Episode #66: The Mito-Thyroid Connection. 3-Steps to Healing Your Hashimoto's, with Dr. Anshul Gupta

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The global health coaching industry is expected to reach over $33 billion by 2023, and midlife women are the fastest-growing, highest-spending demographic in that space. Most importantly, these women stay with their coaches. They invest deeply because they are desperate for lasting transformation— body, mind, and spirit. So if you've been feeling that pull and that whisper that you're meant to do more, This is it. Now is the time to rise, to serve, and build a purpose-driven business that not only changes other women's lives but transforms your own in the process. Because when you help one woman heal, you help her family, her marriage, her faith, and her future. That's the ripple effect that we're creating with Fast to Faith. So join me, click the link to come watch this webinar. It might be the one thing that really moves the needle for you in this Next season. I can't wait to see you in there. Hi, I'm Dr. Tabatha, the Functional Gynecologist. I'm a board-certified OB-GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey, and I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, and Insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. I want to be your functional gynecologist. So welcome. Hi ladies. Oh my gosh, this is such an important episode because honestly, Thyroid disease affects millions of women, and it might be affecting you, and you might not even know it. You may have Hashimoto's disease and not even know it. Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune condition that gets turned on or activated in your body during, you know, triggers that happen in your life. And so you're not born with it actively happening. It's something that has the potential to develop. And it's really important to understand, especially if you've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism or been told that you just have a sluggish thyroid, there is probably more to the story. Honestly, thyroids don't just stop working. Thyroids don't just get sluggish for no reason. Here's the truth, ladies. Like, I used to think that too, as a conventional doctor, but there's more to The story. Your thyroid responds to what's going on in your body. It responds to what it's exposed to in the environment, you know, especially things like infections and toxins that we're exposed to every day, hormone shifts like pregnancies and menopause, or synthetic hormones like birth control pills and Depo shots and that kind of stuff. So our thyroid is like this big window into our overall health. It is waving the flag signaling, hey, something is going on. Please investigate. Your thyroid doesn't just stop working, or it doesn't just work overtime, like in Graves' disease and developing a goiter and too much thyroid and having hyperthyroidism. These are all responses to what's happening to your body from your environment, your lifestyle, your genetics, all of that. And so having a thyroid issue is a key opportunity to say, what's going on in my body? Let me listen to my body and figure out why it's pissed. What's triggering my immune system to fire and attack me, essentially, because that's what Hashimoto's and Graves' disease Are they're an autoimmune process, which means your own immune system, which is supposed to be protecting you, is actually turned around and attacking you. So that's not right. That's not supposed to happen. Your thyroid is not supposed to be attacked by your immune system. But this process starts occurring in response to different things that I'm going to talk. About today with my guest, Dr. Gupta. So it's really important to figure out, is your thyroid being attacked, number one? And there's testing we can do, and we're going to explain why it's important to know whether it's being attacked or not. And number two, why did that attack start? Like, what was the triggering or triggering events? And What can we do about it, most importantly? And there are so many things that you can do about it. You could even do on your own, and we're going to talk about all that stuff today. So you don't need some fancy endocrinologist specialist to help you with your thyroid issue. You're going to get the gist today. And, you know, if you work with a functional doctor like Dr. Gupta or myself, We're going to give you—we're going to help you determine the root cause of why this happened, and we're going to give you the tools to reverse it so that you can start to feel amazing again. Here's honestly what I see every day in my practice: a woman comes to me; she's been told she has a sluggish thyroid. She's been put on Synthroid, and she continues to feel exhausted. have depression, be constipated, can't get rid of her weight gain, your hair's falling out, all these things, and the doctor doesn't have any other solutions. So they say, your labs look fine. I'm sorry, that's all I have for you. So I'm here to give you hope, and so is Dr. Gupta, my guest today, because there are other solutions. That medication is not the end-all be-all answer, and we're going to explain to you why so that you can feel empowered and encouraged that you don't have to live like this anymore. You don't have to be miserable. I'm going to even share my story because I myself have Hashimoto's, and it's been a long, rough road, and I'm so grateful for everything I've learned. Through functional medicine, and I'm grateful for the scientists and the doctors who didn't just take the answer that it's a sluggish thyroid. They continued to research and figured it out and figured out that the thyroid is just this, like, huge signal in our body to tell us that we're out of sync. And so There's ways to get back into balance, and I'm really excited for this episode because it impacts so many women. And here's the thing, maybe you're impacted and don't even know because you haven't had the right testing done. So, so much important information in today's episode. Share this with any woman that you know and love and think might be affected and need this information as well, because it's super important. And here's another cool, amazing thing. So from COVID you know, my office in Grand Haven, Michigan was shut down for a while and we had to transition to a virtual practice because I still needed to help my patients, right? They still needed to see me. And so we created this whole telehealth situation and opened the Center for Functional Medicine. And I have been working my butt off to become licensed all over the country. And so far I'm licensed in almost half the country, multiple states. So you can see me as your physician if you live in one of those states, and we can do this on Zoom. We can connect and I can take care of you. So I'm really excited. About that. So the link is in my show notes, but essentially you just call my office, PrivaMD Center for Functional Medicine office, and you schedule a consult with me. I'm super excited that I can reach more women and help more women because you need a voice and a choice in your healthcare. I'm over this crap. Like, you guys just need the right tools and the right person guiding you. So I am here for you. I'm really excited about that. Um, the phone number, the link, everything's in the show notes. So let me talk about my guest today really quick. We connected through Mindshare, which is a collaborative of amazing health experts who are seeking the latest and greatest advancements in medicine, holistic medicine, integrative medicine. And, um, I got to meet Dr. Gupta, and he was working at the Cleveland Clinic specializing in Hashimoto's. And I was like, you're my guy, we need to connect because Hashimoto's is so important to me. So I got him on the show today. He's actually in India right now taking care of his parents. Um, from COVID So the connection's a little bit poor in the beginning, but, um, just hold on and bear through it because it's such important information. It's such good information. But that's how amazing virtual health is now. I mean, he and I connected from India without any major hiccups, so that's pretty cool. So stay here because we're going to talk about the triggers. of Hashimoto's and thyroid disease, this 3-step process to recovery, and how to get you feeling amazing, get— getting your life back. Okay, so Dr. Anshul Gupta is a board-certified family medicine physician. He has advanced certification in functional medicine, peptide therapy, and also he's fellowship trained in integrative medicine. So he has worked at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Department of Functional Medicine as a staff physician. He's helped thousands of patients reverse their health issues by using the concepts of functional medicine. His dedication toward his patients was recognized when he was awarded Reader's Choice Best Doctor in Northern Neck Area. So Dr. Gupta now specializes in treating Hashimoto's disease And he helps people reverse their unsolved, unresolved symptoms of thyroid dysfunction. He says conventional medicine doesn't have all the answers for the vast majority of patients suffering from Hashimoto's, and that's where functional medicine can be helpful. So he has created this personalized plan for people with Hashimoto's to end the fatigue, reduce the brain fog, and finally lose your weight Substantially. He has a 3-step process that not only heals the thyroid, but rejuvenates mitochondria, which we're going to talk about, to help females with Hashimoto's live their life to the fullest. So mitochondria are in all of your cells throughout your body, millions and millions of these little powerhouses. They're little organelles, and that is where your energy is produced. It's called ATP, and you require certain nutrients and vitamins and cofactors as ingredients for your mitochondria to be able to make the energy, to shuffle it out and put it all over your body where it needs to go and be utilized. But there's many things that impede mitochondrial function. They kill the mitochondria, so you have fewer than other people. in certain situations, or the energy can't get where it's going, or the energy gets there but then your cells are inflamed and you can't utilize it. So there's a huge connection between mitochondrial health and thyroid health, and Dr. Gupta is going to talk a little bit about this, but it's so important to realize that your lack of energy, your exhaustion, not wanting Ever feeling rested, like you want to sleep more, your joint pain, like all of that is not in your head. It is real. There's physiological reasons for it, and it's reversible. So this is an amazing episode. So let's get into it. Okay, here's Dr. Gupta. Well, welcome, Dr. Gupta, to the Functional Gynecologist Podcast.

