[Bonus Episode] How to Cook for Optimal Thyroid Function & Unlimited Health with Dr. Izabella Wentz

Hey, J.J. here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair Every style, every home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I R.com hey, it's JJ here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family's sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order.

This episode is brought to you by.

McAfee swimsuit passport phone with VPN activated VPN cell phone service is going to be spotty on vacation, so we'll be using public wi fi.

Sounds sketchy.

Exactly. The networks can leave your personal info like like credit card exposed to hackers. McAfee's secure VPN lets you browse and bank safely from wherever, whenever. Learn more@mcafee.com Online protection Most people don't.

Get diagnosed for at least a decade from this time they have symptoms until the time their doctor confirms that they have a siren condition.

I just don't get that. I don't understand that.

It's mind boggling and it's very, very unfortunate because majority of those that are affected are women. So we're looking for every man that gets diagnosed. Four to five women do as well.

Hey, it's JJ and welcome to Ask the Health Expert. But this isn't just any old Ask the Health Expert session.

This is your bonus session.

Yes, it's the weekend and cause it's the weekend. We are gonna take some time with an amazing expert. So be on the lookout for these.

Saturday Ask the Health Expert bonus sessions.

Where we're going to go deep into an amazing subject with an incredible expert to give you actionable items that you.

Can put into your life.

Welcome to today's show. Today we're talking food. I know you always love to hear about food and I have some such a great guest to be diving into. How to cook if you've got Hashimoto's thyroiditis. And really this is going to be how to cook if you've got an autoimmune disease. And really this is going to be how to cook if you want unlimited health. So this is for everybody. And I've got the perfect guest. My buddy, Dr. Isabella Wentz is back. And let me tell you a little bit about is if you don't know her, I bet if you've you do if you've been around my community because she's a good buddy and I love to support her in all of her work because it's brilliant. She is a pharmacist and she got diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis. Gosh. In pharmacy. I guess she was either in pharmacy school or just graduated and got super duper sick and no one could figure it out. I mean, gaining weight, sleeping all the time, losing her hair, it was awful. But it ended up that she made lemonade out of this because she went and really searched out what the heck was going on with her and how could she fix it? And from that, she has become a leading expert in Hashimoto's. She's a two times New York Times bestselling author and most recently a number one New York Times bestselling author for Hashimoto's Protocol. And now she's back coming out with Hashimoto's Food Pharmacology, which is a cookbook devoted to amazing, yummy recipes that will help you heal your Hashimoto's. And here's what's super cool. This is just great food and great for everybody. As you start to hear some of these recipes and some of the top foods she's eating, you're gonna be like, oh my gosh, I need this. And I also kind of talked her in before we got on the cut on the interview. I was like, can you give out some recipes to the community? So you'll be able to grab some recipes? Get started right away. I'm going to tell you, you want to grab this cookbook, Hashimoto's Food Pharmacology. You'll be able to grab some recipes right away@jjvirgin.com thyroidpharmacist so you'll definitely want to do that too. Now, big reminder, if you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to the show so you never miss an awesome episode. And now let's get ready to dive into this week's episode. But first, one of my favorites.

Hey, jj, Virgin here. Okay, real talk. So often the holidays sneak up on me, travel, gifts, hosting, you know, all the things, and suddenly it's like, wait, who spent what and where? And I know I'm not the only one who's looked at a bill in January and thought, wow, that escalated quickly. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch lets you link everything and gives you real time visibility. So so you're not shocked later. Right now, I've been checking the holiday spending category so I don't accidentally start the new year with that dreaded debt hangover. And honestly, just seeing everything laid out is already helping me stay more aware. This season, Monarch does the heavy lifting. It links your accounts in minutes, gives you smart categorization and super clear visuals. Yes, that end of your reset could be a real goal this time. Don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monimal.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with.

