Dr. Westin Childs Podcast: Thyroid | Weight Loss | Hormones

Are you part of the 30% of people with thyroid problems who may be able to stop taking thyroid medication? Certain natural supplements can support thyroid function, enhance hormone balance, and may help reduce your dependence on medications like Levothyroxine. Whether you’re dealing with hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, or simply looking for natural thyroid support, these supplements can help provide your body with the nutrients it needs to function properly. What you’ll learn in this video: • The top supplements for thyroid health • How certain nutrients can affect T4 to T3 conversion • The role of iodine, selenium, zinc, ashwagandha, and more • Why you should never stop thyroid medication without proper guidance • How to support your thyroid naturally and safely These suggestions are meant to help you understand how lifestyle changes and targeted supplements may support your journey toward thyroid healing. If you’re looking for a safe way to get off your thyroid medication, this next video is f

You can do a lot of good for your thyroid by simply changing your diet. And this is true of all thyroid conditions but especially if you have Hashimoto’s. Eating the right foods can reduce inflammation and protect your thyroid gland. Or, it could do the exact opposite. It’s for this reason that you need to understand which foods you should be eating and which you should be avoiding. When it comes to eating the wrong foods, here’s the list to avoid: 1. Gluten. 2. Iodized salt. 3. Dairy products. 4. Soy. 5. Coffee. 6. Alcohol. 7. Processed foods. 8. Refined and processed sugars. 9. Industrial seed oils. 10. Certain vegetables. If you avoid these foods you can reduce thyroid gland inflammation and you may even be able to reduce your thyroid antibody levels. And worst case scenario? Even if you don’t see an improvement in your thyroid, you will still experience benefits to your entire body. If you want to see more natural treatments that can reduce thyroid antibodies, check out this video next

Statistically speaking, thyroid patients are more likely to be taking prescription medications for other problems like: - Depression - Anxiety - High blood pressure - High blood sugar - Weight gain - And more This is a problem by itself, but there’s an even bigger one: The prescription medications used to treat these very conditions can actually make your thyroid even worse. So in a real sense, you may be taking medications for symptoms caused by your thyroid that circle back to make your thyroid function (and those very symptoms) even worse. Here’s a list of medications that do this and what to do if you are taking any: Category 1. Medications that block T4 to T3 conversion. Category 2. Medications that block TSH production. Category 3. Medications that block thyroid hormone production from the thyroid gland. Category 4. Medications that block thyroid medication absorption. Don’t want to deal with these issues? Your thyroid is very responsive to lifestyle changes and making these changes c

Tired of feeling tired? Think that an endocrinologist is a solution to your problem? Think again. While it may seem intuitive that an endocrinologist, someone who has spent extra time studying about the endocrine system, has more specialized knowledge compared to a primary care provider, you’d be wrong. Endocrinologists do not have the specialized knowledge you think they do and tend to treat every single thyroid patient the same. Here are 5 reasons you will probably get better success with other doctors (plus which ones to see instead): Reason 1. They won’t order the right tests. Reason 2. They all treat the same way. Reason 3. They don’t have the specialized knowledge you think they do. Reason 4. They are set in their ways. Reason 5. You won’t be able to convince them to change. Instead, here are the doctors that you will probably find better results with: - Doctors who specialize in functional medicine, anti-aging medicine, integrative medicine, natural medicine, and naturopaths. Don’

If levothyroxine contains thyroid hormones and thyroid hormones control metabolism, shouldn’t taking levothyroxine help with weight loss? You would think so, but that’s not what happens in the real world. Instead, we have studies and anecdotal experience that show that patients taking levothyroxine experience no positive benefits to their weight. And worse than this, some actually experience weight GAIN. But how can this occur? It has everything to do with the type of thyroid hormone found in levothyroxine and what that thyroid hormone means for the body. Levothyroxine and Synthroid contain the thyroid hormone T4, which is inactive by itself. It’s not until the body converts it into the active thyroid hormone T3 that it becomes usable. In a perfect world, everyone would be able to convert this hormone readily but that’s not the world we live in. Which is why studies show that people who take other more active thyroid hormones do experience the weight loss you’d expect to see from levothyroxine (but

