Topics
- News and updates from Diane & Liz [1:35]
- Balanced Bites Master Class
- Introducing our guest: Dr. Amy Myers [3:32]
- Something new that I'm into [4:50]
- Autoimmune eczema or psoriasis [6:29]
- Exercise and autoimmunity [11:20]
- Environmental toxins triggering autoimmunity [15:01]
- Hashimoto's versus hypothyroidism [22:19]
- Thyroid replacement and Hashimoto's [26:56]
- Diet changes for Hashimoto's [32:34]
- Caffeine and alcohol [37:47]
- Pregnancy and autoimmunity [48:11]
- Developing another autoimmune disease wile healing from one [55:20]
- Keto and autoimmune disease [58:34]
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You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 350.
Diane Sanfilippo: Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast. I’m Diane; a certified nutrition consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Paleo and the 21-Day Sugar Detox Daily Guide. I live in San Francisco with my husband and fur kids.
I’m the co-creator of the Balanced Bites Master Class, with my podcast partner in crime, Liz. And together we’ve been bringing you this award-winning show for more than 6 years. We’re here to share our take on modern healthy living, answer your questions, and chat with leading health and wellness experts. Enjoy this week’s episode, and submit your questions at http://blog.balancedbites.com or watch the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram account for our weekly calls for questions. You can ask us anything in the comments.
Remember our disclaimer: The materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Before we get started, let’s hear from one of our sponsors.
Diane Sanfilippo: Today’s podcast is sponsored by Equip Foods. Dr. Anthony Gustin and his teams have created lines of supplements that are super clean and effective, no matter what your dietary needs. I’ve been blending their complete collagen into my matcha every single day. Not only does each scoop have a boost of protein, but there is no added flavor, as well. I love the texture. It’s a super fine powder, blends in extremely well. Check them out at www.EquipFoods.com and use the code BALANCED for 20% off all Equip Foods and Perfect Keto, their sister product site.
1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [1:35]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright you guys. One quick update before I get into some details on my guest. The Balanced Bites Master Class enrollment is opening in June. We have tentatively slated our opening date for June 18th. So stay tuned for that. I want to give those of you who participated in the Master Class in the past a heads up that we’re moving the platform that the whole class is hosted on. So, if you were one of our students or one of our practitioner/coaches who participated in the past, you obviously know that you still keep access to that for a lifetime. So those of you who were curious about joining us, you will have lifetime access.
You may get an email about the platform switching. It’s not spam, don’t worry. We’re just moving everything over to one place where we have all of our programs. It will be much easier to use, and I think you guys will really enjoy it. So just a heads up about that.
Enrollment is opening soon. So if you’ve been curious about diving deeper with Liz and myself on all of these topics surrounding nutrition, health and wellness, digestion, blood sugar regulation, where we came from. Why we believed what we believed about fat and cholesterol and all of that stuff. How it all works in your body. And really how to deepen your own knowledge and understanding, whether you want to be a practitioner or not. This class is for you. We would absolutely love to have you.
We host live calls throughout the class several times throughout the course of the program. The videos for the class are all full color, really engaging. I think you all will love them. A really great way to learn, if I do say so myself. Because I do love audiovisual learning. And you’ll be able to use both Practical Paleo and Eat the Yolks as your course materials along the way.
And if you're a practitioner or a coach, you also dive deeper on how to use this information with your clients. Tons of tools and resources and ways to kind of apply what you're learning in your practice. As well as some more business tools for you. So check it out, go to www.blog.balancedbites.com/MasterClass.
2. Introducing our guest: Dr. Amy Myers [3:32]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. My guest today is Dr. Amy Myers. She has been on the show before; episodes 178 and 262. So if you want to hear more from Dr. Myers, definitely check out those previous episodes. And she actually also participated in a bonus session that we offered to our practitioners for the Master Class on thyroid health. So definitely check that out.
Dr. Amy Myers is a renowned leader in functional medicine and New York Times’ bestselling author of the Autoimmune Solution and the Thyroid Connection, as well as her latest book, the Autoimmune Solution Cookbook, which released on May 8th.
She is the founder and medical director of Austin Ultra health, a functional medicine clinic that treats patients from all over the world who are overcoming chronic illness. She’s been featured on the Dr. Oz Show and the New York Post, Women’s Health, Huffington Post, and numerous other television programs, radio shows, and print publications. She has helped hundreds of thousands recover from chronic illness through her dietary based program, the Myers Way. And she has created multiple programs, tools, and free resources to guide readers through her revolutionary approach to health.
Welcome back to the show, Dr. Myers. I’m really excited to be chatting with you today.
Dr. Amy Myers: I’m so excited to be here! Thank you so much. I always loved being on your show.
3. Something new that I’m into [4:50]
Diane Sanfilippo: Our listeners absolutely love you. So as you know, we like to do a little ice breaker before we get into the serious stuff. So I want to ask you; what’s a new thing you're digging lately?
Dr. Amy Myers: A new thing that I’m digging lately is actually to be a little self-promotional here, is a product that we came out with. Which is an AIP and paleo-approved protein powder. And there are definitely several on the market, but we have come up with a new flavor. It is mocha latte. In fact, I will send you some. And it is hydrolyzed beef protein that is grass-fed, no GMOs, no antibiotics.
And I was sort of joking with you earlier about what I’m really into, and that is my daughter. I have a 14-month-old daughter. And then I realized; what are we both into? So she loves this protein powder too. And the mocha latte flavor; on my program people don’t indulge in caffeine, and I personally can’t tolerate it very well. So it’s kind of a great way to get an iced coffee flavor back in, but also getting protein and a smoothie. So I am digging, particularly as we move, in Austin, into the hot weather, being able to enjoy my iced mocha lattes once again while getting some protein.
Diane Sanfilippo: I love that. I like that you say, in Austin moving into the hot weather. And I’m thinking; it’s been hot there for months.
Dr. Amy Myers: {laughs} It has.
Diane Sanfilippo: For me, hot is over 70. And I think I fall apart, basically. I was just not made for it.
Dr. Amy Myers: Well, I was out of town for the last month in Australia and New Zealand, and it was moving into winter. So I have missed the last month. So it’s feeling like having come from there, where I was in sweaters and coats. Like we’re moving into the hot weather now. But hot here is over 100.
4. Autoimmune eczema or psoriasis [6:29]
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh my goodness. That is intense. Alright, well I am going to jump right into today’s episode. Because I don’t want to spend any more time on things that I’m into. Because you guys can see things I’m into every week.