The code Virgin, the holidays are all about family. But at the Chrysler Wrap up the Year sales event, it's all about you. Enjoy every mile in the most awarded minivan in America, the Chrysler Pacifica. With the most standard safety features in its class, available Stow n go seating, and the available Stow and back built in vacuum. Make the most of the holidays with a great deal at the Chrysler Pacifica Wrap up the Year sales event based on Ward's small van segment. Based upon the latest available competitor information, Chrysler is a registered trademark of FCA US LLC.

Dr. Isabella Wentz, welcome back. Yay, you're here.

Hi, JJ. It's so fun to be here with you again.

I know I haven't talked to you for a while because you've been in the throes of motherhood.

I have. I have. We have an adorable little baby boy. His name is Dimitri and he is. He. We call him Boss Baby because he.

Really.

He really has changed our life for the better and is just the most adorable little thing and become really kind of the center of our universe at the moment.

Yep. Well, that's what babies do. Yes. And maybe one day when he sleeps, we'll get to hang out again one day. But meanwhile, while all of that was going on, you managed to give birth to a new book, too. I can't believe it. You are a little bit crazy, my friend.

Oh, my goodness. You don't even know how crazy I am. I was six months pregnant writing this book, trying to test out recipes. My big belly was getting in the way of my kitchen. And it's quite funny because there's a lot of recipes that were inspired by my pregnancy cravings. So we've got a lot of really great recipes for women with thyroid conditions, especially ones that have nutrient deficiencies in iron, because a lot of times pregnant women and women with thyroid conditions have the same types of deficiencies. So the book is actually full of really, really nourishing recipes. And part of that is thanks to my little baby boy.

Well, see, it actually was a perfect time to write, and it's called Hashimoto's Food Pharmacology. It was a perfect time to write it. Now, let's back up a little bit for the, like, five people listening. Not that there's five people listening. There's Tens of thousands. But for the five people who haven't heard of you, how did you get into this in the first place?

So, in full disclosure, I'm a pharmacist by training, but I was never interested in Hashimoto's or the thyroid during pharmacy school. I just thought if somebody had a thyroid condition, you either give them more thyroid hormone or you try to suppress their body's production of thyroid hormone. I didn't realize how complicated it was, and I didn't realize that there were so many natural strategies and so many lifestyle changes that you can do in addition to medications until I was diagnosed myself with Hashimoto's, the leading cause of hypothyroidism right after pharmacy school. This was after almost a decade of debilitating fatigue, anxiety, panic attacks, hair loss, you know, weight gain. You name the symptom, I had it. And I did get started on thyroid medications, but they helped a little bit, but not all the way. So I went from sleeping 12 hours a night to 11 hours a night, and I still had all these carpal tunnel symptoms, irritable bowel symptoms. I still was losing my hair by the handfuls. And so I wanted to figure out what I could do to make myself better. And that's how I became a, I guess, Hashimoto's thyroid expert, slash human guinea pig, really working to try to get myself better and hoping that I would find some solutions. And once I did, once I got my own health back, I felt like I really couldn't keep this to myself and I really needed to shout from the rooftops about all the different things we can do. And it's, you know, I say thyroid conditions are complicated, but getting your health back doesn't have to be.

So you have just, like, when you look at it, you have the perfect, perfect background and story to be able to help people. Because having that whole understanding of pharmacology and then going through this yourself, I mean, I know it's probably wasn't like your life's dream to have that happen, but, you know, it really is benefiting so many people. It's fantastic. And I know when we were first. When we first met, I didn't realize this, that for most women, if they have thyroid disease, they probably have Hashimoto's. So what, like, dive in a little bit deeper about what Hashimoto's thyroiditis really is. Why there's, you know, how. How big of a deal issue is it out there and why is it an issue? Why is it happening?

