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Don't let an IG influencer tell you how you should eat. You gotta pay attention to your body. The one take home of this entire message, if you get nothing else, is to tune in to your body and listen to it and pay attention to how your body, not just your gut. I'm not talking about getting bloated and farting. I'm talking about how your body from head to toe feels after you eat certain foods. And especially if you remove certain foods and then reintroduce them, that's the most definitive way to see how that food actually acts in your body. If your labs are normal, but you're exhausted, you're foggy, gaining weight, or you just don't feel like yourself, listen to me. Most women are told they're fine based on one number. Tsh. No context, no explanation from your doctor, no real plan. If you've been listening to me for a while, you know that I am Dr. Amy the thyroid Fixer. And I have reviewed tens of thousands of labs. And I can tell you this. Most people don't actually understand what their labs are saying. That's why we created the Fixer Lab Test plus Consult. You will get comprehensive thyroid and hormone testing plus a one on one consult where we explain exactly what's happening in your body. This isn't treatment, it's clarity. We help you identify whether there's a real problem, what's actually tied to your symptoms, and what your next best step should be. So if you're done being dismissed and ready for answers, you are done begging your doctor for labs that they don't even know how to interpret. Once they come back, book the Fixer Lab test plus consult now. Click the link below or go to fixerpowerlab.com that's F I X E R P O W E R L A B and order your test book. Your call today. Welcome to the new and completely reimagined Thyroid Fixer Podcast, a podcast that refuses to sound like every other health show out there. We're here to disrupt this entire space. And now you are part of that disruption. If you're listening right now, it's because you've hit your breaking point. And I'm here to tell you. Good, because this is where everything changes. This is where you finally say, no more. No more being dismissed by your doctor. No more being told your labs are normal. No more recycled medical advice. No more recycled biohacking advice. No more being told to accept what you know isn't right. Here, we do things differently. This podcast gives you information you can actually use real tools and real direction, real answers, so you can take back your energy, your metabolism, your hormones and your life. Every episode will leave you with something actionable, something that moves you forward, something that reminds you that you're not crazy. You're finally being heard. This is Thyroid Fixer podcast. And this, this is where you rise when we talk about eating right with Hashimoto's or hypothyroidism, whatever you have. And just as a reminder, if you have hypothyroidism, there's a 95% chance that you do have Hashimoto's as well. But regardless, let's just say you have low and slow thyroid function. You don't know whether it's autoimmune or not, but you are really super confused with all of the information out there, and there's a lot. Now, if you heard the podcast that Natalie, Jill and I just did on all of the misinformation, confusing information out there on fat loss and all the different diets and diet trends, then you will know that in that episode, you know, we touched on more of the general population, not really specifically those of you with a thyroid problem. It was more for the midlife woman that is really stuck and maybe she's getting caught up on influencer posts with crazy ideas in them. And that's where the confusion lies. Now, we did touch on GLPs as well, which I do plan on doing a separate podcast on that where I just dive into and continue to update my thoughts around GLP medications and how they're beneficial and how they might be hurting us as well. So we'll get to that. But for now, for today, I want to step in and clear the confusion around how you should be eating if you have Hashimoto's totally different conversation. I mean, many of the things that Natalie and I talked about are relevant and will apply here, but we're going to put a little bit of a different spin on it, because what works for the general population, as those of you with Hashimoto's know, not necessarily going to work for you. You know, and here's the thing. We want eating to be simple. We don't want to be in this place where it's so confusing and there's so many decisions to make every single day that we just say screw it. That's what I talk about, the screw it syndrome. Screw it syndrome is what happens when you are trying to do all the things, but you're just confused. Maybe you're moving from one diet to the next. Sometimes doing three in the same week, and you throw up your hands on frustration because the scale isn't moving, you're not feeling any better. I get it. So I am here to simplify. I'm not going to make it complicated, but if you really want to feel better, this is one of the strongest levers that you can pull. Food isn't the be all end all, but it absolutely plays a role. So let's actually break down which diets tend to work the best to support thyroid health, along with just an honest take on some of the biggest hot button foods and trends and topics out there on social media. All right, we're going to start with everyone's favorite dietary villain, gluten. Here's the thing. If you do have Hashimoto's, if you have any autoimmune condition whatsoever, I don't care if you have rheumatoid arthritis or celiac, you have to go gluten free. It's not a trend. It's not just a. A biohack. It's a thing. It really is a thing. And going gluten free isn't about avoiding all carbohydrates. It's about choosing the ones that do not contain this little protein structure called gliadin. So what is it? Gluten is a protein complex found