Yeah, thank you so much, Dr. Barber, for having me over here.

I am super excited to talk to you because honestly Hashimoto's is near and dear to my heart. I was diagnosed when I was 17 years old. Oh my God, yes, I have had quite the journey. And, you know, a big part of that is why I got into functional medicine. So I would love to just, you know, have you share your story with my listeners because I think it's helpful when we know, like, why did you get into all of this?

Yeah, this was like a joke which was going around when I was working at the Cleveland Clinic. Whenever, like, a new person will join in, they will say, so what's your story? And suddenly, like, the person will get shocked. What do you mean, my— what is my story? They said everybody who is in functional medicine has a story. Nobody just kind of joins functional medicine or looks for it. So what is your story? So like, that was so like an interesting joke, like, okay, well, you know, like, let's hear his or her story out.

Yeah.

So, so my story actually started after my med school. So, you know, I was a— I was trained as a family physician. Then I started working in rural Virginia area as a family physician. Just like couple of years into my practice, I started having my own health issues. So the health issues started off with having some gut issues, like I was having this excruciating abdominal pain. I was having bloating. Then I was having— I was feeling tired and fatigued, and I was having brain fog issues. And I continued to gain weight. You know, I was always a chubby kid as a child, but then suddenly, like, you know, during, uh, during these years, I was gaining a lot of weight. So I tried, oh well, you know, like, maybe I'm a family physician, I can fix myself. Start taking some medications, did not fix it. You know, like, I was still having the same pain. No changes in my health. So I thought, well, you know, I'm not smart enough. Let me take help of my specialist friends. So I started seeing these specialists, the GI specialist, allergy specialist. They ordered tons of testing. You know, I went through endoscopies, ultrasounds, like allergy testing. Everything was negative. They didn't know what to do with me. They started adding more medications, and that was not even helping. And they, they had no idea what to do with me. And I was only 32 at the time. So I was like so scared. I'm taking so many medications being only 32, and they told me that most likely you will have to take these medicines for the rest of your life. So that was very, very scary moment, and I had no hope to get better, and I was totally lost. But then I came to know about functional medicine, and then when I started doing my training in functional medicine, I started hearing these stories Similar stories of everybody who was joining, you know, who had no hope of getting better, were already, you know, like doing good and their life was changing. So I started implementing the functional medicine protocols in my own life. Within 1 month, my stomach pain was gone. In 6 months, I was able to stop all of my medications. You know, I was able to lose 40 pounds and I had so much energy Then I did a 5K run with it. So that was very, very big for me. I was never an athletic person. So to do that for me was like big stuff.

Yeah. That's amazing. And like you said, that story is so common in functional medicine. I have the exact same story, just like thousands of my patients, you know, like they go to every specialist that is supposed to be the best of the best endocrinologist and this and that. And they, don't get any answers. They don't feel any better. They just get more medication. And oh my gosh, thyroid disease in particular, right? I mean, the endocrinologists, at least in my area, you know, they don't want to look at anything else besides your TSH and your free T4, and they don't want to prescribe anything besides Synthroid. And they honestly— I've had patients tell me they don't care if you have Hashimoto's. They don't even want to test for it because they don't care. And what I've come to understand through my training is because they don't have the tools to help you with that diagnosis. So it's better to be ignorant. Right. And so I love that you are on this mission to educate and empower women with the knowledge that you don't have to live with these diagnoses. You can actually do something about it. Right.