So our listeners have been super excited to welcome you back to the show. We received a ton of questions. And as usual, there were some common themes amongst the questions. So we’ve kind of grouped them together. So if you asked a question and we’re not asking that specific question of Dr. Myers today, just see if you can little tidbits about something that would be related. Because it’s almost impossible; a lot of you probably saw all the questions that came in. It’s almost impossible to really get to all of them.
But we talked about autoimmunity. We talked about your approach to healing and all of that in previous episodes you were on with us. So if you guys want to go back and listen to those; episode 178, episode 262. We talked about The Autoimmune Solution in 178, that was quite some time ago. And then 262 was Thyroid Health very specifically. So if you're listening and you're like; “Why is she not giving more background?” It’s because we’ve been there done that. {laughs} we have done that.
So we’re going to get into some more details on different health issues that you guys are dealing with. So the first group of questions came in about healing eczema and psoriasis through diet. And I know your new book is a cookbook, so we’re going to be talking a lot about food.
But this one was from Shannon. She said, “What’s the best way to combat autoimmune eczema without taking steroids? I’ve had it since I was born, and it will randomly flare-up. I even cut out gluten, and it helped dramatically, but it hasn’t gone away completely. Thank you.”
Dr. Amy Myers: Absolutely. So, eczema, and someone else mentioned psoriasis. So a lot of skin issues, there are a number of things I think of right off the bat. And so as you did mention, food is hugely important. And gluten and dairy are the two biggest triggers that I typically see. It doesn’t mean that you couldn’t have soy or corn or something else as well. But those are typically the two biggest.
And as you mentioned, I wrote The Autoimmune Solution. And in it, I talk about a four-pillar approach. And the first one is diet. So making those dietary changes. And the second is healing your gut. And the first step in healing your gut is removing anything that’s bad. So we remove a lot of these trigger foods.
The other thing is gut infections, like Candida. Sometimes SIBO, but typically with psoriasis and eczema the one that I see the most is Candida or Candida overgrowth. And if you're having any type of autoimmune or inflammatory condition, dealing with your gut and healing a leaky gut is very, very important. As I mentioned, that first step is removing the foods and removing the infections. So I have lots of information about Candida on my website, and in each of my books.
And then just as an added tip, I was just in Australia doing a bunch of case studies. One was on a patient of mine that I had with psoriasis. And we had done my entire program, and they got significantly better but had just some final little patches that they wanted to get rid of. And they went and did 20 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen. And I have found that hyperbarics can be very, very helpful for people with all kinds of autoimmune conditions. But particularly those with skin conditions, as well. So those would be three things that I would direct you towards.
Diane Sanfilippo: That’s awesome. I definitely think; if you're somebody who is struggling with psoriasis and eczema. If you’ve tried the 21-Day Sugar Detox and you notice that it gets a little bit better, that’s a good sign that it could be a Candida overgrowth and you’d want to talk to somebody specifically about that more in depth. Because the 21-Day Sugar Detox doesn’t cure Candida overgrowth, but because we’re stripping out all of those foods that really irritate it. I notice that when people find that their skin gets better on it, or at least a little bit, that to me is a sign that; ok that’s a path to go down.
So that would be a really good tip. And that’s really good to know. That that Candida overgrowth is one of the big things that kind of underlies with psoriasis and eczema. And I know people are always struggling with that. So it’s a big one.
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah. And quickly, the way that I treat Candida, is dietary. You have to do the diet. Your sugar detox is probably very similar, I would imagine, to the diet that I have people on. So you want to basically starve the Candida, then you want to kill it. We use two supplements in my clinic and programs that are Candifense and caprylic acid, which are natural enzymes that break down the cell wall. And caprylic acid, that comes from coconut oil. And then reinoculating the gut with a really high-quality probiotic. So that’s my three-step approach to Candida. And it looks like they can use your 21-day detox as a dietary component. And I have lots of free information on my website about the other two steps.
5. Exercise and autoimmunity [11:20]
Diane Sanfilippo: Perfect. That’s awesome. Really, really helpful. So, let’s jump a little bit and talk about exercise with autoimmune disease. Because I get this question all the time. I talked about it in Practical Paleo, and when I did that back in 2012, I had a lot of folks with autoimmune disease who were not happy with what I said about lowering their high intensity exercise. Or the frequency of it. Particularly if they’re dealing with a flare. It wasn’t like, “You can never do this thing again”. It was really more, “If you're in the middle of a flare, going to CrossFit 5 days a week is probably not the best idea.”
What is your take on exercise? What type of exercise have you seen is beneficial? What types do you see push things in the wrong direction? Or do you not really see that affecting it as much at all?
Dr. Amy Myers: I think it’s like diet. I mean, I think there are some things that we can probably all agree on in terms of should you exercise, yes? If you can exercise, and that’s something that physically you're able to do and you're not limited by your autoimmune condition or health condition. I think we can all agree that everyone should exercise.
So then it just becomes, what type of exercise? And that’s where I think it’s kind of like; I think we can all agree to eat real, whole foods. Whether those include meat. Whether they include grains or not. That’s where it becomes an individual thing.
So I think many of us would probably agree that things like Iron Men or running marathons or running 100 miles and those kinds of things, for most people, are probably not super beneficial. There are a lot of studies showing that that type of endurance person actually at the beginning of a marathon, their white blood cell count might be normal, and at the end it’s suppressed. And that’s really showing that it is a stressor to the body, so it can weaken your immune system.
So it’s like toxins. It’s like stress. You can deal with a little bit, but too much ultimately suppresses something. So if you do some type of exercise. If you ultimately, too much of anything can be a bad thing. So too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. So you can overdo it.
So then within the realm of not doing a marathon, and not exercising at all, what’s the right amount of exercise? And what’s the right type? And I think that really just depends on the person. Their individual makeup, and what they’re dealing with. Some people can handle CrossFit, other people can’t. Some people do better with yoga; other people do better with a walk. Other people can handle a 5-mile jog once a day. Other people do really well with HIIT exercise. So I think it’s really figuring out for you what is the right thing for you that works for you.
And when I say works for you, how do you know? Being in pain, being swollen, being not able to get out of bed the next day is not working for you. Feeling more energized. Feeling more alive mentally and physically. Those are things. Feeling more energized. Feeling tired after your workout, but getting a night’s rest and waking up energized, that tells you that you're getting what would be the right or the optimal amount of exercise, in my opinion.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s really good advice. Because that is the piece that everyone is like, “But how do I know if this is working for me?” And I think that’s true whether or not you have autoimmune disease. Because there are so many people, like myself, who on and off kind of struggle with just overall exhaustion in different ways. And that’s such a great tip too. You can feel a little bit tired after you exercise, of course you’ve exerted yourself. But you shouldn’t feel flattened or swollen or like you're not able to enjoy it and have fun with it. I think that’s a really big thing to pay attention to, as well. After exercise, a lot of people feel sort of depressed, or during their workout they couldn’t enjoy it. And that’s definitely a bad sign.