BMI Calculator: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm Does your weight tell you anything about your thyroid? Absolutely. In fact, because your thyroid regulates metabolism, being overweight is a flashing red light that indicates you may have a thyroid problem. This is even more true for people with existing issues like hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s. If that’s the case, does being overweight tell you something about thyroid function? Yes! In fact, it’s a great proxy measurement. This is one big reason that thyroid patients need to keep track of their weight. But it just so happens that the most common way they measure their weight happens to be the most inaccurate. If you have a thyroid problem, you need to be tracking your weight, but you need to use the right metrics. The most accurate include your BMI and your body measurements. These will give you more useful information than your weight on the scale and will actually help you in your journey to lose weight. As yo

Cytomel is a T3 only thyroid medication (the brand version of liothyronine) that is far more active than levothyroxine. Because it’s so much more active, it also happens to be much better at helping thyroid patients with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism lose weight. Before you run out and grab it, though, or try to switch medications, there are a few things you need to know. When using it you will want to keep an eye on certain lab tests including free t3, total t3, and reverse T3. In addition, you will also want to keep an eye on your basal body temperature and resting heart rate. Because of its power, it’s important to keep an eye on these metrics to make sure you don’t accidentally take too much. As far as dosing for weight loss is concerned, most patients do best taking a dose somewhere between 5 and 20 mcg per day. Instead of thinking as Cytomel as an alternative to levothyroxine, I think it’s best thought of as a complementary option to it. Many thyroid patients see the best results when usi

It’s well known that your thyroid controls and regulates your weight through its impact on your metabolism. As a result, it’s actually very common that patients with hypothyroidism end up gaining weight. But what patients usually don’t understand is that if you gain weight from hypothyroidism, only about 10-15 pounds of that weight is directly from your thyroid. So why is it that some thyroid patients gain 30, 40, or even 50 pounds after their diagnosis? The cause for this extra weight gain has more to do with fluid than with actual fat! And because fluid levels can shift rapidly from day to day, they are often responsible for the wide shifts in weight that many thyroid patients experience. The 3 main causes of this rapid weight gain include: 1. Swelling, edema, and water weight. Hypothyroidism puts your body in a state where holding fluid is much more likely due to a condition called myxedema. This thyroid-specific condition results in the accumulation of GAGs and hyaluronic acid in your tissue

There’s no question that changing the food that you eat every day can have a huge impact on your thyroid. For this reason, thyroid patients are always looking for the best diet. This search for the best diet leads a lot of them to the carnivore diet which promotes itself as one of the best diets available. But is it true and should you try it if you have thyroid problems? I’m going to argue no, for 4 main reasons: 1. Carbohydrates are needed for optimal thyroid function. Low-carb diets have been associated with low T3 levels and high reverse T3 levels, the same pattern seen in chronic illness. 2. Decreased carbohydrate intake increases sex hormone binding globulin and decreases the activity of sex hormones. Low-carb diets like carnivore can increase SHBG which can reduce free testosterone and free estradiol levels. This can then impact your thyroid. 3. There are better ways to lose weight. There’s nothing magical about the carnivore diet that you can’t get with other whole-food diets. 4. Low-

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t HAVE to take your thyroid medication first thing in the morning. In this video, I discuss some newer studies which show that taking thyroid medication in the evening can be just as effective (if not more effective) than taking in the morning. The takeaway here is that it doesn’t really matter when you take your thyroid medication so long as you are taking it on an empty stomach. And to do that, all you need to do is make sure that you take it 2 hours after (or before) a meal. This leaves the stomach with 2 hours to empty which means that food will not interfere with its absorption. There are two ways to transition to taking your thyroid medication in the evening and I call them the non-skip approach and the skip approach. Most people have no problem taking their thyroid medication in the morning and then again in the evening but if you are sensitive then you may want to try the skip dose approach. For more information and research on this topic, check out this