in grains like wheat, barley, rye. Yes. It's in oats as well as. And then gluten contains this little protein called gliadin. Now, gliadin, when we look at it under a microscope, it looks a lot like the thyroid gland. So what ends up happening? As we've talked about, Hashimoto's and autoimmune having soldiers, Those soldiers are your antibodies. Those antibodies, or soldiers go out and they attack your thyroid because they have it programmed in their minds in their little battlefield plan. They are programmed to think that your thyroid is the enemy, is a bad guy. So they go out and they attack it. Now, here's the problem. Whenever we take in gluten or gliadin, your soldiers think that it's another bad guy coming in because it looks the same. So what ends up happening is an autoimmune attack on your thyroid. Every single time you eat gluten. This leads to more inflammation, increase of antibodies, more damage to your thyroid that's already struggling. And gliadin also triggers the release of something called zonulin. Zonulin is a protein that opens up these. They're called tight junctions between the cells and the gut. So almost picture it like a. Oh, Like a checkerboard. A really, really tight, tiny little checkerboard. And every line between the squares is an opening. We used to think that it was actually like tile and grout, so you can picture that, too, but like the tiny tile from the 50s. But now we know that those, the grout lines are actually doorways that toxins can pass through. Zonulin basically is the door opener. It opens up those junctions between the cells, and it makes it very, very easy for foreign organisms, toxins to permeate. Now, this is going to trigger an immune reaction. It's that immune activation of autoimmunity, and that induces total body inflammation. And it's just fuel to the fire. I mean, you can just see it in your mind, right? Just like a cycle of an attack on the thyroid, full body inflammation, Fire, fire, fire. And you just get worse. Now, you might not feel anything. I hear this all the time. I don't feel anything when I eat bread. Yeah, I get it. You might not have an immediate discernible reaction, but that doesn't mean the damage isn't happening underneath the surface. EPO and TgAb antibodies can actually spike for up to six months from one exposure of gluten. Just one exposure. That's crazy. So this is why you have to be 100% gluten free. If you have Hashimoto, if you have any antibody on your TPO or your TGA test, you have Hashimoto, you need to be gluten free. Okay, so that's kind of more of a general recommendation about the gluten. And I know you've heard this before over and over again, but it's worth repeating because sometimes if this is like the 10th time you've heard someone say you need to avoid gluten, maybe you'll listen this time. But we also want to talk about specific diets, because one thing that got brought up in Natalie, Jill, and Mind's conversation was carnivore, keto, avoiding grains, things like that. So let's cover a couple more specifics, and then we're going to get broad into all the different diets out there and how they can be beneficial or flip side, detrimental to you. All right, a couple more nuanced topics. Let's talk about grains. I just mentioned grains are basically going to contain gluten, but there are some grains that don't contain gluten. Things like corn, people say that oats don't. But come on. Oats absolutely contain gluten as well, but grains in general. So let's Say corn, rice, oats, quinoa, of course, the wheat, barley, rye, they will all. They can not will. Let me pull back on that. They can, in the case of autoimmunity, make your gut leakier, increase inflammation on that end. Remember zonulin tight junctions and they can cause an autoimmune flare up. Many people feel this, even though you might say, I don't feel anything when I eat bread. If you are a sensitive individual where you are really in tune with your body, you can feel that inflammation. Sometimes it's your face or your eyes that just feel poofy and swollen. Sometimes it's your joints that will inflame, sometimes it'll affect your stomach, sometimes it'll affect your hormones. But you really have to kind of tune into how your body is responding when you eat grains. Now you also have to remember that most grains today are sprayed with glyphosate, huge endocrine disruptor that's gonna mess with your gut as well as directly affecting your entire endocrine system, thyroid and hormones. So if 20% of your T4 to T3 conversion happens in your gut and your gut is inflamed, your microbiome is off, how are you gonna convert T4 to. So here you are eating greens, you're inflaming your gut, you're creating leaky gut, you're messing with your entire endocrine System, you're hindering T4 to T3 conversion. Does any of this sound like a good idea so far just so you can have your corn? Does it really? Or your healthy quinoa bowl right down at the vegan restaurant? Does it sound healthy to you? And this cascade happens in everyone. It's just that people with autoimmunity, you feel it because it literally kicks up that autoimmune attack. And my people out there with rheumatoid arthritis, you know what I'm talking about because you feel it. Now those of us with Hashimoto's might feel joint pain, but y' all with rheumatoid arthritis, you feel it immediately. Immediately. Now, dairy, that's. I don't know. I don't know. It's very personal. It's, it's individual to you. There are some people that when they eat dairy, oh my gosh, it's instant. It's bloating, sinus congestion, stomach upset, skin issues. And then there are people that can eat dairy, preferably a high quality grass fed dairy, carry gold butter, they can do that and tolerate it. I'm one of those people I can do high quality dairy, not a boatload of cheap dairy. I'm not talking about drinking glasses of milk every single day. But I will use organic half and half. I'll use grass fed