Dr. Amy Myers: Absolutely.
6. Environmental toxins triggering autoimmunity [15:01]
Diane Sanfilippo: So, just keeping with kind of the general questions before I get into some that are a little more targeted. Because we do have some thyroid questions coming up. But this is a general question. With the seemingly huge increase in autoimmune disease diagnosis, do you think that modern food diets, GMOs, additives we can’t pronounce, and then adding onto that things like environmental toxins. Do you see those as really playing a big part? These were a couple of questions from Mary Lou and from Emily. In terms of triggering autoimmunity? And also, what do you see when people clean up those things? How do you see that affecting your patients?
Dr. Amy Myers: Absolutely. So we do know through identical twin studies that autoimmunity; the believe is that 25% is related to genetics, and 75% is related to our environment. And we’ve had a skyrocketing amount of autoimmunity over the last 50 years; it’s increased three-fold.
So we do know that the environment is playing a role in that. And just for people; you mentioned I have a cookbook coming out. The Autoimmune Solution Cookbook; it’s far more than a cookbook. So if somebody hasn’t read the Autoimmune Solution or the Thyroid Connection, I actually recap my entire program in the cookbook. So it’s really meant to be a standalone book. So you can definitely go there and see my four pillar approach and what I believe are the risk factors leading us to more autoimmunity. And that’s our diet, our leaky guts, and the other ones are toxins. So I do believe they’re playing a role. Infections, and then stress.
We do know specifically to GMOs that these are a culprit in at least disrupting our microbiome, if not also leading to leaky gut. So I do believe that’s playing a large role, both in the disruption of our microbiome as well as in leading to a leaky gut. The work of Alessio Fasano, we know that leaky gut is a precursor to autoimmunity. So all of these things are kind of going hand in hand.
We know that there are so many more chemicals, many of which are toxic in our environment, and they’re getting released by the EPA into our environment at three weeks or less of testing. And they rely on the manufacturer of the product to test it. And they don’t actually have to test the product; the finished product. They have to test each of the individual ingredients in the product. So an individual ingredient in a product could be just fine and not toxic. But when combined with one or more of the other ingredients, suddenly it becomes toxic. Or, as it’s being released into the environment, it may not be toxic. But then in relation to some other chemicals out there, it becomes toxic.
Or as you know, because I know you're a proponent of Beautycounter, as am I. When it comes to the beauty industry, that’s also another unregulated industry. And their philosophy is; “These amounts of these toxins are so small that it doesn’t matter.” But the EWG has done a lot of studies showing that most women, by the time they walk out the door, have put on 10 to 15 products on average. And that’s just walking out the door.
You said you just got back from spin class and took a shower. So people are putting on makeup and things, all that stuff, and then going to spin class and then putting it all on again. So that’s double. Then when you're talking about children; I have a 14-month-old at home. So you're talking about children. If you're using these toxic products on your children, they’re getting sometimes 10 times the amount because of their body surface area. So it’s really, really important that we advocate for ourselves. And we do know through the work of Kathleen Gilbert at the University of Arkansas that it is the small level lower exposures to toxins that are creating much larger impact that one large exposure to a toxin. It’s this every day, low level exposure that’s really the problem. Just like every day low level stress is really a problem for us.
So, I do believe; it’s the third pillar in my program. And what do I do? I talk to people about preventing them from coming in. So doing all the things that you advocate for, that I advocate for. Eating a clean diet. Drinking filtered water. Bathing in filtered water. Filtering your air. Using clean body and beauty products and home cleaning products. And then working to get them out.
Because you, I’m sure, travel. And you want to go out to eat with friends, and I do too. So you’ve got to live in the real world, even if you do all that stuff in your home to prevent all this. Every restaurant that you go to does not have non-GMO and organic everything that you eat. So it’s really working to prevent them from coming in, and then working to get them out. I provide, in all of my books, including my latest cookbook, strategies in order to do that.
And what do I see? I see reversal of their disease when they prevent these things from coming in, and they work to get them out. Detoxing is not something you do once or twice a year for 10 days right before bikini season or right at New Years. It’s something that we should all be doing every single day, because we’re getting bombarded with toxins. And so preventing them from coming in, and then working to get them out. Peeing, pooping, sweating, taking glutathione, eating cruciferous vegetables to support your detox pathways. Taking pre-methylated B vitamins if that’s something you need to do.
The impact is not insignificant. And of course, for some people, it’s more significant than others depending on a whole host of factors.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think you hit the nail on the head that these issues become; they’re more insidious than that one time. I don’t know; intense dose of something. Some kind of toxin. It’s like, no, no. We’re doing this in little amounts every single day. And a lot of these toxic chemicals; they’re not clearing our system because we’re constantly putting them back in or back on our skin.
I saw there was a medical professional. I don’t remember if she was an RN or if she was an MD. But I think she’s also a Beautycounter consultant. And she was talking about how a lot of female hormone tests, women are recommended to stop using any anti-aging skin care products for three days before they take the hormonal tests. Because the skincare might disrupt the test. And I was like kind of blown away by that.
Dr. Amy Myers: That’s scary.
Diane Sanfilippo: Isn’t that crazy? So when we know we’re looking for products that don’t have potentially cancer causing or endocrine disrupting ingredients, that’s really important. And it doesn’t have to be just one brand; there are lots of brands doing it. But it is really important. And I think not to scare people, but just to say it does matter. Little by little, everything we can change from our food to our skincare, and like you said our cleaning products. Which that’s an area where I still need to work on getting those. But admittedly…
Dr. Amy Myers: My cookbook has several do-it-yourself clean…
Diane Sanfilippo: Admittedly, I don’t actually clean the house very often. But I know they’re in the house, and I’m breathing them.
Dr. Amy Myers: And even if you're not cleaning it, you're breathing it. It’s still there. And then whoever is cleaning it; thinking about their health.
7. Hashimoto’s versus hypothyroidism [22:19]
Diane Sanfilippo: Sorry honey! If my husband is washing dishes or something. I do a lot of things. I cook a lot of food. I’m not a dish person. Ok, so back on track here. We have a lot of questions about thyroid health, not surprisingly. So a couple of them are surrounding the idea of Hashimoto’s versus just hypothyroid in general. So Hashimoto’s being the autoimmune hypothyroid diagnosis versus hypothyroidism in general.