Wow. You know, so when I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's, I came home and I told my husband Michael, and he said, what's that? It sounds like really rare or exotic or is that a Japanese sword fighter? Right. It just sounds like it would be a very rare condition. And in fact it's a very common condition. It's the most common autoimmune condition. We were looking at rates of about 20 to maybe even 30% of people in the United States having this condition. And 90 to 97% of those who have a thyroid condition or take thyroid medications such as Synthroid, Levoxal, Levothyroxine actually have Hashimoto's. But the chances are that they haven't been tested for it, or if they have been tested, they haven't been tested properly. And so most of them are told that they have an underactive thyroid, that they have a sluggish thyroid. Some of them are told that they're crazy, that they're just lazy or, you know, they're just getting older. Right. Or that they have a fork to mouth syndrome issue where they're eating.

Oh, I love that.

It's ridiculous. And this condition is so, so common. It leads to the body recognizing the thyroid gland as a foreign invader, launching attack against the thyroid gland, which eventually leads to the body not being able to produce enough thyroid hormone. Most people don't get diagnosed for at least a decade from this time they have symptoms until the time their doctor confirms that they have a thyroid condition.

I just don't get that. I don't understand that.

It's mind boggling and it's very, very unfortunate because majority of those diagnosed are affected are women. So we're looking for every man that gets diagnosed. Five, four to five women do as well. And hormonal changes can bring this upon pregnancy. Puberty, perimenopause are some of the top three times when a woman may be diagnosed and may start having those symptoms.

Yep, that's. Well, for mine it was when my son Grant got hit. That's when everything just went sideways.

Stress is such that, you know, I'm so sorry you went through that. And stress is such a huge, huge part of the puzzle.

So if someone's suspecting, give us the symptoms that would make someone suspect and, and then what should they ask for? Now, I know in your Hashimoto's protocol, which you really, everyone wants to have this book as well, it helps you really understand what's going on and what you should look for. But just basically now we'll put that all in the show notes. What are some of the things that make you suspect that you have an issue? And then what should you ask your doctor to test for?

Yeah, so the top three things that people complain about when they have a thyroid condition would be weight gain, they might have fatigue, so they have trouble getting out of bed, or, you know, even if after sleeping 10 hours, they're. They're not going to feel well rested. And then the third one is going to be brain issues. So this could be memory loss, this could be depression, this could be mood swings. And then the other symptoms that are common, commonly going to occur are going to be dry skin, hair loss, a loss of the upper third of the eyebrow. There might be some joint pains, muscle pains. Really, the thyroid gland manages our metabolism and our warmth production in the body. So really, a lack of thyroid hormone can affect every single body system from our digestive capabilities. We might have constipation, we might have acid reflux, we might have diarrhea, we might have bloating to all the way to things like having tremors and cold intolerance where we just are colder than the average person. We might need to wear, you know, two sweaters and a scarf when other people are wearing maybe just one long sleeved shirt or a T shirt.

And what tests should they.

Should people ask their doctors for the most common test? If you have a suspicion that you have a thyroid condition, most doctors will just run the TSH test. This is great for very advanced cases of thyroid disease, but unfortunately, in the first five, 10 years of when we have this condition, that test might miss the condition. So we also want to ask for thyroid antibodies. These are going to be thyroid peroxidase antibodies. You could write it down as TPO antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies, which are TG antibodies. And then we're also looking at levels of T3 and T4, which are the active thyroid hormones in the body. So if you do TSH, TPO, TG antibodies, T4 and T3, if you write that down and hand it to your doctor, this is going to be a comprehensive thyroid panel that's more likely to uncover that you have a thyroid condition than all of these other than just the TSH test alone. And unfortunately, I see women time and time again, they say that they had their thyroid tested and it was normal and it's because their doctors didn't.

Yes, yeah, Yep. And we will put in the resources, too, because we've been working with Dr. Alan Hopkins, so we have resources where you can do direct to Consumer lab testing on this. So if you don't have a doctor who will order this stuff, we've got you covered on that, which I think is important. Now, I know that you use food extensively to heal, so, like, it was kind of the logical next step to do this cookbook, which I'm really excited about. And for everybody listening, you're going to get some recipes today to get started with. So I want you to get the cookbook, but you won't have to wait a minute for that cookbook to come. Tell us about this cookbook and how it's different from a lot of the other things out there.