cheese. I don't overdo it, but I don't avoid it. It doesn't give me any trouble. So really for dairy, the best way to know is just test it on yourself, pull it out for a few weeks, then add it back in and then just pay close attention. Notice how your gut feels. How's your skin, how's your sinuses, how's your energy? Your body's going to tell you whether or not dairy is your friend or your foe. Okay, let's pause here on this because this is something that Natalie, Jill and I broke down as well. Now I shared on that podcast that I usually land somewhere between 80 to maybe 120 grams of protein a day. Yeah, more at 90. I, I rarely hit 80, but 90, 90 would be my low end. Now is that 1 gram per pound of lean body mass? No, that's a little bit under. But I'm always gonna be honest with you. I mean, there are some days where I probably do take in 150, but there are other days where I might take in 90. Protein is very, very, very important as we age. Now here's where clearing out of the cobwebs and confusion come in. There's a lot of people out there touting the importance of protein. I don't disagree. Do I believe that? Let's say you are a woman who is 5 7, 5 8. You are athletic, muscular, healthy, but you tend to run around like 180 pounds. But you're good like your body comp is good. Your lean body mass of that 180 would probably still be around like 160 to 170. So am I going to tell you to eat 160 grams of protein? No, that's where we will dial it back and say, okay, let's say you hit 120 to 150. That's really good. That's a beautiful target. And that's enough protein to fuel your muscles, to hold onto your muscles to prevent sarcopenia without overloading. I shared on the podcast with Natalie that I at one point of time had a trainer that thought it was a really good idea for me to do 200 grams of protein a day. Well, I mean I was hitting between like 180 and 200, but my goodness, it was hard to do. And yes, I gained weight because too many calories and this is where calories in, calories out does come into play. Too many calories of anything, even the good stuff, can make you gain weight because there is that basic energy equation of energy in versus energy out, calories in versus calories out. Yes, we do have to pay attention to the specific food that we're consuming and what that food does in our bodies. You know, 100 calories of beef isolate protein is way different than a hundred calories of teddy grams. You know, I mean it, it just is. And what it does in our body, the inflammation, the insulin, the glucose, the blood sugar. However, when we're looking at specifically burning of fuel, if you're taking in what is considered good and something that we all need, and 50 to 200 grams of high quality grass fed protein still is an abundance of calories. And it was just simply too much for my body to handle. I don't remember what my calorie count was back then. I just remember he told me to hit 150 to 200 and it was difficult. And I gained weight. My body didn't like it. If I stay right around 120, that's enough to fuel my muscles, protect my muscles, give me good amino acids for my hair. I still supplement with amino acids as well. Drinking kion aminos all throughout the day. That's my happy place. That is what I have found my body needs. Now I will say many of you ladies are notorious for not eating enough protein. And that's not good. And here's the thing, your appetite, it does go down as we age. I mean, it really does. Whether you're on a GLP or not, you're probably noticing a little bit of a decrease in your appetite as you move through your 50s and your 60s, 70s. So it's easy to assume that we don't eat as much food as we used to because our appetite is low. But we do need more protein because as we age, this sarcopenia or loss of muscle does start to happen. And if we have less muscle now, this isn't just about protein. Of course. You have to be lifting and doing resistance training to keep that muscle and get your hormones up, make sure that they are optimal, make sure you have optimal testosterone levels. But in general, less muscle means less support for your bones. It equals a weaker body, it equals a slower metabolism, it equals more fat gain. So all in all, that's not a good scenario. Protein is literally what protects you. It's what fights back against all of those detrimental things that happen as we age. So we need to give our bodies that raw material to hold onto the lean, strong muscle tissue instead of breaking it down. Because, hey, when you work out, you're also breaking down your muscle. Yes, it's a beautiful thing. It's something we want to do, but you need to give your body the building blocks to build up that muscle again. Now, protein also does this really cool thing of stimulating the production of a hormone called IGF1, which stands for insulin, like growth factor one. And this is connected to human growth hormone. This is another hormone that declines as we age. So you might have heard of hgh. It's really big. Back in the Suzanne summer days where she was writing her books, she was always talking about hgh. Probably the first time that we heard about that in mainstream conventional, like hormone speak. Suzanne Summers, hats off to you. You were well ahead of your time. I mean, she was talking functional medicine before functional medicine was a thing. So I digress. Hgh, this is the upstream hormone that signals your liver to produce IGF1, which then acts on the cells throughout the body to protect your muscles, keep your skin plump, hold back wrinkles, just keep your body in a more youthful state. So growth hormone is going to drop starting around the age of 30. So this is why we see it all go to hell in a hand basket. About after that, energy, skin, muscle tone all takes a hit. But by eating enough protein, you can bump up your own levels of IGF1, which means you'll be nudging your overall levels of growth hormone in the right direction. And