So Betsy is asking, “What’s the difference in terms of what you're going to do for either of those diagnoses?” She says she’s been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, but she actually doesn’t know if she has Hashimoto’s.
Dr. Amy Myers: There’s a simple blood test to be able to find out. Your doctor should be able to do that for you. It’s a routine test. The insurance should cover that. And if your doctor won’t, for whatever reason. Or your insurance doesn’t cover it, there are a lot of standalone tests that are popping up. We have an account at Ulta. I don’t know if that’s something you get into or not.
But there are various lab companies online that are popping up that in many states you do not need a doctor’s order. You can go and order your own labs. So there are companies popping up to cater to that. That are going outside of the insurance model. So definitely you can search what your state laws are, or just search online. Ordering your own lab tests if your doctor won’t do it.
So the lab test for Hashimoto’s specifically is what are called TPO, or thyroid peroxidase antibodies. And if those are elevated, there’s either negative or elevated. Once the horse is out of the gate, it is a little bit like how far has the horse run. Are your levels in the thousands, in the hundreds, or in the 20s and teens? But that is the best way to know. So there should not be any guessing about that or not.
If your thyroid levels are off, or even if your thyroid labs of course look normal, or even optimal, which is what I write about in my book, The Thyroid Connection. About how your doctor can be missing that. But even if those are optimal or normal, but you still have antibodies, we do know through the research that antibodies can come out up to five years prior to a disease getting diagnosed. So it means that your immune system is already turned on. And you can get that turned off.
Of course, my book The Thyroid Connection walks you through exactly what test to order. How to interpret them. It’s really a book to work with your doctor, to take it with you to your doctor to help guide you in working with that.
The biggest difference between regular hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s is that Hashimoto’s is autoimmune, the other is not. And the way to tell if you have one versus the other is to get those TPO antibodies. There are also thyroglobulin antibodies, and I do recommend getting those, as well. Because you could have those, as well. But technically, for Hashimoto’s, it’s the TPO antibodies.
Diane Sanfilippo: So quick follow-up on that from Kim was, “Can you have Hashimoto’s but not actually test post for the antibodies?”
Dr. Amy Myers: Technically no. You can have hypothyroidism, but the definition of Hashimoto’s is to have antibodies and to have dysfunction in your thyroid. So even if you have antibodies, but your thyroid looks normal per your doctor, they could tell you that you don’t have Hashimoto’s, because they’re waiting for your values to become abnormal. I would say that you have Hashimoto’s, or are on your way to.
To me, the names of certain autoimmune diseases don’t necessarily matter. Because it’s a problem in the immune system, which is what my entire program and all my books work to fix the immune system. Not to fix, but to rebalance the immune system. And so people always say, “Will your book work for Sjogren’s? Will your book work for lupus? Will your book work for Hashimoto’s?” Yes, it works for all of them. Because we’re working on the immune system, not the individual organ. Which is how conventional medicine, of course, approaches autoimmunity.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yes! When people ask me about meal plans in Practical Paleo, I’m like; any of them will help. The basic plan will help everyone in some way. Because just cleaning up your nutrition helps everyone. Because it supports your body in rebalancing, as you said. So from there, going in and digging on these different nuanced approaches, there’s a lot to it. But that baseline of, let’s just get your body out of this crazed state. We can all do that.
8. Thyroid replacement and Hashimoto’s [26:56]
Diane Sanfilippo: So there are a couple of related questions to this one. One is, can Hashimoto’s be treated or reversed without thyroid medication? Or is medication either synthetic or natural always recommended? What’s your take on that?
Dr. Amy Myers: So first, I don’t call it thyroid medication. I call it hormone. So, it’s like a diabetic. Their insulin is life-saving insulin. We know with Hashimoto’s that there’s about four stages. Which is an inflammatory stage, a pre-clinical stage, a clinical stage, and then kind of a burnout stage. So when we are in preclinical, which would be somebody picked up antibodies. Maybe their hair is falling out. They picked up antibodies. But your levels haven’t changed. To then maybe the levels start to change, to their changed. To it’s gone unrecognized, or only treated by conventional medicine for 10 to 20 years.
When we’re in that inflammatory stage, we can get the inflammation to go away, and no damage has been done to your thyroid. So likely you can prevent ever going on supplemental thyroid hormone. Or if you need to go on temporarily to get your energy back or your hair. And then you work through the program you can likely get off of it. So I have a number of patients that that happens with.
And then you have those people who come in, and it’s been 20 years, and they’ve been treated by conventional medicine. No one has ever talked to them about diet. And part of their thyroid got inflamed and basically died. And at this point; there is some work with lasers, but at this point we don’t know how to rejuvenate or regrow the thyroid. I myself had my thyroid ablated because I had Graves’ disease. So I don’t have a thyroid.
So if I looked at the fact that I take supplemental thyroid hormone ever day as medication and the fact that I need to take that was in some way a failure, then I wouldn’t be able to get up every morning. I don’t look at it that way. I look at it that my thyroid was destroyed, of course by radioactive iodine. But someone else’s could just be destroyed by their own immune system. So what you're really doing is repleating a hormone that your body can no longer make the appropriate amount of.
So that’s the way I like for people; again, I write about that in the Thyroid Connection, is really to reframe that. Because there are a lot of people online now in the health and wellness industry. And there are some people who have been able to do that. And I think it’s a little bit misleading for people to feel like everybody can either never have to go on supplemental thyroid hormone, or can get off of it. And if they can’t, there’s something wrong with them, or they failed, or they haven’t done the program.
There is great value in still doing the program because some people are able to reduce the amount of hormone that they need. Or at a minimum, they at least get symptom free from whatever symptoms they were dealing with. Or, they have sealed their leaky gut and they’re no longer being exposed to, or keep putting themselves at risk for another autoimmune condition. Once you have one, you're three times more likely to get another. So there’s great value in following the program and viewing this.
I call my program the Myer’s way, because it’s a way of life. And as you get well, you can branch out in some areas or others. And if things pop up for you, you might need to go back to the program again more consistently.
