable to this type of masking.  Because the cells think they’ve received the thyroid hormone, a negative feedback loop is created, alerting the thyroid gland that it’s received the hormone, causing the thyroid to slow its production.  However, the cells never actually received the hormone, so hypothyroid symptoms appear even though the labs your doctor has run indicate your thyroid is functioning properly.

As the yeast emits endotoxins, more good bacteria is killed off, allowing the yeast to further thrive, potentially leading to yeast toxicity.  Ironically, symptoms of yeast toxicity are very similar to those of hypothyroidism, like weight gain, decreased body temperature, fatigue, constipation, decreased mental focus, and dry skin, nails and hair.

Enzyme Production

When we think of enzymes, we most often think of those necessary to break down food, like lipase, protease and amylase, but enzymes are catalysts in almost every metabolic pathway in the body.  Within the cells, enzymes bind with substrates, initiating changes in cellular metabolism.

Aside from assisting in the breakdown of food particles for proper absorption, enzymes also regulate cellular respiration, converting broken down food into molecules to be used as energy by the cells.  Enzymes are also required for the conversion of EFA’s to prostaglandins and act as messengers to help deliver hormones to the target cells.

Unfortunately, enzymes can be easily destroyed by different toxic substances; like heavy metals, drugs, household chemicals, personal hygiene products, pesticides, etc. Once destroyed or denatured, they cannot deliver the hormone “messages” to the cells, yet another reason why your thyroid panel may appear “normal”, but you still feel like garbage.

Two enzymes that are all too often destroyed are cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and iodothyronine deiodinase.  cAMP aids in the production of TSH, LH, FSH, ADH and calcitonin, so when destroyed or denatured, it’s going to affect the release of TSH, which will then affect the production of T4.
Iodothyronine deiodinase assists in the conversion of T4 to T3, and is very susceptible to destruction by mercury.  Are you one of every two Americans who have amalgam dental fillings, or have been bombarded with mercury containing vaccines?  If so, then this could partly be the reason for low T3 levels.

Well, we can’t leave out thyroid peroxidase, which is also affected by heavy metals; may also partly explain your Hashimoto’s disease.

Stress

Chronic stress not only affects the adrenal glands but also the thyroid. When under stress, the pituitary signals the release of ACTH, which instructs the adrenal glands to produce cortisol.  Cortisol requires tyrosine to be produced.

When that stress becomes chronic, and excess cortisol is produced, it depletes tyrosine levels, making it unavailable to the thyroid gland for production of its hormones.  Elevated cortisol also inhibits the conversion of T4 to T3.

Increased ACTH production also prevents the pituitary from releasing TSH.  In addition, chronic stress depletes chromium and zinc, both of which are needed for T4 production.

Mercury / Fluoride / Chlorine

Above we discussed mercury’s effect on Iodothyronine deiodinase and TPO.  Aside from this, mercury also directly affects thyroid function at a glandular level by over-stimulating the thyroid then decreasing its uptake of iodine, interfering with the synthesis of the hormones themselves.

Contrary to what your dentist may have told you, if you have amalgam fillings, every time you chew, it mercury vapors to be released from the filling, which is extremely toxic to not only the lungs, but easily crosses the blood brain barrier and can be catastrophic to the nervous system.

Another myth told by the ADA is that fluoride is needed to prevent cavities; not true.  Fluoride is also an enzyme inhibitor, replacing iodine in the thyroid gland as well as calcium in the bones.  Here’s a thought, if fluoride displaces calcium in the bones, how can that lead to healthy teeth?
Fluoride also is a neurotoxin and decreases melatonin secretion.  Question, do you also have trouble sleeping?  This may be one of the factors.

Chlorine is another chemical added to our water supply (like fluoride), as well as white flour and other food products.  Chlorine is also an enzyme inhibitor and displaces iodine from the thyroid gland.

Bromine/bromide is another highly toxic chemical that displaces iodine from the thyroid gland.  Bromine is used in bread making, as it helps the bread to rise.  Ironically, iodine used to be used for that purpose, but our government thought that people might get too much iodine, so they passed a law requiring bakers to use bromine instead.

Personal Hygiene Products

Most retail personal hygiene products are nothing more than chemical compositions that have catastrophic implications on your health, including your thyroid.  Whether it’s toothpaste/mouthwash, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, perfume or even makeup, they’re all full of toxic chemicals that completely overwhelm the liver, are toxic to the nervous system and inhibit enzymes.

Many of them, like your contact lens solution and makeup you apply to your face contain mercury, which we’ve already addressed above.

Medications / Birth Control Pills

All medications, whether it’s Aleve or Advil for your migraines and joint pain, Statins for your elevated cholesterol, birth control pills to regulate your cycle or act as a contraceptive, antacids for your indigestion, allergy meds or any other drug in your medicine cabinet, they’re all highly toxic, inhibit enzymes and deplete essential nutrients.