anytime you can do that, it's a win. Especially if you are working out. Give your body those baseline building blocks that they need. You have to. You just have to. Now, getting protein from food alone is tough, especially if you are targeting those maybe 120, 150 grams. Yeah, that's going to be hard to do. I'm sorry. Even getting 80 grams of protein in real whole foods when you're getting older and losing your appetite. Or again, if you are on a GLP1. Well, first of all, if you're on a GLP1 and it's you're losing your appetite, it's stealing your appetite. You're on too high of a dose. FYI, if you're doing it the right way, this shouldn't affect you. You are going to notice the decrease in appetite as we age, like we just talked about. So you're probably going to have to use a supplemental protein powder. And that's okay, as long as it's high quality because this is Going to be your secret weapon. It's the easiest way to get your protein and take up. Before recording this podcast, I blended myself a shake with two scoops of power Protein Fixer Chocolate's my favorite. That gave me 42 grams of protein right there in a yummy, almost milkshake like tasting shake. I didn't get over full, but it was just enough. And I got 42 grams of protein in it. Come on. Do you ever feel like your energy is just off? Like you're not fully alive during the day and then you're restless at night? Chances are your circadian rhythm, your body's natural clock, has been disrupted by a lack of sunlight. So what's the solution? This is where I bring in the Mitolux sun lamp. It is designed to mimic the best of the sun, helping restore your body's rhythm. UVB for vitamin D that helps our energy. Red and infrared light for mitochondrial support. And let's not forget our skin and collagen formation. It's amazing. It's like a reset button for your health that you just turn on and then sit in front of and enjoy. And during those long, gloomy winters, those long days, it's a lifesaver. No more winter blues, by the way, improves your mood. No more low energy. Improves your energy. So you need to get yourself a mito luxe lamp. It's so portable, it's so easy. I sit it on my desk, I take it with me to my bathroom, I stick my face in front of it. After I wash my face, put on my serum. It is amazing for your skin, but amazing for your energy. Amazing for your mood. You want to go to mitolux.com forward slash Dr. Amy. So that's M I T O L U X.com forward slash dash R-A M I E. You're going to use the code, Dr. Amy. They are giving me the code to give to you for 10 off. You will not regret it. This is the best, best, best red light, hands down. I have many of them in my house. This is the only one that I use. It is so easy, portable, and it works. The most important thing is it works. So mitoluxe.com forward slash Dr. Amy. Don't forget to use the code Dr. Amy. And ladies, you might have heard Betty Murray and I talk about this on previous podcasts if you're an avid listener. If you're not, I'll repeat it. Betty Murray and I talked about the studies that show and she really dove deep into this research that women do really well, with protein bookending. So what do I mean by that? In the morning you do a 40, 50 gram bolus dose. So that might be a shake. I mean it could be a big old omelette with some sausage, bacon too, but it might just be a 42 gram protein shake. And then you end the day, which I call my Netflix snack. You end the day with another bolus dose of protein so that anything you eat in the middle is bonus. So let's think about that. If you did two scoops of protein in the morning for 42 grams, two scoops of protein in the evening, maybe this time you make it into like a little pudding. So this is what I'll do. I'll put two scoops of power protein fixer chocolate into a little mug. I'll add in some organic half and half back to the dairy that I can tolerate. You can use macadamia or almond milk as well. You can use water for that matter. Then this is where it becomes optional. You can add in organic peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, whatever you want to flavor it. Sometimes I'll even add in blueberries because blueberries and chocolate are kind of awesome. And then I add in just enough liquid to stir it up till it gets kind of thick, almost like fudgy pudding. Then I'll let it sit in the refrigerator just to chill, maybe five minutes, it starts to thicken up and now it is basically like a mousse, like pudding. So that's the end of the day. So you bookend with those two snacks, protein snacks, and that is now you're at 84 grams. So everything in the middle is just extra bonus. You're definitely gonna hit 110, 120. So then let's say you have a steak for dinner that's giving you another 20, 30 grams. Maybe you have a couple beef sticks, maybe you have an egg, maybe you have some yogurt, whatever throughout the day. But you can see how easy it is to hit that 120 to 150 if that's your target when you are adding in protein powder. Because I, I don't know about you. I can't eat chicken eggs and steak and beef sticks all day. Like I just can't. So I love protein, I love meat. But to eat that much, I need something else. I need something else in the mix. Okay, so we've talked about gluten, we talked about grains, we talked about protein, we talked about dairy. We gotta mention fats before we get into the actual diets. Fats okay, Natalie and I talked about this too. And I love walking down memory lane. Remember snack? Well, fat free cookies. I would eat the out of those. I mean they probably, to this day, they're really darn good. I mean, they just are. And then there was pretty much fat free everything. There were Diet Pops, Snapple. Diet Snapple. Yep, Tab. Right. It was literally a fat free universe. If it was fat free, you could eat it. Pet free brownies. Sure. Give me two of them. They're fat free. I remember gaining so much weight during the 70s and 80s. That's why I was a chubby