So when I set out to do this cookbook, I really wanted to provide a comprehensive guide to people on how to succeed with food. A lot of times, unfortunately, I'll see people who start on a diet, and then they say, well, I failed this diet. And it could be because they didn't have the right tools and resources, so they didn't have those guidelines. They didn't have the recipes they needed to get started. And so this book provides recipes and guidelines and details on how to incorporate this into your life, how to deal with unsupportive people, how to batch cook, how to kind of hack the system so that eating this way becomes easier than not eating this way. The other things that the cookbook contains, it contains nutrition protocols. So another reason why I commonly see people don't feel great on an optimal diet is because they're not utilizing nutrients properly and they're not utilizing digestive enzymes properly. So many times people with thyroid disease are going to have a lack of digestive enzymes. This could be protein digestive enzymes, fat digestive enzymes, or carbohydrate digestive enzymes. And I go through how to figure out which of these you might have and what to do about them. And then another common thing that we see is nutrient deficiencies. And what many people don't realize is when we're eating a dietary protocol, we may actually worsen some of our nutrient deficiencies. A lot of times people get certain nutrients like folate, from processed foods, right? And so we're going to have to address this differently if we're not eating processed foods any longer.

Saving on your education should be a right, not a competition. At University of Phoenix, you'll get the best scholarship or savings you qualify for. Simple as that. Explore scholarship options at University of Phoenix. So let's talk about these recipes, because I think with a lot of people, especially as they're starting to heal, the last thing I want to do is go spend a bunch of time in the kitchen.

Exactly.

Actually, I've never heard ever, Isabella. And I'm sure, you know, you agree, like, could you just make some complicated recipes so I can spend more time in the kitchen?

I have friends that love spending time in the kitchen. And don't get me wrong, I love entertaining and I love cooking. I love spending time in the kitchen. And I've, I've, you know, my family and friends and everybody that I've had over loves my recipes and they're always asking me for recipes. But at the same time, as a new mom and you know, having a history of being extremely fatigued, I didn't have the time to, you know, to do all this cooking for four or five hours a day to create this perfect meal. And so all of the recipes I have in here are going to be very straightforward and it's going to be how to simplify your life. So how to incorporate this into your life on a day to day basis using shortcuts. So we've got, you know, pressure cooker recipes, we've got slow cooker recipes. We minimize things like chopping and dicing and shaving and, and all these fancy things right there. I, you know, I do have some recipes about 10%. If you, if you're really trying to impress your guests at a dinner party, that will be a little bit more steps. But most of the recipes are going to be very, very straightforward and very tasty too.

All right, tempt us a little bit.

Well, one of the recipes I have is paella. Now paella is a Spanish dish. It's naturally going to be gluten free and dairy free. This is something that can be done very easily. So what we do is we just get some rice, we get some bone broth, and then throw in some seafood, a few different vegetables, and then we, after we prepare the rice, we just bake that. And this is a great meal that keeps well for a few days. This could feed an army of guests as well too. And this is one of the recipes that we will cook for parties. And it's so, so simple. It's actually just five steps.

Love it.

You've not invited me over to a party yet. I just want to throw that out there. So, and all right, now, beyond food, where what else should should people be thinking about that they should be doing beyond food if they have Hashimoto's.

So my, my big recommendation is to look at what your root causes may be. And this is going to be basically, you can Summarize it into food sensitivities, nutrient depletions, intestinal permeability, and we address these things right here in the cookbook. And then we're also looking at our stress response. So making sure that we're getting the proper self care for ourselves and we're working on reducing our stress. We're making sure we're getting plenty of sleep and doing things like yoga, meditation, knitting or, you know, whatever, whatever relaxes you. And then also we're going to be thinking about some of the more advanced things might be things like chronic infections. This is something I recommend working with a doctor on.