Tired of not having good treatment options available for Hashimoto’s? If so, I have some good news for you. Outside of traditional treatments like thyroid medication, there are some incredibly powerful natural options that have been shown in some research studies to help. One of the most potent is known as nigella sativa. I’m going to use nigella sativa and black seed oil almost interchangeably in this video but here’s the difference: Nigella sativa is the plant that produces black seeds and black seeds can be cold pressed to produce black seed oil. The active ingredients in nigella sativa can be found in both black seeds and black seed oil so it’s very likely that taking any of these 3 may provide benefits. One study that looked at nigella sativa found the following: 1. It had a pro-thyroid benefit and acted to help reduce TSH levels and increase free thyroid hormone levels. 2. It had a thyroid-antibody-reducing benefit and resulted in a decrease in TPO antibodies by almost 50%. 3. It may p

Will consuming iodized salt help or hurt your thyroid? It depends on who you ask, but if you’re asking me (and I’ll assume that you are since you’re watching this), my answer is that there are much better sourced of iodine and using iodized salt may cause more harm than good for most people. There are several reasons for this, but some of the main ones include: 1. The fact that iodine deficiency is not the problem that it once was. 2. The fact that there are better ways to get more stable doses of iodine. 3. The fact that excess salt consumption can cause other problems including high blood pressure. Assessing your iodine intake can be difficult but here are some key takeaways: 1. Avoid iodized salt and get your iodine intake from other sources. 2. Get as much iodine as you can from whole food. 3. Make up the difference, if needed, with an iodine supplement. 4. Try to get around 150 to 300 mcg of iodine each day. Learn more about why I recommend against high-dose iodine here: https://youtu.be

Vitamin B12 is incredibly important and many people simply don’t get enough. And if you don’t get enough then you’ll end up with symptoms like fatigue, hair loss, weight gain, brain fog, depression, nerve problems, heart palpitations, and anemia. That’s one problem. The other is that the form of B12 that most people use is the wrong one. Let’s talk about the 4 most common forms of vitamin B12, which one(s) you should use, and which one(s) you should avoid: 1. Cyanocobalamin This is probably the worst form of vitamin B12 because it’s synthetic (not natural), it comes attached to cyanide that must be metabolized, and it requires activation by the body before it can be used. 2. Adenosylcobalamin Adenosylcobalamin is one of two active forms of vitamin B12 and it’s found primarily in the mitochondria where it helps create ATP for your cells. 3. Methylcobalamin Methylcobalamin is another active form of B12 which is found in the cytoplasm where it helps eliminate homocysteine. 4. Hydroxycobalamin H

T2 thyroid hormone, also known as 3,5 diiodo-l-thyronine, is gaining a lot of attention among thyroid patients, and for good reason. As far as thyroid hormones are concerned, T2 plays a major role in regulating metabolism, cholesterol metabolism, and heat production, making it the ideal treatment if you are suffering from hypothyroid-related weight gain as well as high cholesterol. For this reason, many thyroid patients are wondering if it’s right for them and they’ve been asking a lot of questions: Is T2 thyroid hormone safe? What are the side effects? And should I try it? Well, this video is going to shed light on all of those. First, we have no reason to suspect that T2 thyroid hormone is harmful because thyroid patients have been using it for over 70 years. This is because T2 is found in small amounts in NDT thyroid medications like Armour thyroid. What about side effects? Based on the over 10,000 thyroid patients who have used my T2 supplement, here’s what I’ve found: Roughly 70-75% see som

My wife was able to use a combination of diet and lifestyle changes to get off of her T3 thyroid medication. She suffered from an unusual form of thyroid resistance due to an eating disorder in her teenage years which left her with metabolic damage, treatment-resistant depression, thyroid resistance, and the inability to lose weight. She had a complete resolution in her symptoms with the use of T3 thyroid medication (liothyronine) but didn’t want to stay on her thyroid medication forever. To do this, she changed her lifestyle and her diet and, as a result, she was able to get off of her thyroid medication and remain symptom-free. This is her diet: You can see all the recipes here: https://www.restartmed.com/what-my-wife-eats-in-a-day-to-stay-off-thyroid-medication/ You can see my perfect thyroid diet here: https://www.restartmed.com/perfect-thyroid-diet/ And you can see another video with a list of diets that have worked for other patients here: https://youtu.be/5seJiR5aCAM?si=NlD1RW_DpOhcpW1o Do