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Diane Sanfilippo: That’s really helpful. I think; I used to say the exact same thing when Liz and I would teach seminars. Because people would ask a lot about thyroid “medication.” And I feel like back in 2010 to 2013 when we were teaching seminars; not that long ago. But a little while ago when this topic came up more. And autoimmunity was being diagnosed more often. And it was younger, and younger women. It wasn’t women in their 40s and 50s. It was 25-year-old women who were sitting in our seminars. And they were feeling, like you said; they were feeling like a failure because they thought they had to take medication. And reframing it that way and reminding people that when your body is actually not able to produce a hormone, you're not up or downregulating a normal body function with a medication. You're replacing a hormone that you need for balance. You need that to just be at a level of homeostasis for yourself.
So I think remembering that it is very much the same as what a type 1 diabetic deals with. Not having that hormone; you need to have it to live. It’s not a failure. It’s something in your body. It was not happening. So I just think it’s so important because I know we have so many female listeners who are dealing with that. Maybe some men, but it is mostly women. And I really don’t want anymore to feel like they’re failing. Even if there is one person who was able to stop taking their thyroid medication. It’s not the norm. That’s really not the norm.
So good for them. Very nice. But I don’t want anyone to feel like, “I should have been able to reverse this eating paleo.” Or whatever it is. Because we’ve definitely seen that. And it really doesn’t serve anyone to feel like they’re failing. Or they're not doing enough. That they didn’t paleo hard enough. Or whatever it is.
Dr. Amy Myers: Right.
9. Diet changes for Hashimoto’s [32:34]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. A couple more on thyroid health. “Aside from gluten, because we know that that’s a number one. What are the definite food and drinks to cut out from your diet when you're looking to heal Hashimoto’s?” this is from Kelsie. She said, “I read a 2017 research report indicating that though the etiology is unknown, factors such as alcohol, pregnancy, medications, and stress in conjunction with genetic predisposition and environmental factors may cause hypothyroidism. Should alcohol be cut out for a time? For always?” So what do you say about that?
Dr. Amy Myers: So as I mentioned, in all of my books. And again, The Autoimmune Solution Cookbook really recaps the whole program. It’s a standalone book, but I talk about this autoimmune spectrum. No inflammation all the way up to autoimmunity. And assuming that you're somewhere on that spectrum or in autoimmunity, my program personally is for 30 days.
And then from there, if you are doing better and symptoms are going away, you can either continue if you're symptoms haven’t completely resolved and you want to continue on the program. Or you can begin to add foods back in. So we get rid of what are called toxic and inflammatory foods. And for a lot of people, alcohol is a toxin. So sugar is a toxin, alcohol is a toxin. Caffeine can be a toxin to some people. So we get those out.
Mostly, really just because a lot of people are getting propped up on caffeine. Or they’re settling their anxiety with alcohol. They’re basically self-medicating with these legal drugs. And so we have you get those out so we can see really, what is your baseline? How tired are you? What kind of energy do you have? Are you depressed? Are you anxious? What are you? Let’s get all that stuff out. And then let’s just see where we land. And then of course, the inflammatory foods. Gluten, dairy, soy, corn, all that kind of stuff get those out. Grains, legumes. And see where we land.
And then what I teach people, and I’m sure you do as well. Is really to; I’m empowering you to understand your own body, and how does it affect you. I don’t drink wine anymore. I used to drink wine a couple of times a week prior to 2010. And then I realized I had a propensity to yeast issues. And now I can’t drink wine at all. Do I ever drink? Yes. Do I drink very often? Personally, I don’t. But I don’t have a problem if you drink a drink once a week and you don’t have a problem with it. I don’t tolerate alcohol very well. So I do that on very special occasions, and if I do I do a distilled liquor. Gluten free, distilled liquor.
Same thing with caffeine. I don’t metabolize caffeine. I know my genetics; literally, I do not metabolize caffeine well. So even decaf gets me jittery. So I rarely do caffeine. But if you are somebody who can tolerate caffeine, I don’t have a problem with you doing a cup of coffee a day if that’s what brings you joy. Who am I to say that the benefits or risk of having a glass of wine when you're sitting on the porch with your spouse at the end of the day watching the sunset brings you your meaning of life and has all these endorphins running through you.
But during the program, during the 30 days, we do get those things out. And then after that, it’s really figuring out what. For somebody, corn might be worse than coffee. For somebody else, coffee might be worse than gluten. So really figuring out what is the thing for you, and how do you respond to it. And that’s different for everybody.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s a really good tip. I’m taking notes over here, in case you didn’t know. How do you know if you tolerate something or not? I wanted to just touch on this. Because I’ve been talking a lot about caffeine. It’s so funny, we’re almost 7 years into this podcast. And very early on, we actually had Chameleon Cold Brew was a sponsor. And they're based in Austin. And I love their cold brew.
Dr. Amy Myers: Yes. If I do I have coffee, that’s the one I have. My husband drinks it, so we have it in our refrigerator.
Diane Sanfilippo: It’s so good. But they were a sponsor for a long time, and I was drinking it for a long time. And I love it, it’s a great coffee. That being said, January of this year I was on my book tour, and I poured a cup of cold brew, and I was just like, nope. I can’t even take a sip. I had hit this really big wall of, this is really not working for me. There is a visceral response to this cup I’m holding that my body is saying no.
But had I listened to signs earlier that were just; I wasn’t able to fall asleep that easily. My mind would kind of be racing. And I thought it was really just stress. I have a lot on my mind all the time. That really doesn’t change. But I just wanted to call out that one sign that you might not be tolerating, even that one cup of coffee in the morning is if you actually can’t fall asleep that easily. And that seems so far away. It seems like; “I had the coffee at 7 in the morning, and it’s 10 at night. How could that be affecting me?” it could be. You really don’t know until you try. I always just want to encourage people to get off of caffeine for a little while, or at least that much. And I think it’s great that your program is essentially forcing people to do that. Because my programs don’t force people to do that. They can still have coffee on the sugar detox.
10. Caffeine and alcohol [37:47]
Diane Sanfilippo: But I wanted to go on a slight tangent from the thyroid questions specifically, and ask you if you can talk a little bit more about the effects of caffeine and alcohol. Which will be different effects, I’m sure, on the immune system in general. Because I think both of those are very hot button topics. People don’t want to give up their coffee. Or they don’t want to give up their alcohol.
So what can you tell people about what we know the immune system can do in response to those things that we just may not? I don’t know. I think a lot of people just don’t want to hear it. What do they need to hear about what their immune system could be doing, and how impactful it could be to get rid of those things for a while?
Dr. Amy Myers: So caffeine is a stimulant. So a lot of people with autoimmunity, stress can be a factor. So they might have adrenal issues. So their adrenal glands might already be stressed. Or they might be on the adrenal fatigue spectrum. Which is why they’re needing; it’s sort of the double-edged sword. Why they’re needing to rely on caffeine. Because they don’t have enough adrenaline to get up and go because they’ve burned through it all.