All right, now you are giving out some yummy recipes to everybody. First of all, you're going to want this cookbook. And honestly, looking at these recipes, you're going to want this cookbook. It works. So it works for your whole family. And that's what's super cool. And I think we need to emphasize is A, these are easy recipes, B, they don't use weird ingredients. See, they are delicious. And just like you talked about with the paella, you can make these and everyone's going to love it. It's not like, oh my gosh, she has to eat over there because she's got Hashimoto's. Right. That's super important for people to get. And you're giving away some recipes so that people can get started right away. I'm going to put in the show notes a link to grab the book Hashimoto's Food Pharmacology. But we are also going to give you the recipes, a couple recipes to get started with right away and you can get those@jjvirgin.com ThyroidPharmacist jjvirgin.com Thyroidpharmacist But I'm not letting you off the hook yet. What I would love is for you to list out, let's say, a couple of your favorite superfoods that you've incorporated into two recipes that just really make a big difference that people should start to think about adding into their life. I always like to add before I take away. So which foods would you tell people to add into their daily diet?

One of the foods that I really love utilizing is going to be bone broth. And this is something that can be really easily made. I have a quick recipe that takes basically five minutes to prepare and you just throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker and you can take a nap or go shopping or do whatever you like to do and come back and there's going to be delicious bone Broth stewing in your slow cooker. And this is going to be helpful for energy levels. This is going to be helpful for your skin elasticity. So you're going to get rid of that dry skin. This is going to make your hair shinier, it's going to make your nails stronger. It's also going to help reduce any kind of joint pains that people might have from, from thyroid conditions. And it's going to help with sealing up that leaky gut intestinal permeability that we commonly see. What's crazy is that using food as medicine has. I did a extensive outcomes research survey with people a few years back and bone broth was one of the top interventions for helping people feel better. And it was pretty close in competition with even thyroid medications. Another thing that I really love are going to be green smoothies. So green smoothies are going to help again with our hair, with our digestion. They're going to give us more energy. We're not going to be, we're not going to be utilizing all of our energy to digest foods. A lot of times people with thyroid disease have poor digestion and so when we blend things into a smoothie, we get all these foods that are sort of pre digested, pre chewed, so they're much more easier to absorb and we get this burst of nutrients and we also don't have to do all that work to get that yummy goodness inside of us.

I love that. I'm a big smoothie fan, as you know.

Oh yeah.

All right. One more.

The other thing that I really love to incorporate into the diet are going to be berries. So there is something, there's a sugar type called myo inositol and this is going to be something that has research shown to reduce the thyroid stimulating hormone, the TSH, and reduce the thyroid antibodies. It also helps with managing anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as blood sugar issues. And berries are actually a rich source of that. Their richest source is going to be blueberries. So I try to incorporate a lot of berries into, into the various meals. So we've got blueberry topped pancakes, we have blueberry smoothies, and we have various types of baked goods that made it into the cookbook because I was pregnant. And one of them is an autoimmune version of a berry pie that has become a family favorite.

What's the crust?

It's actually cassava flour.

Awesome.

Hopefully that will be in the recipes that you're including because I kind of want to do that now. So I love some berry pie with some coconut whipped cream like that. Sounds delicious. Awesome. So I want to remind everybody you can grab some recipes right away and you'll also be able to get a link straight to grab the book@jjvirgin.com ThyroidPharmacist and Isabella, it is so awesome to talk to you and have you on the show and drop all this wisdom. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for having me jj and for everybody at home. Thank you for listening and taking charge of your own health.

Yes, that is what my audience does. That is we have really built a community who are focused on being the CEOs of their healthcare, who understand that they have to basically create their care and then bring in the appropriate consultants to help them on their way. So I know it fits in exactly with how you've developed your programs and lived your life too. So we're all in sync.

I love it. The only way to be.

There was your Deep Dive bonus episode of Ask the Health Expert. We will be dropping these bonus episodes as amazing experts and incredible titles come to us. You don't want to miss out on this, do ya? Stay in the know, be the first to know. Go to subscribetojay.com and on hook you up.

Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading Next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment, whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change, or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.