Have you ever wondered why you don’t hear much about thyroid hormone cream? Why is it that all other hormones exist in cream form including progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen? There really isn’t a good reason because the truth is, thyroid hormone cream is probably the single best way to take thyroid medication. It just so happens that not all thyroid hormones are available in cream form... at least not yet. Here are 5 reasons that thyroid hormone creams beat out capsules and tablets: 1. Topical benefits where they are applied. Some studies suggest that topical thyroid hormone application may help regrow hair and help with wound healing. 2. More freedom in when and how you take it. If you take thyroid hormone in cream form then it can be taken at any time of the day and with any type of food. 3. Better bioavailability and absorption. Creams are roughly 2 to 2.5x stronger than oral versions of the exact same hormone. 4. Fewer side effects. Lower doses required mean fewer symptoms, especiall

Using a scale is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a thyroid patient trying to lose weight. Why? Because it doesn’t accurately tell you how much fat you are losing or how much muscle you are gaining. And, for thyroid patients, this is a big problem because you should be trying to preserve muscle mass when you lose weight. How can you accurately measure fat loss? By using these metrics: 1. Body measurements. Because muscle mass is more dense than fat, even if you lose 5 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of muscle, your body will start to shrink (even though the scale will stay the same). 2. Weekly progress pictures (and a mirror). If you are losing weight while preserving muscle, your body will not only look slimmer, you will look healthier! When you are losing both muscle mass and fat mass simultaneously, you may take on a sickly-looking appearance. 3. Caliper testing. Caliper testing gives you an idea of how much fat is on your body but testing your skin thickness. 4. Weekly average

Sugar alternatives are supposed to be safe and healthy low-calorie options that can be used in place of refined and processed sugar. Their great appeal is that they allow you to eat sweet things without gaining weight. But they don’t actually work as well as you might think. Before we get into that, though, here are the best natural sugar alternatives for patients with Hashimoto’s: 1. Monk fruit 2. Allulose 3. Stevia 4. Sugar alcohols But here’s why I don’t recommend them: 1. They are all heavily processed. 2. They aren’t considered real food. 3. They aren’t side effect-free. 4. And they aren’t the miracle weight loss treatment you think they are. Instead, I recommend forgoing the natural options and using natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. If you aren’t willing to accept the calories associated with these sweeteners, they you shouldn’t eat their low-calorie alternatives because it will just make you crave more sweets in the future. Check out this video for more information on which

Magnesium is incredibly important for thyroid function and, unfortunately, most thyroid patients aren’t getting enough. This is for 3 main reasons: 1. Thyroid dysfunction increases magnesium breakdown and excretion. In other words, thyroid problems promote the elimination of magnesium from your body. 2. Stress increases magnesium usage. Because thyroid dysfunction makes you more susceptible to stress, thyroid patients have a higher demand for magnesium compared to the average population. 3. Most people aren’t getting enough magnesium from their diet (about 80% or so). This has to do with the fact that magnesium is commonly found in plants and most thyroid patients are eating too much processed food. How can you fix this problem? By getting more magnesium from your diet and by taking additional magnesium supplements as needed. The three best magnesium supplements for hypothyroidism are... 1. Magnesium glycinate. 2. Magnesium citrate. 3. Magnesium l-threonate. Want to learn more about diffe

Many patients with hypothyroidism struggle with high cholesterol due to how thyroid hormone regulates cholesterol metabolism. When thyroid hormone is low, cholesterol levels will increase. For this reason, many thyroid patients are placed on a statin to combat this high cholesterol. But is this necessary? Maybe in some situations, but definitely not all. Before you take a statin or another cholesterol-lowering medication, try these natural treatments first: 1. T3 containing thyroid medication like liothyronine or Cytomel. T3 is far more potent than levothyroxine at lowering cholesterol and can be considered if you are taking thyroid medication but still not seeing your numbers go down. 2. Eat to improve your thyroid. Instead of eating to lower cholesterol, eat to improve your thyroid. By boosting your thyroid with food you will get benefits on both your weight and cholesterol at the same time. 3. Glucomannan. Glucomannan is a soluble dietary fiber that may help lower cholesterol by up to 10%.