So that double-edged sword, and then when you're getting hit with adrenaline, that can cause your inflammatory markers to come out when you have more cortisol. That causes more estrogen to come out, which binds our thyroid hormone. It prevents the conversion from the inactive T4 to the active T3. It promotes a response to the break of reverse T3 rather than the gas of free T3. High cortisol over time can ultimately suppress our immune system 40-70% of baseline if it remains highly elevated over a chronic period of time. And you're getting a shot of adrenaline that if your body already can’t handle that, because the adrenals are already burned out. So it can be potentially perpetuating that entire system.
And if you don’t have enough cortisol, you can have a weakened immune system. Cortisol is another one of those goldilocks things. You want enough; not too much, and not too little. We give cortisol when we have autoimmunity; its one of the first line defenses. But then too much cortisol can ultimately weaken the immune system. So that’s that kind of Catch-22 spiral.
Alcohol, we do know that it damages the gut. It can lead to leaky gut. Alcohol also, as sugar, can also suppress the immune system. It can disrupt the microbiome, if you're dealing with SIBO or yeast or one of these infections that really feeds on carbs. And of course, depending on what kind of alcohol you're drinking. If it’s a distilled liquor, that’s going to have less of an impact than say beer or wine, because those are like drinking liquid yeast. And then if you, of course, have a gluten issue then drinking beer is going to have that added.
So those are just kind of the ones off the top of my head that I can think about.
Diane Sanfilippo: I’m kind of the; I just want people to hear what they need to hear on this show. And I know for a lot of folks; I know you see it in your practice, right? Telling someone to not drink wine for three weeks, I think that’s almost harder for a lot of people than the coffee, for whatever reason. I think they know they're going to have headaches not drinking coffee for a couple of days, and maybe it will subside. But for some reason, I feel like I hear it more. Maybe because I don’t tell people to give up coffee as much. I don’t know.
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah, I know. We of course nowadays people coming to the clinic, they’ve read my books and done my programs. So they’ve already given those things up before they come. Early on in my practice, certainly with some people it was an issue. And I just really realized they weren’t the right clients for me. People always ask me about compliance. And it’s like; if when you heard what I do, you didn’t say, “Oh my god I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Can I be your patient.” Then you're not the right patient. If I have to be convincing you, or beating you over the head about giving up a glass of wine, you're just not really ready. You're not in enough of a situation.
It’s probably one of the reasons that I really; besides my own story with autoimmunity. But when I first opened my practice, I didn’t have a focus. I was just general functional medicine. And then obviously I wrote the Autoimmune Solution and I got pigeon-holed as the autoimmune expert. Which is totally fine. Because people with autoimmunity have a chronic disease, and they want to get well. So it really helped me also select a certain patient population that was very, very motivated. And that just made my life a lot easier. Because people were super motivated.
I remember way early in my practice this sort of, how do I advertise myself? I kind of did the hormones at one point. I got all these women who didn’t want to change their diet at all. All they wanted was hormones to feel better. And I was like; ok. That was the wrong. Some of them were very high maintenance. I was like, this is the wrong set of people for me. This isn’t right. So if that’s all you want, let me send you here. That’s not the right fit for me.
So also any of the people out there listening who are health coaches or practitioners of any sort. I think also just knowing what kind of clients you want to have. And tailoring yourself, or putting out into the universe about that. And then those people will come.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s great. And I think having books like yours for pre-patients. Before they become a patient, they can do so much of the work on their own, like you said. Then you know somebody is motivated. And also they’re not wasting their money on coming in to see you. And they’re also not wasting your time or their own time. So I think it’s great.
Dr. Amy Myers: Or a spot for somebody else.
Diane Sanfilippo: Exactly. Somebody who is ready.
Dr. Amy Myers: I’m not taking new patients, so please don’t call my office. But there was a time that I literally had 1000 people on a waiting list. And it was like; if I’m going to see only one new patient a day, this better be somebody who is highly motivated, ready to do. Going to do whatever we agree that we’re going to do to get well. Versus somebody who is there. And the last thing I would ever want to do, even early on, is take somebody’s money and they’re not going to follow through with it. That doesn’t make for good success for anybody.
And of course, they never think that it’s like, “Oh I didn’t do what she said.” It’s like, “She didn’t help me.” {laughs} You don’t want that either.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. That was a good.
Dr. Amy Myers: Digressing.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, it was good though. Because I know a lot of our listeners are health coaches. And a lot of our listeners are also just looking to resolve their own health issues. Some have probably come a really long way doing that. I know many have come through our Master Class, or will go through it. We have a module from you, a bonus module from you for our practitioners in that class. But I think it is important for people to hear and to know that following a program that’s in your book, for example, it’s meaningful and important before you even get to an appointment with any type of practitioner. It’s not, “oh, it’s just this simplified thing they put in a book.” No, no. That’s the work they really want you to do before you show up. Because they’re going to ask you to do it anyway. So do that work. That’s our gift to the world, in a sense.
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah. The greatest thing is the people who think they need to go see somebody, and they do the program in the book, and then they don’t need to go see somebody. There are people who are so high on the spectrum, and they have toxic mold, or they have Lyme, or they have something that really does need to be diagnosed and worked with a practitioner. There are going to be people who might need hyperbarics, or low dose naltrexone. All kinds of things that might require someone’s guidance or even a prescription. And of course, those with thyroid dysfunction. Which is why I wrote the Thyroid Connection, so they had a book to use with their doctor. It wasn’t like; come see me. I wrote this book actually to use with your conventional doctor.
But many, many people. You can go on and read the reviews from the Autoimmune Solution Cookbook already, but certainly the regular book, the Autoimmune Solution, the people who have gotten well just by doing the program. That is the thing that brings me the absolute most joy. That there are people literally around the world that I will never meet that have completely resolved their autoimmune condition by following a $20 book.
One woman that we actually use as a testimonial in one of my programs. She literally spent $10 to 20,000 going to doctor to doctor to doctor of no avail. And she’s like; “Then I bought a $20 book. And saved my life.” You know? I have goosebumps, literally.
Diane Sanfilippo: Me too! {laughing} Right now. Me too.
Dr. Amy Myers: It’s like; it’s so powerful.
Diane Sanfilippo: I’ve had that experience. Even with Practical Paleo. It’s unbelievable. Somebody who was pretty much going blind, and then changed her own life. Don’t those people also inspire you the most? You're like; I’m not sure I’m even that motivated to follow something in a $20 book and do that. I find those people so inspiring.
