Is It Really Your Thyroid?

Hay House Radio Episode Recap

  • Episode Name: “Is It Really Your Thyroid?”
  • Live Broadcast: October 16th, 2018 at 12:00 pm Pacific Time
Episode Replays: Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Pacific Time / 12:00 am Eastern Time, Saturdays at 2:00 pm Pacific Time / 5:00 pm Eastern Time, Sundays at 4:00 pm Pacific Time / 7:00 pm Eastern Time

Episode Summary Re-cap

What is happening to our thyroid health?
Hypothyroid, Hyperthyroid, Hashimoto’s, and Grave’s Disease are on the rise. What is happening to our thyroid health? And how do you know if the symptoms of fatigue, weight gain, constipation, hair loss, hormonal issues, anxiety, and depression are really your thyroid when they are also symptoms of adrenal fatigue and other health issues? Board Certified Traditional Naturopath and Clinical Nutritionist, David Getoff joins us to discuss the myths and truths about your thyroid health and help you on the path to healing. Learn important tips for diet, supplements, and lifestyle.

David GetoffSpecial Guest: David Getoff

David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM is a Board Certified Traditional Naturopath, a Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist, a Fellow of the American Association of Integrative medicine, an elected member of The American College of Nutrition, The International College of Integrative Medicine, The New York Academy of Sciences and the American Society for Nutrition and is the vice president of the 66-year-old nonprofit Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation.  He is also on the teaching faculty of the American College of Integrative Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey.

David is board certified in integrative medicine, has developed and produced over a dozen educational holistic health DVD’s on topics including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and detoxification and is the co-author of Reduce Blood Pressure Naturally.

David is on the scientific advisory board (non-paid positions) of a number of top manufacturers and is often asked for opinions as new products are being developed.

David is licensed in Nutrition in the State of New York, in Naturopathy in the State of North Carolina and has a waiting list private practice in El Cajon California.  He has also developed the 10-week course entitled Attaining Optimal Health in the 21st Century which he has been teaching to packed classrooms through the Grossmont/Cuyamaca College extended studies program and the Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation every semester for the past 20+ years.  This 30+ hour course is now available to be purchased by the public online through the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation for those who do not live in San Diego County.

David has been a paid presenter at numerous scientific medical, nutritional, dental and organic agriculture conferences around the U.S. and has given many one and two-day seminars on diet, supplements and detoxification. His new book is called Abundant Health in a Toxic World.

Website | Facebook | Book

Recorded Audio and Video Classes: Available for purchase from the non-profit Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation

What is Happening to Thyroid Health?

Modern life. There’s so much about it that’s amazing. At the same time, in the name of progress, we’ve lost some of the key aspects that are making our health and well-being a daily challenge. Imagine, generations ago, when our great-grandparents and their great-grandparents were closer to the land. They didn’t have access to the packaged foods, fast food joints, overabundance of sugar, non-organic foods, factory farmed animal proteins, cell phones, electricity, and refrigerated convenience foods and beverages we have today. They didn’t spend hours commuting in traffic or flying in airplanes like we do today.

If you go back even further to indigenous populations, David Getoff shared that they were eating foods that were local and seasonal, so there was no one-size fits all diet the world was following. These days, we look to experts to tell us exactly what diet to follow and wonder what we did wrong if it doesn’t work. Our ancestors who lived closer to the land and didn’t have superfoods shipped all over the world had a deep knowledge of the healing foods and plant medicine right near them. They learned what worked for them by listening to their bodies, where modern humans have been taught to listen to the people in the white doctor’s coats, often ignoring their own bodies.

Over time, stressful lives, inflammatory foods, toxins in the environment, and not listening to our own bodies can lead to a whole host of symptoms. In the case of your thyroid, David says that it’s not even helpful to read the 50 – 70 symptoms for hypo or hyperthyroid because many people will identify several symptoms they have and automatically think the root cause is a thyroid problem.

In many cases, however, some food, supplement, and lifestyle changes can relieve those symptoms and have you feeling better again. David’s clients often come to his office excited because as they are cooking healthier meals, their spouse and children are noticing symptoms falling away as well!

