Did you know that thousands of women are struggling with thyroid issues and that many of them don’t even know it? McCall McPherson talks about thyroid health and how important it is that that we become educated about it. When we share this message, we could bring more healing to more women.Visit https://holisticwellness.ca/podcast for the complete show notes of every podcast episode. Topics Discussed in this Episode: Why the thyroid is so important for our overall hormonal health What the right testing for thyroid health looks like Where medicine is at in terms of lab ranges Some of the limitations of the typical thyroid medication What to look for to see if you have a significant conversion disorder Some of the things that would interrupt the conversion process The difference between hyperthyroidism and Hashimoto’s The essential first steps that we can take to healing Hashimoto’s The connection between adrenal health and thyroid health The foods we must avoid when it comes to optimizing thyroid health What a thyroid-healing diet looks like   Key Takeaways: When you think of hypothyroidism, it’s like everything slows down and dries up. You get significant hormone dysregulation and significant metabolic dysregulation. There are barriers that could keep you from being diagnosed with hypothyroidism -- inadequate labs and terrible lab ranges. Most general practitioners, primary care doctors, and even endocrinologists are only checking TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels. But measuring your TSH is just like measuring how hard you’re pushing on the gas pedal of your car. No matter how hard you push, it doesn’t tell you your speed. Measuring your TSH is only telling you how hard the brain is asking the thyroid to work, it’s not telling you about the direct output. In the long term, if we don’t address the health of our thyroid, diabetes and elevated cholesterol are inevitable. If your lab results are outside of the normal range, you want to be sure that you’re connecting with someone who has a prescribing ability. The number one most common inflammatory food among patients with Hashimoto’s is dairy, followed by gluten, eggs, legumes, grains, and nuts. It’s so important to give your body the space to heal and function in a calm sort of atmosphere when you can so that when you can’t, you don’t have to. Action Steps: Get a full round of thyroid labs, download McCall’s thyroid lab guide, and see the lab ranges that you need to be in for you to be optimal. If you discover that you have a thyroid problem, find someone who can help you with it. If you’re suffering from Hashimoto’s, get off of inflammatory foods like dairy and gluten for three months so you can see how good you can feel, and then you can adjust from that point. Take a pre- and post-measurement of your antibodies so you can objectively measure the work that you’re putting in so that you’ll be encouraged to continue after that three-month period. Reduce stress by doing the following: Eat breakfast with protein every day so your adrenal glands aren’t activated, Meditate even 10 minutes a day using something like the Headspace App that basically teaches meditation in its simplest form. Rest when your body tells you to rest. Eat salt when your body is craving salt. Don’t exercise in high-intensity interval training when you’re on an empty stomach or during prolonged periods of time.   McCall said: “You can’t assume that your doctor really understands thyroid. You have to kind of assume that most doctors don’t specialize in thyroid... They’re scanning paperwork to see if things are lighting up like a Christmas tree telling them that they’re abnormal.” “In medicine, in general, there’s always a risk versus benefit analysis, and absolutely the conclusion is that green leafy veggies, raw or cooked, the benefits outweigh the risks… Follow a more kind of paleo-based diet long before you take out those vital nutritional components.”   Thanks for listening! If you have any