Dr. Amy Myers: So inspiring. Yeah. You hope if you flew to Austin, you spend thousands of dollars, you did a bunch of sophisticated tests and you had my personal guidance, you hope you're going to get well. Right? But to literally buy a $20 book. The cookbook right now is $18.18 or something; it’s less than $20. And to follow that and then to get well is so amazing. Yeah, absolutely. I think I’ve told you this before in previous podcasts. Practical Paleo was the first paleo book I bought. The first cookbook. And then I gave it to my dad. I was trying to get my dad to follow this way of life, and I gave him that cookbook. And ultimately he needed up doing my program and getting off all his immunosuppressive drugs.
Diane Sanfilippo: Which is all we ever want. Right? Is to help them.
Dr. Amy Myers: Before I had all my books; and we still love your cookbook. But Practical Paleo, when I first started my practice, I would recommend that to so many people. There are some books that are literally going to be classics in this field. And Practical Paleo is certainly going to be one of them, in my opinion.
Diane Sanfilippo: I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you. Don’t make me get emotional or something, if we get into that state.
Dr. Amy Myers: {laughs}
11. Pregnancy and autoimmunity [48:11]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. Let’s jump back over to a couple more questions. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but we have so many and I just want to touch on a couple of others aside from the thyroid questions. But I know those are always the biggest group.
So J Ray. I don’t know if this is male or female. Oh, it’s female. “What an exciting episode! I have ulcerative colitis in remission with paleo.” And she gave a little whoop, whoop! Raising the roof emoji. “Diagnosed when I was 12 that almost resulted in a colectomy. Thankfully I still have my colon, but I have to be really mindful with my diet, lifestyle, exercise, etc. to keep inflammation at bay. I’m pregnant with our first kiddo, and was wondering what steps I could take to prevent a postpartum flare. So far I’m eating as well as I can while avoiding triggers, and plan to prep a ton of bone broth for after delivery. Thank you for your consideration.”
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah. So again, following the plan in the Autoimmune Solution Cookbook, if you don’t have either of the other books, or the Autoimmune Solution. The cookbook, of course. We love, because there are so many more foods and grain-free flours, and shortenings and things like that that have become available since I wrote my first book. So the book just has more yummy recipes.
Following the general guidelines, obviously changing your diet, healing your cut. I’ve never seen anybody with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s, somebody with an autoimmune gut issue, that does not have some type of infection in there. Whether that’s Candida, SIBO, a whole myriad of other things. So I would certainly; and all my books address these things and have programs that you can follow for Candida and SIBO. So I would do those first.
If you're not getting to where you want to be, then you might actually need a very comprehensive stool test that is done by a functional medicine practitioner. I’m not seeing patients. My wellness coach does see patients. I don’t know if your wellness coaches do any type of testing. Mine can do a comprehensive stool test for you, or send you somewhere and then interpret it. So definitely getting on board with somebody, if you don’t get relief from that program at all.
Other things that I can think of outside of the programs in all of my books would be something like low-dose naltrexone. That’s something you’d have to work with a practitioner on. Helminth therapy, which is actually the thought about certain types of parasites actually helping to balance the immune system. There’s this whole clean hypothesis that we’re just too clean, and that has led to autoimmunity. I don’t think it’s all that. I think it’s that and other things.
So that’s something I’ve used with Dr. Sydney Baker. He has access to that. I don’t know if you have to work with a practitioner to get them from him. But I would wan you or anyone doing that to work with a practitioner who kind of knew what they were doing. Because that’s really targeted to helping rebalance the microbiome in the gut.
And then of course, probiotics. And some people with digestive illnesses like that don’t do well with your conventional probiotics. With lactobacillus. And when I hear that, one of the things I do think about is SIBO or something like that. So soil-based organisms, soil-based probiotics can be helpful for people with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s. And I do see, like I said, yeast and SIBO being big problems for people with autoimmune conditions in the gut.
Diane Sanfilippo: Really good info. I think as a note for her to have a practitioner that she can be working with as she comes through her pregnancy and after, so she can be able to get that testing as she needs it. So I think that would be really helpful.
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah, and I’m sorry. I kind of overlooked the pregnancy part of that. So let me just say a couple of quick things about pregnancy. Pregnancy is a high estrogen state. So obviously, you would not want to be treating your Candida while you're pregnant. But it is something that you would want to address, particularly after you’ve breastfed, because that’s all a high estrogen state. So if Candida was there, it may be even worse after a pregnancy.
And then one thing that I recommend or suggest or to investigate to pregnant women with autoimmune diseases. Certain autoimmune conditions get better with pregnancy. Some get worse. Some remain unchanged, but then will have a flare after delivery, because of these shifts in hormones that tend to be it. So looking into placental encapsulation is something that I have talked with many of my pregnant patients who also have autoimmunity.
So the idea behind the encapsulation is that you're basically taking back freeze-dried placenta. But that’s where all those hormones are. So basically you give birth; you have very high estrogens, and then literally overnight your estrogens drop. So if you're doing placental encapsulation, you're getting some of these estrogens back. So the swing is not nearly as severe. So that has helped some of my patients ward off having a flare after giving birth.
Oh; and then I just was at a conference in Australia about lactation, or prolactin levels in autoimmunity. And there is some new research around high prolactin levels and autoimmunity. So the big question is; obviously you're going to want to breastfeed your child, and nobody wants to tell you not to. But if you are having a flare, something potentially to consider if your autoimmune condition is related to these high levels of prolactin, you will have to discuss with your doctor and weigh out those risks/benefits. But there is some new research coming out about high prolactin levels and autoimmunity, and lower those prolactin levels helping autoimmunity. So the big question is; breastfeeding. What do you do? And that becomes a personal decision with you, your family, and of course your doctor.
Diane Sanfilippo: Those were really interesting additions. The placental encapsulation.
Dr. Amy Myers: Sorry. I kind of forgot the pregnancy part, so I wanted to address that specifically. Because there are going to be other people out there with other autoimmune conditions who are pregnant, and that could be helpful to them.
Diane Sanfilippo: And we actually had a follow-up question that I wasn’t going to get to, because I have two more super quick ones I want you to try and just touch on briefly. But I’m sitting here, and I’m like; my mind might be blown, because I know there is going to be somebody listening who was like; “Oh my gosh. When I was breastfeeding, things were so much worse!” If they know that that’s a thing for them, that that could be causing issues, at least now they have that information. It’s like, 90% just, what is happening? And then I can make an informed decision. But if I don’t even know what’s happening, I don’t have a diagnosis or I don’t know that high prolactin is causing my autoimmune flare then I can’t take action on it, right? So that’s really fascinating. Thank you for catching that.