Thyroid Testing and Ideal Thyroid Test Ranges

David shared his favorite testing information from Dr. Frank Shallenberger’s August 2018 newsletter on thyroid testing.

Tests for thyroid function should include:
  • TSH
  • T4
  • T3
  • Free T3
  • rT3
  • VO2 testing (measurement of your body’s ability to consume oxygen)

According to Dr. Shallenberger, “not only should all of these tests be in the normal range, but the free T3 to rT3 ratio should also be normal. Most doctors don’t know about this ratio, so you might have to explain it to the doc.

To get the ratio, divide the rT3 (reported in ng/dL) result by the free T3 (reported pg/ml) result. The optimal ratio is five or less. To the degree that your ratio is greater than five, there’s a good likelihood that your thyroid needs some help. But as helpful as thyroid testing can be, it’s not the best way to determine what’s going on. The best way is by actually measuring your metabolism using VO2 testing…When the metabolism is low, it’s almost a sure bet that the patient does not have effective thyroid function.”

Nourishing Your Thyroid

Your thyroid is an endocrine system organ in the base of your neck that is often referred to as butterfly-shaped. The hormones released play a role in your metabolism, body temperature, body weight, menstrual cycle, heart rate, breathing, cholesterol levels, blood sugar, digestion, and many other bodily functions.

One of the key nutrients for your thyroid is iodine, which helps produce the hormones: Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4). Your brain plays a role in how your thyroid functions with two organs: the hypothalamus (secretes TSH Releasing Hormone or TRH) and pituitary (gets signaled by the TRH to regulate T3 and T4 with Thyroid Stimulating Hormone or TSH).

In other words, your thyroid relies on a delicate balancing act between your body and brain, with hormones signaling what to do next. According to David, if you have too many of the wrong foods, an overload of toxins, or too few of the necessary nutrients, this balancing act can be upset.

Here are the foods David recommends you reduce or eliminate:
  • Packaged/processed foods – anything in boxes or cans, fast food, and foods with added chemicals and preservatives.
  • Sugars – this includes refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and other sweeteners.
  • Conventional (non-organic) foods – these foods have added chemicals and preservatives that are toxic to the body. This also includes animals fed a diet that is inappropriate for their digestive system (e.g., cows fed corn and soy instead of eating their native grass-fed diet).
  • Wheat and gluten – in some cases, David has found that the gluten in wheat could be causing even more harm than gluten in barley. However, gluten, in general, is a major allergen for most people.
  • Starchy foods – this includes starchy vegetables (e.g., potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squashes), flours, and grains (e.g., rice, buckwheat, and millet).
  • Tap water – tap water contains fluoride, chlorine, chloramines and other treatment chemicals that can be harmful for the body and especially for your thyroid. David recommends a good water filter for your home. To learn more, read: Hydration: The Best Water for Your Health
  • Unrefined fats and trans fats

Foods to Eat for Thyroid Health

  • Organic food
  • Organic and grass/pasture fed animal protein – David feels everyone needs some animal protein for a healthy thyroid.
  • Non-starchy vegetables – one or two different color vegetables per meal
  • Healthy, unrefined animal and plant fats – organic pasture or grass-fed animal fats and organic plant fats, like coconut oil and olive oil.
  • Filtered Water – to learn which filter David recommends for your sink and shower, read: Hydration: The Best Water for Your Health

To learn more about the foods to eat, read: Detox Do’s and Don’ts with David Getoff

The Importance of Iodine

Your thyroid needs iodine to do its job. The challenge we have with today’s food and water is that they are filled with anti-nutrients (like fluoride, chlorine, and bromine) that compete with iodine for those receptors in your thyroid. The competition is often pretty easy for the anti-nutrients because people are often iodine-deficient.

What are iodine-rich foods that most people are no longer eating? Seaweed is a biggie and it’s nearly disappeared from our plates. You can also find iodine in wildcaught fish, like cod and tuna, and especially in the fish heads that used to be used in making fish bone broths. Eggs, which were vilified by mainstream medicine as cholesterol disasters, are a great source of iodine and much healthier than we were led to believe (if they come from organic, pastured chickens). Lima beans are a nice source of iodine as well.

How Much Iodine and What Kind?