Absolutely. So this was actually, you know, like what I saw when I was working in the Cleveland Clinic functional medicine department. that I continue to see these females, you know, who have thyroid disorders, and they had exact symptoms that I was going through. They were gaining weight, they were fatigued, they had brain fog, and they had gut issues, all of those things. And they were all coming to see me, and I was like, I need to help these females. They are exactly like me. And the common denominator of all of them was that they had thyroid diseases. So that's where, you know, I started digging deeper into why, you know, like all these females are not getting better with thyroid disease. Because there has to be an answer, and just levothyroxine or giving the medication was not finding answers because they have been taking it for several years, but still they were feeling miserable. So that's, that's where I was looking at the research, you know, like about Hashimoto's and thyroid disease, like what protocols can help them out. So that's where I developed this protocol, which, you know, I have helped out so many females to help reverse their Hashimoto's symptoms. And some of them were also able to stop their medications because they were feeling so much better.

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, women want to understand, like, why is it important to check more than just those 2 thyroid hormones? And, you know, why doesn't Synthroid work? You know, I tried to explain, like, testing those 2 levels is just telling me that you're taking your medicine or not. It's really not letting me know how your body's utilizing it Or anything else. So can you talk on that a little bit?

Yeah, so that's the biggest, you know, like issue that you, you know, described very beautifully, is that we are not doing the complete testing. So many females who have thyroid issues for like 5 years or 10 years, when I ask them, do you have Hashimoto's? And they said, well, I don't know. Or some of them will say, I don't have it. I said, do you know that you have it, or you have never been tested for it that you don't know about it? And almost 90% of the females had never been tested for Hashimoto's. And again, we had that discussion with so many endocrine specialists. They said, well, why do you check for those antibodies? Because we cannot do— we cannot do anything with them if they have Hashimoto's. Just check their thyroid hormones or TSH. If they— if that is off, you just put them on thyroid medicine. I was like, are you listening, or what are you talking about? I said, we need to help these females. Before they become low thyroid, because, you know, ultimately Hashimoto's is going to lead to hypothyroid. But we have this window of opportunity. If we can diagnose these females with Hashimoto's in time, we might save their thyroid. But obviously they had no tools, so they were not interested in listening to us.

Right, right.

It is very important to check, you know, like the complete thyroid profile, not only the TSH but also the other thyroid hormones, the T3 and the T4. And along with that, also checking for antibodies for Hashimoto's. That is so much important. The 2 antibodies being the TPO, the thyroid peroxidase, as well as the thyroglobulin antibodies. So until we check those antibodies, we do not know whether the person has Hashimoto's or not. So this complete thyroid profile is— I said, everybody should have it.

Right, right. And I love it as a tool to monitor progress to see, is your thyroid still being attacked? Right? Because these antibody levels will decrease when you're doing the right stuff and your thyroid's no longer being attacked by your immune system. Is that how you do it as well?

Yeah. Like, I just want to share a story of a patient over here. Um, so this was like a young female, 35 years of age, you know, came to see me because she was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder, like high hypothyroidism 2 years ago. This happened after her pregnancy, like she delivered a child and then she was, she was having symptoms and she was diagnosed with thyroid. And but she was put on levothyroxine but still not feeling better. And then when she came to see me, I was like, you know, did you check for Hashimoto's? You know, because it's so common postpartum that we do have females developing Hashimoto's. But he said, you know, I don't know. So we checked her antibodies and they were super, super high, like they were in like in thousands of the range. I'm like, these are really high. We need to, you know, work on getting those down. He said, well, my endocrine doctor will never check them. And then she went to her endocrine doctor and talked about it. And he said, well, I did not check them because it doesn't matter. You have hypothyroidism. You just need to be on medications. These antibodies are never going to come low. And then she came back to see me and told me the story. I was like, well, through our protocols, the antibodies can come down, and that way we can save your thyroid. She said, well, if you can bring them down, I'm very happy. So we started on a protocol, you know, with the supplements, the diet, the stress management, and a whole bunch of things. And then 4 months later on, we checked her blood work again, and her antibodies were like in hundreds now, like, or like, like more— they went down more than half. And she was very happy. She went to her endocrine doctor and showed the results. The endocrine doctor would not believe it. He said it is a lab error. I would like to repeat the antibodies. And she was like, no, no, no, I'm happy. You should be happy too. He said, no, that, you know, we need to repeat it. So she repeated the lab test and it was exactly the same. And he was like, I have never seen it that the antibodies go down like in 3 months. So whatever you're doing is working. So she came to see me and say that this is what the endocrine doctor said. I said, you know, this is what happens with our protocol, that the antibodies can come down. There is a hope. And said, they're already in half. If you continue this thing you know, they will go down even further. And this is exactly what happened with her. So she was so happy that, you know, like her antibodies were like back to normal and, you know, like she was able to reduce the thyroid medicine and all her symptoms were gone.

Yeah. I mean, and that's the key, right? The antibody levels are kind of a representation of how you're feeling. They usually correlate, right? Like the medication isn't working. You're still constipated. You're still exhausted. Your hair's still falling out. You can't lose weight. And at the same time, those antibody levels are up. So I just love that you can actually get some lab results to justify and, you know, show the change in how they're feeling. Because so often I feel like women's symptoms are just ignored, you know, or not thought to be of matter. It's like, well, your TSH and free T4 are in range, we'll see you later. And, you know, The patient is sitting there going, I still feel miserable, I still don't want to get out of bed and take care of my children, right? And so I just think that we are dismissing so many women, and what you're doing is amazing. And I, I'm just so thankful for people like you, you know, that are really doing what's necessary. So let's talk about this protocol, okay? So you have this 3-step process that you've developed at the Cleveland Clinic, right?