Dr. Amy Myers: Sure.
12. Developing another autoimmune disease while healing from one [55:20]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, so two really quick ones to wrap up because I know we’re running out of time. But this is basically a yes/no question. But I know there might be a little more to it. Andrea was saying, “I’d be interested to hear your take on what it means when someone develops new autoimmune symptoms or a diagnosis with previous symptoms seemingly in remission and they’re already following an autoimmune type of diet. Is this indicative that the healing isn’t happening?” What’s happening there? Do we know?
Dr. Amy Myers: Yeah. So I talk about, again, in all three of my books. The autoimmune spectrum. So life is a journey, and things can happen. Either you knowingly eat some gluten. You inadvertently get glutened. You go through a birth, a death, a new job. You have toxic mold. You get bitten by a tick. Things can happen.
So the first thing I think of; if you're literally just cruising along and you start having a flare, what happened? Is it just the course of your disease that these things come and go and whatever your doing has nothing to do with it? Has there been a new exposure? Did you go on a trip and you stayed in a really toxic moldy hotel that you didn’t know anything about. Have you recently moved into a new house? Did you go out and eat at a restaurant or eat at a friend’s house and they told you everything was gluten free and dairy free and; oops, it really wasn’t. I just start going through the list.
You started a new job and you're super stressed. I really just start going through the five factors. Diet, gut, toxins, infections, and stress, and look at those things. And see did you get off some of your supplements recently? Did you change supplement manufacturers? Did you just start an exercise routine? I just really go through those five root causes and think; are there any areas here that could be causing this situation? And then I, of course, work to address that cause.
And sometimes you can’t find it. But often, particularly if you bounce it off somebody else, an outside can sort of; sometimes people come to me and they’ll be like; how did you just make all those connections? Because I’m hearing it for the first time. I’m hearing it and putting it all together, and you’ve been living it, so you're not making those connections.
Diane Sanfilippo: People are very quick to dismiss major life stressors. Like a death in the family, or a move. Even if it’s positive, it’s just a big stressor. All things being equal, even if you were eating a healing diet, there are so many other factors to it that you could have been along that continuum of healing, not having symptoms. But something is stressing your system and it could exacerbate things and it could cause that other diagnosis at that point.
It’s great to be aware of all the things that can feed into it. I think people sometimes get trapped in a lot of guilt and blame or shame around those things happening. And I think the information is helpful so that we can take action. And I think it’s important to not allow the information to make you feel guilt or shame around these things popping up. That’s just a whole other topic for another day. But good information there.
13. Keto and autoimmune disease [58:34]
Diane Sanfilippo: My very last question. Because it’s the hottest topic right now. This one is from Wendy. “Is keto ok for somebody with Hashimoto’s? I’ve heard pros and cons.” What’s your take on that?
Dr. Amy Myers: So I think it, again, goes back to individuality and what you personally can handle. In a broad sense, most people with; first of all, Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition. Most people with autoimmune conditions, and thyroid autoimmune conditions, are women rather than men. This tends to happen at a time of change during hormone fluctuations. Peri-menopause, things like that. After a pregnancy, things like that.
People with thyroid autoimmune dysfunction tend to also have adrenal dysfunction. So I have found personally, myself, and personally with many of my patients, that keto has not been the best diet for somebody who is a female potentially in peri-menopause or pre-pregnancy, post-pregnancy with thyroid and adrenal dysfunction.
There are definitely studies showing a ketogenic diet working very well for things like neurodegenerative diseases like MS, ALS, Parkinson’s. Of course epilepsy, cancer. Things like that. So it is worth a try. And again, just because everybody is on the bandwagon; if it doesn’t work for you, you don’t beat yourself up. But I have found that most women with autoimmunity and most women with thyroid autoimmune. Particularly if you're moving into peri-menopause or menopause, tend to do better with more carbs than are allowed on a ketogenic diet. But the only way to know is to try it for yourself and see how it goes.
Diane Sanfilippo: Awesome.
Liz Wolfe: The Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored in part by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants (including me; I’m an NTP), emphasizing bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes local, properly prepared nutrient dense foods as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s ability to heal.
The NTA’s nutritional therapy practitioner program and new fully online nutritional therapy consultant program empower graduates with the education and skills needed to launch a successful, fulfilling career in holistic nutrition. To learn lots more about the NTA’s nutritional therapy programs, check out the free Nutritional 101 course, as well; go to http://www.NutritionalTherapy.com. There are workshop venues in the US, Canada, and Australia. So chances are, you’ll be able to find a venue that works for you.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, we’re going to wrap it up there for today. Thank you so much for taking your time to join me and share so much of your knowledge and expertise with our listeners. I know they absolutely love it. You're probably top 5 favorite guest we’ve had on the show from our listeners, so thank you for taking the time.
Dr. Amy Myers: Awesome.
Diane Sanfilippo: What do you want to tell people about everything. The book; I know the brand-new book, The Autoimmune Solution Cookbook, right?
Dr. Amy Myers: Yep. So it’s out. You can buy it any bookstore. Buy it online. Main thing is if you don’t have the Thyroid Connection or the Autoimmune Solution, it really is a standalone book. All the recipes are brand new except for a few fan favorites. And we have everything from juices and smoothies to desserts. And like I said, there are new flours and things that have come out so we even have waffles and stuff like that that I didn’t have in my first book. So my daughter’s one-year-old birthday cupcakes are in the book. The recipe for that. So it’s definitely filled with lots of sort of comfort, fun foods as well as healthy foods. And the whole program; enough information to do the program.
So I’m available on social media everywhere as AmyMyersMD.com. and if people are looking to heal their gut, we have some free gut-healing recipes at GutRecipes.com. Or they can find me at AmyMyersMD.com. And it’s M-Y-E-R-S. {laughs} Because everybody misspells it.
Diane Sanfilippo: We’ll link to it in our show notes, and we will also post the link again over in our podcast Facebook group. Which is a new group that we started so that you guys can come talk to each other about the episode and get any links that you need and all that good stuff.
So thank you so much, Dr. Myers.
Dr. Amy Myers: Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok you guys, that’s it for this week. You can find me, Diane, at http://dianesanfilippo.com. And Dr. Myers at www.AmyMyersMD.com. Don’t forget to join our email lists for free goodies and updates you don’t find anywhere else on the internet or on our websites. While you’re on the internet, please leave us an iTunes review. We’ll see you next week.
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