kid, because I was relying on everything being fat free. And as I've shared before, I used to eat. All right, hold on to your hats for this one. White rice with milk, cinnamon and sugar. Because it was fat free. I mean, I would eat bowls of this ahead and try it sometimes. Really good. I know I just told you to avoid grains. Just for shits and giggles. Just try this one out, you'll like it. Really, really good. Really not good for you. I was spiking my glucose and insulin left and right. So we need fat. And if you're still stuck in that fat free mode, oh my goodness, we need to break you out of it. Come on, let's unbrain wash you from the 80s. Come into 2026 and don't fear fat. Well, at least not the good ones. So avocados, wild caught fish, grass fed beef does contain good fat. Olive oil, coconut oil, pasture raids, eggs. We can't forget about cholesterol being the backbone of your hormones. Don't demonize cholesterol. Without it, your body can't make estrogen, progesterone or testosterone in the amounts that you need. So yeah, no wonder why so many of us who lived through the fat free craze actually ended up with hormonal chaos. Now there is a debate around seed oils. This could be its own podcast as well. Canola, sunflower, corn, grapeseed. Some experts are now saying, and this is part of the confusion out there, some experts are saying they're harmless. Others are calling them toxic. You know what? How about this? And this statement is going to be inflammatory, pun intended. Avoid them when you can. Okay? We know they're heavily processed. We know they're prone to oxidation. We, we know they can stir up inflammation. Don't beat yourself up if you cave and have some sweet potato fries at a bar cooked in weak old canola oil. Because I do it. The goal is progress, not perfection. But above all, when you look at your Plate. Don't shy away from fat. Use the olive oil in your veggies. Add the avocado to your salad. Cook your eggs and butter. I just did that this morning, too. Fats are not the enemy. Remember, they are what your thyroid and your hormones and your whole body, every single cell, needs to function. All right, now let's get into the Carnivore, the keto, the Atkins, the vegan, the vegetarian, pescatarian, paleo, Mediterranean. All of those diet options out there, they're like opinions. Everyone has one. Okay, so now, I have always said that your labs tell us how you should eat and how you as an individual can tolerate and process carbohydrates, digest fats, all that. So you need to listen to your body. You need to work with someone that can actually read your labs and tell you what they mean and direct you in the way to eat. And you need to do some experimenting. So Carnivore, we're going to start there because it's the most extreme. Natalie and I brought it up as well. And again, when her and I are talking, and we said this on the show, too, we both acknowledge that Carnivore can be very, very helpful for certain groups of people. And I know many people who have implemented Carnivore and significantly lowered their inflammation. It changed their life. I mean, they were in a state where they were trying absolutely everything else and nothing was working to help their xyz. Whatever it was, it could be an eczema flare on their body psoriasis, like Cindy Loer on those commercials, like taking over her whole body. It could be continuous GI distress. Whatever it is, Carnivore has come in and significantly helped individuals, especially autoimmune. We see this a lot in the autoimmune space. Again, whether we're talking about Hashimoto, celiac Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis. When you are removing certain potential inflammatory foods, such as, all right, let's take plants, you're removing potential gut irritants like lectins, oxalates. So for people with severe gut permeability or maybe even histamine issues. Natalie mentioned that, too. She was on a histamine free diet for a while. When you're in a flare of something, histamine flare, autoimmune flare, inflammation flare. When you are a autoimmune ball of fire, we gotta put that fire out. And sometimes that means eliminating absolutely everything except food that won't affect you. And that's meat. Like, we know 100% that meat is not going to cause a flare. Now, okay, you're, if you're one of those random people out there, it's like, I'm allergic to chicken. Oh, okay, that's fine. Then don't eat the chicken, focus on the beef. But in general, meat, protein, eggs, fish, meat, poultry, fish, not going to affect you, not going to cause inflammation. So sometimes this simplification of what you eat allows your body to calm down and you basically reduce or eliminate symptoms altogether. So, yeah, absolutely, if that works for you, then you do it. But maybe you just do it temporarily until your body can calm down and until you can start adding things back in slowly to see what works and what doesn't. Now here's the thing with carnivore, you do have to pay close attention to your micronutrients like magnesium, vitamin C, potassium. You need to make sure that you're eating those tail if you want to cover all of your nutrient bases. So that means organ meats too. So remember, remember the liver and onions that your mom tried to bribe you into eating? She was actually onto something because those organ meats have higher concentrations of trace minerals like iron, zinc, selenium, B vitamins, vitamin A. The organ meats have more than the muscle meat. So we got to get the organ meats in too. And now even something that you'll see in the carnivore space, you'll see some carnivore advocates still recommending the reintroduction of some carbohydrates in the form of fruits, maybe root vegetables once everything calms down. So I'm not talking about like, hey, let's bring in the breadsticks from Olive Garden again. I'm talking about adding in a few berries, see how that does. Maybe you do a sweet potato, see how