Right, yeah. So before, like, I delve into the protocol, I just wanted to kind of, you know, like, uh, go through, like, why females, you know, in Hashimoto's, you know, I do not feel better even, you know, like, taking the medicine. So what we are noticing was that, you know, like, we are just focused on treating a low thyroid hormone. But what I figured out was that based on my research is that it's not just the thyroid which is being destroyed in Hashimoto's. There is another important organelle which is being destroyed, which is called mitochondria. So for just viewers, you know, like, you know, uh, the mitochondria, you know, you might have heard in your, like, you know, biology class as a powerhouse of your cell. So in functional medicine, mitochondria, we all know, is so much important. Because it does provide, like, you know, the power to your house, to your, to your body, because it is basically producing energy to your body. But now we realize it is doing much more than that. It helps with controlling inflammation. It helps with, and like, you know, with it in the aging process. It helps with autoimmunity. So it is connected with all those processes, the mitochondria. So there is a very, very strong connection between thyroid and mitochondria. Now we thought the connection was just one way, that the thyroid hormone controls the mitochondria, and that's the way, you know, like, you know, we were talking about in females who are not able to lose weight in thyroid because of their mitochondrial function not being perfectly fine. But now we know it's a two-way connection. Is the not only the thyroid controlling the mitochondria, but also the mitochondria controlling the thyroid? So what happens in Hashimoto's is that this connection is broken. And that's the reason these females continue to suffer, because we do not do anything to reconnect that connection. We just basically keep pumping them up with this thyroid hormone, which is not the problem which is going on with them. So that's what, you know, I made this protocol, is that, you know, we not only have to work on the thyroid, we also have to work on the mitochondria simultaneously so that we can reverse what was happening with them.

Yes, exactly. I mean The mitochondria just sums it up because, like myself and every Hashimoto patient I've ever treated, it's an energy issue. You have no energy to function. You don't— it's hard to feel happy. It's hard to feel motivated. It's hard to move your body without pain. Like, all of these issues, and it's all mitochondrial related. So I love that you're talking about that.

Amy Yep. So that's where this 3-step process starts. So in the very first step, you know, we try to identify the triggers which started this whole Hashimoto's thing for that particular patient. Because it's not that one day that the body starts thinking that, okay, well, I'm going to start producing antibodies and start attacking the thyroid and the mitochondria. So there has to be a trigger in the environment, you know, which started the process. Now unfortunately, this trigger is different for different people. So, you know, we cannot have the same trigger, or they might be, or they might be different triggers. So I've divided those triggers into 5 big categories. So this is what we do in the first, you know, like, you know, visit is try to figure out what the trigger was. So the first trigger is food. You know, like, you know, food is medicine, but food can also, you know, the wrong foods can also cause problems with our body. So we see in Hashimoto's the bigger foods like gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, corn— all those foods, you know, can lead to development of Hashimoto's. So we try to figure out food sensitivities, you know, in that particular person. The second trigger can be toxins. You know, we are— we are seeing so many toxins leading to Hashimoto's, like heavy metals, mercury, lead, mold toxins, environmental toxins. Then the third, uh, triggers can be infections like Epstein-Barr virus infections are the big ones. Parasites are the second big ones that we see very commonly, and the other ones are like Lyme disease and other things. And the other things that we see as triggers is nutritional deficiencies. Then our body are deficient in so many nutrients, you know, our body needs properly to function them, and we see deficiency in several nutrients and vitamins. So that can also lead to the development of Hashimoto's. So in the very first step, we figured out what are the triggers, like what is the exact trigger of that particular person. In the second step is where we start, you know, like working on the thyroid and the mitochondria together. So in that, you know, I've developed like a diet which is, which I call as a mito-thyroid diet, which kind of helps to support the thyroid, also rejuvenates the mitochondria, and also reduces inflammation. And in the same step, you also obviously add some supplements which support the thyroid as well as support the mitochondria.

I love that. That's so important. Yeah.

Yep. And in the third step, which is a final step, is basically purging or removing the toxicities in your body. So then that means, you know, obviously removing stress, which is big. You know, like all of these females with Hashimoto's are going through stress or adrenal You know, fatigue. And then we work on removing toxins, you know, like whatever toxins we find. And the third thing is removing infections. So that's basically the 3-step process that I follow through. And most of the females, after going through all these 3 steps, we will see that, you know, their symptoms are improved and definitely their antibodies also come down.

Yeah. Oh my gosh, I'm just thinking of my own situation as you're listing all of this stuff. I'm like, check, check, check, check, because, you know, I was 16 years old when I got pregnant, and believe you me, that was a stressful situation. You know, I—

I'm sure.

Left high school after 11th grade because I was pregnant, and I had been living on the standard American diet, which consisted of like Laffy Taffy, ice cream, pizza rolls, garbage, Mountain Dew, like you name it, the worst of the worst. And I had terrible IBS, so my gut was super unhealthy. I had leaky gut. I swam all the time at the city pool, lots, lots and lots of chlorine. We had fluoride swishes at school every Friday because I lived in a rural town and all of that fluoride exposure. And I just think, oh my gosh, I had antibiotics probably a dozen times for ear infections and People just think that this is normal stuff that we all experience and that it couldn't possibly have an effect. But that culmination with my genes turned on this autoimmune disease. And fortunately, I had a doctor wise enough to check those antibody levels. It's kind of unheard of, especially— that was 26 years ago. So that's kind of unheard of, right?

Yeah.

But there was nothing done about it. And I even went through medical school not thinking or worrying about it or knowing that I had to do anything different. It wasn't until 10 years into my practice as a gynecologist where I couldn't function, you know, anymore. And I found functional medicine that I finally realized, oh my gosh, this Hashimoto's thing actually matters, right? I guess it didn't really matter that I had the diagnosis beforehand because Every doctor I had been to dismissed it and didn't think anything of it. And just like you, I went to the gastroenterologist, I had the scopes done, I went to the endocrinologist, I got poo-pooed. I went to the internist, she said, you know, that's part of going to medical school, that's part of being a doctor. And it's like, oh my goodness. And so I just feel for the millions of women who are treated the same way. So I love that you've identified like these are the triggers. This is what turns it on, right? And Mm-hmm. so if someone either has been told they have hypothyroidism and they're on medication and they're still feeling crappy, or they suspect they have a thyroid issue and they're, they're being told they don't, or they suspect You know Hashimoto's. What advice would you give them?