Oral contraceptives are one of the biggest offenders, yet most Ob GYN’s will use scare tactics to force you into using them, like “They prevent breast cancer.”  In fact, the opposite is true, research suggests that they lead to breast and other female cancers.  As if your body is birth control pill deficient.

Oral contraceptives also deplete many of your anti-stress vitamins like vitamins B2, 6 & 12, and vitamin C, as well as tyrosine and zinc, which as stated earlier, are necessary for thyroid function, as is vitamin B6, and magnesium.

MedicationNutrients Depleted

Oral contraceptivesVitamins B2, B6, B12, vitamin C, tyrosine and zinc

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)Magnesium, vitamin B6 and zinc

AntidepressantsVitamin B2 and CoQ10 (a very powerful antioxidant)

TylenolGlutathione (the most powerful antioxidant, required for liver and thyroid function)

Anti-InflammatoriesFolic acid, iron, potassium, sodium and vitamin C

CorticosteroidsCalcium, folic acid, magnesium, potassium, selenium, vitamins C & D and zinc

AntibioticsBiotin, inositol, lactobacillus acidophilus & bifidobacteria bifidum (both healthy gut flora), vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 & K

Copper

Excess copper can be very inflammatory, affecting the joints, liver and even the thyroid.  Copper tends to build up in the thyroid gland, which can lead to a multitude of thyroid problems.

Copper is essential for the formation of the nervous system of a fetus.  Because an expecting mother’s need for copper is increased, most doctors prescribe prenatal vitamins that contain more than twice the copper of other multivitamins.  That sounds logical, right?

Here lies the problem.  When a woman becomes pregnant, her body’s ability to absorb copper also increases.  Adding additional copper to her multivitamin can cause toxic levels to be circulating through her system, causing increased oxidation and leading to a slue of health problems like emotional & mental illness, brain fog, allergies, pain and inflammation, fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, PCOS and amenorrhea, as well as liver and thyroid disorders and miscarriages.
If you’re using a copper IUD, you may want to reconsider.

What Should I Do?

As you can see from above, there are so many factors that can affect thyroid function, so the question is, “where should I start?”

You can start by incorporating some of the below.

  • Reduce stress.  Easier said than done, I know.  Try avoiding people who drain your energy, are negative, or just stress you out.  You can also try meditating, praying, etc.

  • If you’re on medications prescribed by your doctor, we cannot recommend you stop their use.  You can, however, talk to your doctor about potentially reducing your dose, and eventually weaning off if possible, including your birth control pill.  If this is not an option, you can try adding in the nutrients that the medication is depleting.  Always consult with your medical practitioner before doing so, however.

  • Remove all chemicals from your environment. Switch to natural household cleaners, including detergents, cleansers, etc.  Also switch to natural cosmetic products that are derived from oils, minerals, and herbs/flowers.  Throw out your synthetic fragrances like perfumes.

  • Filter both your drinking water and your shower to remove all chlorine and fluoride.

  • Avoid all processed foods.  You may also try eliminating foods you notice create inflammation within your body.

  • If you have amalgam fillings, you may want to consider having them removed. You may want to build your health before having them removed in order to better deal with the removal of mercury from your system.  If you have cancer, do not attempt to remove your amalgam fillings, as removal can be very toxic, which your system may not be equipped to deal with.

Figuring out for sure what’s causing your thyroid disease requires a great deal of detective work. Because your cause(s) are likely different than someone else’s, a truly bio-individualized approach is usually needed.

Unfortunately, not many practitioners, natural or conventional, fully understand all the factors that affect thyroid function in order to effectively reverse a thyroid, autoimmune and metabolic health imbalance naturally.

These are just some of the things we teach through our E3 Energy Evolved System  to our private online e3 Restore Members, that most doctors and natural practitioners aren’t considering. Restoring thyroid, autoimmune and metabolic health naturally is a bio-individual journey for everyone, that involves multiple applied sciences including experienced human body change leadership utilizing functional nutrition, and integrative mind-body-spirit work. 

If you’re in need of help, feel free to reach out to our team for information on how to schedule a Functional Nutrition & Metabolic Restoration Consultation + Labs Review.

We’ve personally & professionally corrected these health imbalances naturally, we’ve worked with 100’s of clients online, we accept a limited number of private e3 Restore Members each year during our open enrollment periods, and we would love to help you to restore your best thyroid, autoimmune and metabolic wellness to get your life back.

Damian & Heather

Women and Autoimmune Disease, part 1 of 3

Women and Autoimmune Disease, part 1 of 3

According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc, “autoimmune diseases strike women three times more than men.” They further state that autoimmune diseases are the 4th highest reason for female disability, and are in the top ten for cause of death. 

Get a Second Opinion on Your Digestion through Functional Medicine

I'm pretty darn excited about the upcoming Digestion Sessions, part 2 of the Second Opinion Series hosted by Underground Wellness.

All the event videos are shot in person with beautiful, high-quality production.  It's so cool to see our 'alternative' health leaders looking like true media leaders on the big screen!