that does. Just here's the thing. Don't let an IG influencer tell you how you should eat. You gotta pay attention to your body. The one take home of this entire message, if you get nothing else, is to tune in to your body and listen to it and pay attention to how your body, not just your gut. I'm not talking about getting bloated and farting. I'm talking about how your body, body from head to toe, feels after you eat certain foods. And especially if you remove certain foods and then reintroduce them. That's the most definitive way to see how that food actually acts in your body. So again, kind of going all the way back to gluten. I can't tell you the amount of people that have Removed gluten. You're probably one of them listening, remove gluten and then got glutened somehow, like at a restaurant. Or you just said, screw it, I'm just going to eat it. And you're like, oh, why did I do that? That was a huge mistake. I feel horrible. And then you actually start to tune into the fact that that's the way that you felt every single day when you were eating, the way you were eating before. So when you were eating the gluten before, you knew better, you thought that the joint pain and the inflammation, the poofy eyes and the. And the hair loss and the swollen joints and the constant farting, you thought all of it was just part of life. That's what people do. That's what happens. And then 99% of those things got better. And you start living this new life without all the pain and bloat and hair loss and farting. And then you reintroduce something that will trigger that all again. Oh, you pay attention. Little alarm bells go off and you start making that connection to, wow, when I was eating gluten before, I had no idea the destruction that it was causing in my body. So that is the one message that I want to drive home to you is pay attention to what is happening in your body when you eat. Okay, Keto. You know, the funny thing is, let's take another trip down memory lane. Remember, Atkinson Atkins was the OG he was the OG Keto diet, it was actually. So if we look at keto, it was actually first used as a therapeutic diet in the 1920s for epilepsy, then kind of reemerged, actually in 1972 with Dr. Atkins. Now, I, of course, was introduced to Dr. Atkins. Oh, in the 80s or 90s, I would say, was the resurgence of the Atkins diet book. But these days, most people know of keto as a tool for weight loss, reversing insulin resistance, calming down inflammation as well. It's less strict than carnivore, of course, because you are allowed to add in things like dairy. It is a low carbohydrate, high fat approach. So there are different ways of doing keto, of course. There can be dirty keto, where we're snacking on bacon, butter and pork rinds. And there can be kind of a modified keto, where instead of going super high with fat, we bring the fat down just a little bit, add in some more protein, but still stay in ketosis, or the making of those ketone bodies over glucose. So there's different ways of doing it. But it's about shifting your body's metabolism away from using carbs or glucose for energy to burning fat for fuel. Now, when I say that your diet tells us how you should eat if you are insulin resistant, if you are type 2 diabetic, you better pick keto carnivore, Mediterranean Atkins and stick with it and, and ride that. Because your body doesn't do well with carbohydrates of any kind. Yeah, even the berries, even the root vegetables you need to bring your insulin down. You should probably be on blood sugar fix or take some berberine. Make sure you are getting high quality fats. Make sure you get your thyroid in check too, because a bad thyroid will also cause insulin resistance despite what you're eating. But that's where we really use these ways of eating or diets for specific targeted purposes to lower insulin, to lower A1C, to calm down inflammation or in the world of cancer treatment, research does suggest that a ketogenic diet can be used to create an unfavorable environment for cancer cells because you're depriving them of the fuel that they need, I. E. Sugar, glucose. I mean, when you look up keto in PubMed, do any kind of search for research articles, just do like keto and keto and Alzheimer's, keto and cancer, keto and type 2 diabetes, keto and autoimmune, keto and inflammation, they will all be positive studies. So for thyroid health, keto can be an incredibly helpful tool if you do it the right way. So when you cut your carbs down, your insulin's going to drop. Then your body switches from burning fat for fuel and you start producing those ketone bodies. Ketones are a byproduct of breaking down fat for energy. And at low to moderate levels, they are anti inflammatory and can help keep your blood sugar steady instead of spiking and crashing all day long going up and down. Now, whenever we lower whole body inflammation, we take the pressure off of your thyroid, we take the pressure off of your adrenals. Now there's some talk, pitter patter out there, some concern that restricting carbs can impair that T4 to T3 conversion. I talk about this a lot. Here's the thing and here's the science behind it. So low carb diets can reduce the activity of the diodase enzyme that converts T4 to T3 and lower insulin levels can inhibit that conversion. But here's the thing. If your thyroid isn't optimized and you don't have enough T3, that's where you start. You don't just add carbs and cross your fingers and hope that you increase T4 to T3 conversion by adding some sweet potato fries. If your thyroid is optimized and you've got the T3 on board, then any little dip that you might see in conversion isn't going to be a deal breaker. It's not going to be even noticeable, honestly, because the biosynthetic T3 that you're taking overrides that. But it's about finding what type of keto diet you want to do. Higher protein, higher fat, it depends on you and your condition. You know, if you're dealing