So the first advice would be like you know put your foot down and get the complete testing done with your doctor. You know because it's your life. So you know like if you put your foot down, the doctors will be more than happy to kind of order the test. Most of the doctors as as we spoke before is that they don't want to order too many tests because they don't know. what to do when the results come back like abnormal. But you know, like, you know, these tests, if they become abnormal, then there's something you can do. So first of all, I will suggest everybody to get complete testing done, not only of your thyroid, but also like, you know, about your antibodies and also kind of basic other testing to check for inflammation in your system. That will give you a good overall like idea of where your body is. And the second thing is that, you know, start working on the basic lifestyle changes. Like you know, with so many people, at least more than 50% of the females which I see with Hashimoto's, just basic lifestyle changes can do so much for them. You know, like changing their diet. Like we you know we spoke about like standard American diet. You know, like so many of us, you know, including me, like you know I'm guilty of the same that I was like consuming food which was just junk. You know, which was garbage, did not had any nutritional value in it. It was just breaking my body from inside. So just change those habits, you know, like give up the fast food, you know, like if you're going to McDonald's, Burger King, all those joints, those are the things that you need to give up. And then start like eating real foods, you know, which are all these vegetables, you know, eat your veggies, you know, your grandma was right when she said that, that, you know, eat your veggies. So do that. And then, you know, along with that, good, good quality proteins, you know, and then, you know, like just start making a few changes in your lifestyle with stress management. That is another big thing that females, you know, like, are going through. Now, like, females have so many responsibilities now these days. They are working outside, then they're working at home, you know, taking care of the kids. Like, it's too much, you know. Like, if I'm— I'm overwhelmed listening to what they do in their house, so I am sure that they are overwhelmed all the time.

Yeah.

It's very, very important to have that me time. You know, so many females just feel guilty that, you know, they are spending like half an hour on themselves, you know, a day. I was like, no, no, you deserve it. So don't feel guilty about it. So, you know, you need to have your me time, you know, like your downtime. So stress management is very, very important. Just a few minutes a day that can, you know, take a, you know, like that can be huge changing.

Yeah.

So I think if you just do these basic steps, these can be so much helpful for a lot of females who are suffering from symptoms.

Yeah, I'm so glad that you said that because women need to hear it over and over. They deserve to take time to take care of themselves. You cannot pour from an empty cup, right?

Mm-hmm.

I feel like they just— it's ingrained in us to just take care of everybody else, put everyone else first, and somehow keep functioning, you know? And you, you get to your breaking point. And I wish for every woman out there to not reach that breaking point, to make a shift before that. You know, and the other important thing that you mentioned, the diet. I mean, that was a huge shift for me. That alone changed so much for my energy level and my joint pain in particular. Like, I had chronic back pain and knee pain and stuff.

Mm-hmm.

And when I gave up gluten and I was serious about it, And I got, you know, off my sugar addiction, my whole life changed. It really did. I can't emphasize that enough. And that, I mean, as simple as it was, it was really hard, but it's something that you can do without a ton of doctor guidance or, you know, expensive testing or anything like that. Just get rid of the junk. Stop eating out of boxes and bags, right? Like, eat food that God grew out of the ground or things like that. And it really, you really will notice a difference. And then if you're still feeling stuck, work with someone like you, right? Go search out Dr. Gupta because you work virtually with women all the time and you help them step by step go through all this, right?

Yeah, exactly. So that's what my mission has been since the time I kind of specialize or focus on Hashimoto's females now. Uh, my mission is to kind of at least help out a million females all over the world.

Wow.

Um, and that's what I— that's the reason I opened up the virtual practice, uh, because that way, you know, like I can help out females from all over the world. And that's what we have been doing. Several females have been coming from out of the country and, you know, like again sharing their stories, and they have no help available in the local areas. But through a virtual practice, I can practically see wherever they are And then improve their symptoms, get rid of the medicines, or like, you know, improve their antibodies. So all of those things are happening. And, you know, like we always hear these happy stories, which just keeps me motivated to keep going on.

Yeah, exactly. So I get a lot of women coming to me on Synthroid and they want to switch over to a glandular because it's natural and that's going to be the fix. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Sure, yeah, I mean, that's, that's a big question and that's a big push which has been happening that, you know, like people, like females are on Synthroid or levothyroxine and they want to switch over to these new glandular medications which are like NP Thyroid and Armour medication, you know, like in the US. And sometimes they're also looking for like, you know, just glandular, like, you know, the desiccated thyroid, you know, like a supplement that has been going through. So I will say that there's pros and cons, you know, like the biggest cons which we see with Synthroid is that now it is like generic. So what we are seeing with the generic medications is that they are always filled with fillers. So that's the biggest problem that I am seeing with levothyroxine because the brand Synthroid is not covered by the insurance, at least for the majority of the females. So then, you know, like we get stuck with these generic versions which the quality, you know, like always question. At least these glandulars like the NP Thyroid and Armour's, they're doing a good job. First of all, there are a mix of both T3 and T4, so a little bit more overall approach to the thyroid, I feel, because we don't only need T4, we also need T3. So I think a little bit of T3 goes a long ways to help these females out. And then the— so the second thing about, you know, like in these situations is that I always question— like always caution the females You don't have to spend like thousands of dollars kind of just making the shift because yes, going from Synthroid to the glandulars is going to be helpful. But you know, if it is causing you thousands of dollars, you know, like that's not the only thing that you need. Like if you think that, okay, just replacing one medicine from the other is going to do the trick, it is not going to do that. You still have to do the other things. You still have to work on the lifestyle factors and things. But I think definitely switching up from Synthroid to the glandular has helped so many of my patients.