David recommends taking iodine for your health, to make sure you have enough for those thyroid receptors. However, he warns people to beware of protocols that suggest taking large doses of iodine. Instead, focus on ¾ mg to 1.5 mg of iodine daily. His favorite supplement is Kelp by NOW Foods. With 325 mcg per capsule, he suggests taking 3 capsules per day. If you have an autoimmune condition, start low and slow with 1 capsule per day, moving to 3 capsules per day over time.

Will you detox if you take iodine? Likely, yes. Because as your thyroid receptors finally get the iodine they need, your body will dump the fluoride, bromine, and chlorine from the receptors. In other words, you may feel a bit fatigued or under the weather while your body detoxes.

Remove Stress and EMFs (Electromagnetic Fields)

It’s not just about the food and chemicals, when it comes to maintaining the important balancing act of your thyroid. You’ll also want to address the stress in your life, like how hard you’re working, how long your to-do list is, and other areas where you are taking on too many responsibilities. Just like clutter in our homes, we often end up with lives cluttered with responsibilities that weigh us down and keep us from taking time for self-care. If you are in this situation, you likely feel that taking time out to cook meals for yourself or read labels in the grocery store, or go out of your way for healthier options takes more time than you have. It’s frustrating. And yet, your health is paramount. And to reclaim your health, self-care – taking time to nourish yourself – is essential. To learn how even the busiest of people can turn self-care into a success paradigm for career and health, read: Why Self-Care is the New Success Paradigm.

Electromagnetic fields from your cell phone, the Smart Meter (electricity usage meter) on your home, WiFi, cordless phones, hair dryers, microwaves, power lines, and other electronic devices are major stressors to your body and brain. They create an inflammatory response in the body and can interrupt sleep and healing, disrupt blood sugar, and contribute to illness and disease. To learn more about EMFs, read: EMFs: The Hidden Health Danger You Need to Know About.

Detoxing for Thyroid Health

Detoxifying your body supports you in releasing the overabundance of toxins that get in the way of your thyroid health and overall wellbeing. David is teaching an online class for the non-profit Wellness Project by Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation to guide you through the steps of a natural, healthy detox. See more below.

Join us for an online class as part of The Wellness Project by Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation: Natural Detoxification Steps for Optimal Health and Longevity featuring board certified Traditional Naturopath and Clinical Nutritionist, David Getoff.

In this Online Event, You Will Learn:
  • The Worst Toxins You Need to Know About – We’ve all heard about chlorine, fluoride, and mercury, but what are the hidden toxins you need to know about? David will reveal the must-know information for your health and longevity.
  • Critical Kidney and Liver Support – David Getoff offers easy, affordable tips to detoxify your kidney and liver and explains why this is a first-level foundational approach that everyone can benefit from. Learn myths and truths about popular detox techniques that will save you time, money, and frustration.
  • Steps to Reduce Toxins from Your Body – Learn additional steps you can take to reduce and remove toxins from your body, cleanse your cells, and feel well again. David will address die off reactions and how to approach detoxification if you are dealing with health challenges.
  • Healing Foods and Supplements to Support Health and Longevity – Cut through the confusion about which foods to eat and avoid in order to improve your health and aid natural detoxification. Discover the most effective and highest quality supplements that support detox and improve your energy and wellbeing.
  • Q&A – David will answer your questions (for our online audience, you can ask questions via chat or voice-to-voice). This is a unique opportunity to get feedback on your most pressing detox questions.

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Tune in Next Week

Linda-Anne Kahn

Tune in next week to 21st Century Medicine Woman, when we continue talking about your lymphatic system health. In part 1 of this fascinating show, Lymphatic system, and fat disorders expert, Linda Anne Kahn revealed how lymph works with tips to improve your health naturally. But we only scratched the surface. Next week, we dive deeper into a lymph-supporting diet, how to use essential oils, and how to bring your immune system back into balance.

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As a coach, writer and recovered former executive, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle when over-scheduled. In my journey to radiant health, I created a whole health system of eating, exercise, renewal and recharging -- a roadmap toward health & vitality. I empower clients to create their own whole health systems, in their own unique ways. I have seen amazing results in working with my clients!