with cancer, you might go the higher fat route. If you're just dealing with, hey, I need to lose weight and I'm highly insulin resistant, you might do the moderate protein, a little bit lower fat route, might even cycle keto where you come up out of ketosis and eat more carbohydrates on the weekend and then you bring it back down and reduce your carbohydrates through the week and kind of cycle your carbohydrate intake. So if you want to try keto, if you want to try carnivore, just keep a little eye on your labs, watch your free T3, watch your reverse T3, watch your cortisol. If you start feeling cold, tired, notice your hair shedding more than usual, then that's a sign you might be having T3 conversion issues. Now again, you can always add in T3 conversion fixer. You can add in thyroid fixer which helps with T4 to T3 conversion. You need those nutrients anyways even to help your body convert your own production of T4 into T3, regardless of any thyroid hormone replacement that you're on. So if you are doing keto or carnivore, maybe you add in T3 conversion fixer, maybe you add in some iodine, maybe you add in thyroid fixer so that you can continue the lifestyle, the way of eating that is helping you without downregulating your conversion. Now if reverse T3 bumps up, check your cortisol and your insulin, make medication adjustments, try to address nutrient deficiencies. But just listen to your body now. Kind of a step down from those, which is super middle of the road, really easy, almost like a no brainer way of eating is Paleo. I don't really have any concerns with paleo. Remember, thyroid health, probably one of your best options, it's naturally gluten free, focuses on real food and makes protein. Basically the, the star of your plate. It avoids grains, which are inflammatory, takes out processed foods, legumes, dairy, refined sugar, seed oils, and then what you're left with is just simple meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, healthy fats. Hey, there we go. Now, I mean, Paleo can go a little bit heavy on the honey and the dates, so if you are struggling with weight, I probably wouldn't go super heavy on even the natural sugars. But Paleo puts a nice big emphasis on quality fats. And let's face it, there's fantastic Paleo recipes out there. Mediterranean is probably the predecessor of Paleo. And there's not that much bad to say about the Mediterranean diet either. It emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, healthy fats. Incorporates moderate amounts of fish, poultry, dairy and eggs, low in processed foods and sugar. It's one of the most studied, best studied diets out there. And research does link it to better heart health, lower inflammation, host of other benefits, but only caution I'll make about the Mediterranean diet is to watch their carbohydrates, especially if you do struggle with those blood sugar swings or any kind of insulin resistance, because it will include bread, pasta, grains, which can be too much if your insulin's already an issue. And if you have thyroid autoimmunity osteoarthritis, going to want to skip the wheat and gluten containing grains like we already talked about. So Mediterranean is would be a better approach. Ah, my vegans and vegetarians. Okay, this is where I'm gonna be blunt. If you're eating this way for ethical or spiritual reasons, I respect that. But you still need to look at your lab work and be honest about whether your beliefs are actually serving your health. So plant based diet, very high in carbohydrates, even if you're eating whole foods. But let's face it, most vegans rely on grains and legumes as the primary source of protein, and those are not whole proteins. You are not getting the amino, amino acids out of grains and legumes. The foods are mostly carbohydrates, let's face it. And then the amount of inflammatory foods that you consume on a vegan or vegetarian diet, oh my goodness. Protein is seriously low. Carbohydrate intake, processed food intake is high. So over time, this can lead to all the same problems that we see with any carb heavy diet. Blood sugar dysregulation, insulin resistance, nutrient deficiencies. I actually had a patient who is in the health space and she was vegetarian, maybe vegan, lifelong, because it was part of her Culture, her heritage. And we looked at her labs and I had to literally tell her that the way she was eat was killing her because it was. Her A1C was through the roof, her thyroid was in the toilet, her hormones were struggling, her blood sugar was totally out of control. I mean, she was diabetic. Yes, of course we optimized her thyroid, but she had to face the reality that her diet was not working for her body. Now this wasn't an easy shift, but she agreed. And she started very slowly incorporating animal based proteins. And she noticed a change. She noticed her energy shift, her mind felt clearer, her blood sugar started to stabilize, and we saw it in her labs as well. And her thyroid responded better to the treatment we were giving her because she wasn't in this constant inflammatory state. This wasn't about abandoning her values, abandoning her culture. It was about giving her body what it was missing so it could function the way that it was meant to. And again, we saw it in her body, we saw it in her labs. If you are choosing to eat vegan or vegetarian because it aligns with your beliefs, that's fine, that's your decision. But just know it takes a lot of extra effort to get in enough protein, B12, iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, omega 3 fats, all of which are critical for thyroid health. So you need to be willing to supplement aggressively and monitor your labs regularly if you are going to eat vegan or vegetarian. And I also want you to ask yourself, is my belief system more important than my body? And then make your decision from there. Now, in my opinion, and if I had a chance to write yet another book, it would be the