Yeah, I think it's when they, you know, get in this idea that the pill's gonna be what makes them feel better, that that's when it doesn't work, right? You have to stop that attack. And unfortunately, the thyroid medication doesn't stop the attack. It's only replacing what your thyroid's not producing, right? Right. Yeah. Do you ever, um, measure reverse T3?

Yeah, I do that very often also, like especially in females, you know, like which we have done everything and they're just not getting better. And that's where, you know, the key is over to the reverse T3, uh, that we see that, you know, so many times that is very, very high and that is not letting the medicines to function properly even though they are taking the right medicines, doing the right Right things. And that's where we have to work on reducing that reverse T3 to get, you know, to get them better.

Yeah, I like to call reverse T3 a bully because it just kind of sits on the receptors and blocks T3 from, you know, doing its job and sending its signal. It's like this bully that's in the way. Um, and we like— we usually see that elevated with things like infections and toxins, right? That's correct.

Yeah, though all the all the three toxicities that I mentioned, you know infections and toxins and stress. Stress is a big driver again for the reverse T3, and so that's the reason whenever the reverse T3 is high, the first question I ask is that are you doing your meditation every day? And they will say, well, you know sometimes I do it like you know, but I just don't get time. I said, well, you need to get to your meditation every day. It is not like a choice, you know, you, it is like a necessity that your body needs, your thyroid needs it. So it's so much important.

Yeah. I think a lot of women think that we are insinuating that emotionally they're not strong enough to handle their stressors and that's why they need to do something. Can you explain like the physiology to my listeners, like why this physically changes your body when you're under this constant state of stress of go, go, go, taking care of everybody else, Multitasking, answering emails that are frustrating you, and cooking dinner, and not taking care of yourself. Like, women are crazy. We're just— we're over— we're multitaskers.

Uh, yeah, I mean, I have respect for all the women, including my wife, you know. This is amazing, like, how much, you know, like, they can do. I cannot multitask, you know. I can— I can barely able to do one task. If I have to multitask, I will just not be able to do it. So it's hats off that, you know, all the females are doing it and doing, doing an incredible job. And that's the most important thing that I just want every woman to know is that doesn't matter, like, you know, what their family or friends or anybody is saying, they're doing an incredible job. Nobody, nobody else on this world can do the job of a female that, you know, like they're doing. So that's, that's great. Uh, but yeah, talking about stress, so like how stress, you know, affects, you know, our bodies that So basically, like, you know, whenever we get exposed to stress, you know, our body sees this as a threat. Like, okay, well, something is bothering my body. And the response to stress is releasing this hormone called cortisol hormone. So this cortisol hormone is secreted by the adrenal glands. And this is basically help— you know, I call this hormone as a stress hormone, that whenever your body gets stressed out, releases the hormone to kind of prepare our body for the imminent threat, you know, that your body perceives, you know, that is going through. Now, in the previous past, you know, like whenever, whenever the stress will come, that cortisol will be secreted, the stress will go away, and the cortisol will go back to normal. So, you know, it was like a good mechanism that, you know, that we had, that when we had stress, then the cortisol will be high, and other times it will be back to normal. But what is happening in the current scenario, especially with the females, is that That they are constantly under the state of stress. So what it leads is that your adrenals keep on pumping and pumping this cortisol. So this cortisol levels are always high. Now what happens is that when your cortisol levels are sustainably high, this actually leads to inflammation in your body and starts breaking your body from inside. So especially for thyroid, what it does is that there is again a two-way connection between adrenals and the thyroid gland. So when the cortisol levels are high, it causes your receptors not to function that great for thyroid hormones. So basically, the— you need more thyroid hormone to function better. So that's one thing that happens. And also, it sends signals to the thyroid gland to not produce enough thyroid hormone. So that again causes, you know, like leads to like the hypothyroidism. The other thing cortisol leads is that it actually increases, you know, inflammation in your system, and this inflammation ultimately leads to Hashimoto's, you know, as we know, because this inflammation causes autoimmunity and causes Hashimoto's. So this is like the multiple ways, you know, that, you know, the increased level of stress in your body breaks your thyroid and breaks your body from inside that we don't even realize that it is happening, like, you know. Daily, every time.

Yeah, I mean, that's a huge part of the problem is because women, or most of us, live like this day in and day out, we think it's normal. And because everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't we be able to handle it as well when really it's destroying us? And I like how you said it, from the inside out, because it's true and it's very insidious. You're not even aware that it's happening until you are at your breaking point, right? Absolutely. Yeah. So let's touch on some more deeper, you know, uncommon things like molds and toxins and infections and things like that, because I don't think a lot of women realize that those could be part of the culprit.

Yeah. So mold has been a big issue in the recent years. So, you know, like we knew about mold issues, For like ages now, but what we thought was that mold was causing problems in animals. So most of the studies which was done on mold toxins was done in the livestock, you know, and other animals. But we never thought, you know, like the this mold can actually affect humans too. So then some bright, you know, like doctor or researcher actually thought, well, you know, if it is affecting the animals, it can affect us also. So then we started looking, you know, like all these autoimmune issues which are going through, can they be linked to mold? So then we actually have recent research which does support that the mold toxins actually can trigger autoimmunity, you know, in our body. So these are again what we call as endocrine disruptors, especially in females. They can imbalance the hormones, especially the thyroid hormones, and also cause autoimmunity. Now, most of the females that come to see me, they said, "Well, mold is so common. You know, like we see every other, every second house, every third house will have mold, but not everybody is sick." So that's also your genetic makeup. You know, like your detox potential. You know, so everybody handles toxins in a different way. Some females do a better job, and some females do not do such a good job. So especially females who have Hashimoto's, their detox does not work that great. So all that mold is causing the mold toxins, which over the course of time accumulate in their system, and then suddenly they lead to autoimmunity, which they don't know about.

Yeah. And do you do any testing for these molds?

Or— yeah, the good part is that now we have testing available. So previously, like, you know, we had no testing available, but now these wonderful labs actually can not only test for mold toxins in your system they can tell us actually different kinds of mold toxins and how much they are. So again, then, you know, like once we start working on those, you know, like protocols to remove the mold toxins from your system, then we have something to go forward to and kind of check again in like in a few months if the numbers are getting better or not.

Yeah, that's so awesome that we can finally like have a window into how is this affecting you. You know, I feel the same way about environmental toxins like heavy metals and Pesticides and xenoestrogens, all the plastics. Oh my gosh, like all of that is important, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely. In females, actually, the another thing which is very important is all the, the body products, you know, like they use, you know, like it's so unfortunate. Yes, it's so unfortunate that, you know, all these products are laden by so many toxins And they're used to using it like, you know, every day, you know, like, uh, there was like a research study done, you know, right? Uh, there was like how many like, you know, products does like, you know, female put on before she leaves the house? And it was like close to like more than 50 toxins were those like present in those products, you know, which they put on each and every day. So it's, it's like over the course of time, that is huge.

Yeah. And I think that You know, the beauty industry tries to poo-poo it like, oh, you're not really getting exposed or absorbing those toxins. But I will tell you, I prescribe hormone creams all the time, and you better believe we absorb stuff through our skin, right?

Exactly. Yeah.

I mean, 22 out of 30-some lipsticks recently tested had lead in them. You know, talk about issues with brain fog, just keep putting lead on your lips every day. Oh my gosh, you know.

Exactly. Yeah, I mean, so many females I check, and as you said, their lead levels are super high. And they said, well, I have no idea why my lead levels are high. And then again, the same thing, well, all the beauty products you're using, you know, like, what about them? They said, no, no, I get it from a good brand. I was like, well, you know, like, doesn't mean you get it from a good brand that, you know, they are free from those toxins, you know. Like, you need to ask those brands, are they checking or are they free from those toxins? Yeah. So the good part is that we have like brands available where, you know, like females can go and buy like toxin-free skin products, but still majority of the brands, you know, like do not follow the norms and they're still using these products which have like high toxins in them.

Yeah. And some of the most expensive high-end products, like you said, it's not about cost. Honestly, so it's about checking to see if they're a clean product. And I always tell my women, check out environmentalworkinggroup.org because they will give you a list if you're wondering. Like, put your product in there— your shampoo, your lotion, your makeup, all that. It's all on there and you can find out. So yeah, I mean, that's—

they have actually a very nice app too. So I say just download the app and then whenever you're doing your shopping in your store just fire the app and then you can scan the product actually sometimes. And, you know, that will show you whether it's like in the good list or the bad list. So it makes it so much easier for them.

Yeah, that's helpful. I mean, it's just, there's no excuse in this day and age to not pay attention to what you're putting on and in your body because it just affects you so much, right? So absolutely. Oh my gosh, so much good, important information. The one thing you did mention was Epstein-Barr. Some women might not realize, like, you know, that's the virus that causes mono and chronic fatigue syndrome. So tell me how that's connected to thyroid.

Yeah, so the Epstein-Barr virus, as you said, the commonly known as infectious mononucleosis, uh, most of us, you know, will get that infection like in our teenage years. But, you know, like what we thought, well, you know, we— it's a virus, you know, like we get the infection and then, you know, we get over it and that's it. But the research actually showed that, you know, there was a strong connection between Epstein-Barr virus and development of Hashimoto's or thyroid disorders, you know, like in the future, like as far as like 10 or 20 years later on, you know, we saw a connection with it. So what happens with the Epstein-Barr virus is that once you get the virus, it basically stays in your body, right? You know, so, you know, like our body basically kind of starts living with it. But what happens is that as our body's immunity goes low for whatever reason, you know, like it can be some stress, it can be like, you know, like a food poisoning or anything that can lead to our body's immunity go low, this Epstein-Barr virus can get reactivated. So this reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus hijacks your immune system and turns it against your own body. And that's what we see in Hashimoto's, is that your immune system again turns against your own body. And starts destroying your thyroid gland. So this is what we have seen happens with Epstein-Barr virus, and research has proven it. And that's what happens with that. Now the most important thing about it is that if you go to your regular doctor and ask them to check for your Epstein-Barr virus, they're going to check you for that, you know, like one antibody, you know, just to see if you have a current, you know, like infection going on. But that is not the case. It has been negative. Because you do not have a current new infection going on, you have a reactivation. So you need to get a complete antibody panel for your Epstein-Barr to know if you have a reactivation, if your body's fighting it actively or not.

Yeah, I think that's really important for women to realize because I have had multiple patients come to me and they have had the acute infection checked and been told, you know, nope, there's nothing going on. And I checked the full panel and lo and behold, there's active reactive Reactivation. And, you know, women just feel so much better knowing that there's a reason and that they're not crazy for not having any energy and not being able to function. You know, I just— we need to look deeper because women know what their bodies are telling them, and to disregard that is just a huge problem. So I just love that you're doing this. You're doing such important work. I really appreciate everything you're doing, and you are Writing a book about this right now, right?

That is correct. Yes. You know, like several people, you know, have asked me about this, like kind of write this protocol so that you know it's easier for female to get educated and get all this information because there is so much information in this day day day age. But you know, like they just want to have a proper information from the credible resource. So that's what I'm kind of in this book. I'm kind of having a lot of like references. So that, you know, it's like, you know, credible information that, you know, like I'm going to give them. Um, so, and then going to give them a stepwise protocol or a process that they can follow to get better too.

I love that because you don't have to suffer. You can feel amazing and reverse this. I mean, I, I used to be hesitant to say that, but, you know, I'm living in that reversal. So I feel confident saying it now. It just It takes having the right tools and the right person to guide you and support you through it, but it's totally doable, right?