Palido diet. It's the best of both worlds. So this is really the perfect way of eating for hypothyroid and Hashimoto patients. So listen up, save the best for last. Paleto is Paleo plus keto. I know it's not an official diet yet, but it should be. So when you look at Paleo, the concept like we talked about is gluten free. No grains, no dairy. Focus on high quality grass fed proteins, healthy fats, clean carbs like root vegetables, sweet potatoes. It's nutrient dense. But like I said earlier, for people with insulin resistance, the carbohydrates and natural sugars can be too high. Then you have keto. Okay, Low carb, high fat, focus on protein. Here's the problem though. Too many people do dirty keto. So these are the ones that add in heavy whipping cream to their coffee every morning. They make casseroles with five types of cheeses. Eat bacon all day, at the end of the night you're eating fat bombs and high fat coconut milk pudding. I have done this myself by the way, with a smile on my face, but then scratching my head wondering why I'm gaining weight again. Back to calories in calories, out fat has more calories than any other macronutrient. So even if you eat low carb, if you're taking in 3,000 calories a day, but you're only burning 2,000, the math says you're gonna gain weight. So here's where Paleto comes in. When we blend the higher quality food focus of Paleo with the low carb, moderate fat approach of keto, we hit that sweet spot. Many, many, many people need some keto principles woven into their Paleo diet in order to feel the best, including the option for high quality dairy. So with Paleto you get the anti inflammatory benefits of keto without drowning in poor quality fats. You get nutrient density of Paleo without overdoing the carbs. So this is going to equate to the steady energy, balanced blood sugar, no highs and lows, roller coaster throughout the day, less inflammation and better support for thyroid conversion. I think Paleto is the absolute best way to eat if you have hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's because it gives you way more choices. Once again, at the end of the day, you have to listen to your body and you have to know how your body responds to specific foods. Two specific ways of eating. When you do that, you can really dial yourself in. But if you need a starting point, if you needed to cut through the confusion out there, this is a great place to start. I'm happy you listen to the podcast because it's going to give you listen to it again, take notes, it's going to give you the foundational concept, real scientific advice. Not Instagram influencer, AI driven fake advice, but real scientific advice on what I have used, what I have seen, what we do with patients. So this can help you get into a nice flow. Be happy every single day with the way that you eat without being confused, without overthinking, without trying three different diets in the same week hoping that you'll find one that works. Settle in, implement the best basic concepts, listen to your body, see how your body responds to foods. Because we are all different, I. E. The dairy, some people can't eat it, some people can. So we are all different. Notice how your body responds to those foods and this will help you tremendously on your thyroid journey. Now, of course, of course, at the end of the day I'm going to say the most perfect diet in the world is not going to override a low functioning thyroid or you being on the wrong thyroid medication or you not having the proper hormonal balance to support your body. You can't treat the thyroid and treat hormones in a dumpster fire, right? If you're treating your body like a circus, it's not going to work. But at the same time, you can't just eat your way to better thyroid health. One has to support the other. So if you are on the wrong medication, if you're on T4, only if you're not taking hormones, if you're not addressing your elevator reverse T3, just go ahead and eat snack while cookies and Kit Kats all day because it's not gonna matter. But if you're really trying to do all the things and you're interested in actually optimizing your thyroid and hormones, then finding the way that you should eat, maybe doing Carnivore, maybe doing Palido will absolutely help when you get that thyroid hormone on board, when you get the hormone replacement, the bioidentical hormone replacement on board as well. Now just as a reminder, if you have no freaking clue what's going on inside your body and you don't even know what your thyroid labs or your hormone hormone labs say, we now offer an at home thyroid and hormone test kit. It's really, really cool. So if you go to Fixer power lab.com F I X E R P O W E R L A b fixer power lab.com you'll be able to see our really badass at home test. Been developing this for nine months for you all. Now it's not a little finger prick test, that's inaccurate. It's not a saliva test, that's totally inaccurate. It is a tassel blood draw. So just it's painless, attaches to your arm. Kind of think of like the cgm, right? When you put that on your arm, you don't even feel it. These little filaments go in, collect some blood into a little tube, you ship it off, we give you the shipping container. Boom. FedEx, it goes off, we get your results back and you get to talk to us for an interpretation of what those results mean. So that's fixerpowerlab.com if you have no idea what's going on inside your body, if you do know what's going on inside your body, hopefully this episode will help you eat well to support your thyroid. The information shared on the Thyroid Fixer Podcast is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your physician or other qualified healthc care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition treatment or before making changes to your healthcare regimen, including medications, supplements or other therapies. 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