Absolutely. Yeah. You know, like I always say to all of my females, like, you know, you don't have to suffer. There is hope. There is hope to get better. You just have to do the right things. And, you know, as you said, just find the right person and find the right root cause. And that's it. Then it is very easy to reverse the things. Yeah, exactly.

So where can my listeners find you and connect with you?

Sure, the best thing is to go on my website. You know, I have, I have an active blog on my website, so I write about all these things that we spoke about, all the research and things. So my website is anshulguptamd.com. They can go over there. Obviously, they can follow me on social media, on Instagram and Facebook. Um, I try to kind of keep these educational events going on, try to do lives to help, you know, again, educate, you know, females about Hashimoto's and all the things they can do to get better.

That's awesome. I'll have all those links in my show notes so that they can connect with you, check you out, and even work with you virtually. Because in this day and age, there's no excuse for not finding a doctor, you know, that you feel comfortable with that's going to help and support you, right?

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we have been doing virtual visits for a long time, even before COVID hit, you know, we were having patients from all over the country to come to see us in Cleveland. And, uh, we were doing so many visits virtually and it was working great. And then now since the last 1 year, we have been kind of making, uh, this whole process like seamless, you know, uh, for all of our clients. And we are You've seen great success. So it works.

Exactly. I mean, I'm speaking to you from India today. You're in India. I'm in Michigan in the United States. And it's been just fine. And we can still connect and, you know, read each other's responses and feel like, you know, it's worth it. It's— so I would, you know, suggest to anybody, don't be hesitant for telehealth, virtual visits. I mean, I feel like I've been able to connect with my patients just as well. And it's been an amazing transition. And we don't really have to think of it as a barrier, right? If anything, then you could, as a patient, you can stay in your home where you're comfortable. You don't have to travel. You know, it's easier to fit into your schedule. So, I love the whole virtual visit situation. I think it's It's been a blessing.

I think so too. You know, like, you know, the healthcare is changing and I think we'll see more and more telehealth and virtual visits because, as I said, you know, we are realizing that we can deliver quality, you know, quality care, you know, during the virtual visits too. And then patients are loving it. You know, as you said, just you can do it, you know, from the comfort of your home. Like otherwise you spend so much time traveling to the doctor's office, you know, then waiting in the waiting room. And then all those things, while over here, you know, like, you know where you, where you'll be seen and then when you will be done. So just saves a whole lot of, you know, kind of, you know, uh, traveling and time wasting in that way.

Yeah, exactly. Well, awesome. One last thing, you have a free thyroid quiz. What are patients going to learn when they take the quiz?

Yeah, so like, uh, when I was again like thinking about like preparing a thyroid quiz, you know, I thought, okay, well it would be a good idea for people to know the root cause, or at least be aware, you know, like what the root causes is. So this is a thyroid quiz where I've prepared for my folks, which gives them an idea about what root causes or triggers they might have had. So this kind of gives them a score, like a beautiful score at the end of the quiz, you know, in different categories of the root causes or the triggers. So that will just be a good starting point for them.

Okay. And that link is in the show notes as well. So anybody listening can take the thyroid quiz, right? Absolutely.

Yes, free for anybody to take it. Thank you so much, Dr.

Gupta. You're a wealth of knowledge, and I love that you're supporting women and helping us get healthy again. Well, thank you so much.

I think you are doing great work too. Thank you for, you know, like letting me share my insights, you know, with your viewers. So I was, um, I'm so like so glad that, you know, we— I was able to come onto the show.

Yeah, we'll have to have you back after your book comes out, okay?

Absolutely, yes.

All right, take care.

You too. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. Have a nice day.

Hey, that was an awesome episode. I hope you really got something out of that because I guarantee that if you're not struggling with a thyroid issue, you know a woman close to you who is and who needs this information. There's so So many of us that have this problem. So I do want to mention, um, the links in the show notes. Take the free thyroid quiz. Don't hesitate to reach out and look up Dr. Gupta's stuff, read his blogs, connect with him. Um, but you can also connect with me. I treat Hashimoto's and thyroid disease all the time. You know, I've lived through it. Through it. I understand it very deeply, unfortunately, um, but that gives me special insight into what you're going through if you're dealing with this. So I would love to work with you and guide you back into feeling amazing because it is possible. I did it, um, and I honestly didn't think it was possible 10 years ago. I— or Gosh, even 5 years ago, if you would have asked me, I would have been like, no, I'm, I'm never going to have energy. I'm never going to feel good. My body's always going to hurt. So life has changed so dramatically for me in 5 years. And honestly, it took a lot of big shifts in my life. I did give up a very stressful job. I was on call. Probably every other night, every 3 nights at most. So I was very sleep deprived. You know, I probably slept 1 or 2 hours on average most nights and ate like garbage and was trying to raise little kids and all this other stuff. So I did have to make a lot of shifts in my life, but man, was it worth it. I feel So amazing now, so much different. So please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to help you on your journey back to reclaiming your health because it is possible. Okay. And oh, I wanted to mention, like, back on way back episode 5, I did a thyroid episode where I just explained thyroid function in detail. Because there are multiple thyroid hormones that can be checked in blood work, and it's important for you to understand what all those results mean. And, um, I kind of go into why most conventional doctors don't even check those labs, but what they're missing out on, and what if you have those checked, we could find out and help you with. So that's a really good episode. Episode five, thyroid episode. Check that out. Otherwise, share this with your friends. Send me you know questions, comments. I would love to hear from you. I love that the sun is shining. You probably if you're listening and you can't see, the sun is shining in my face, and that makes me very happy on this Michigan day because that's a rarity. But anyway, share this episode with all the women you know in your life. Send me your questions and your comments or hit me up with a review. I would be so honored if you'd hit the 5 stars because women need to hear this information. We need to lift each other up. We need to help each other out. So go have a kick-ass week, be your amazing self, and have hope. Okay. All right. Bye, ladies.