Regaining Energy Through Thyroid Optimization with Divya Gupta - #142

Regaining Energy Through Thyroid Optimization with Divya Gupta - #142

00:00

Hey everybody, welcome back to the EnergyMD podcast, where we help you resolve your chronic fatigue, whether it's from long COVID or chronic fatigue syndrome, so you can get back to living your best life. So if you've heard me speak before, you've heard me talk about all the different causes of chronic fatigue and long COVID. And one of them happens to be thyroid deficiency that's found in so many people, I would say probably about 80% of all the people that we see. So I'm going to be talking with a thyroid expert today, my friend Divya Gupta.

00:33

And so let's learn a little bit about her. So Divya Gupta, a board certified holistic nutritionist and wellness coach. She is a board certified holistic nutritionist and wellness coach, fueled by her own health challenges, including gallbladder removal and Hashimoto's. She has dedicated herself to a mission, guiding motivated individuals who yearn for a future beyond conventional approaches to their health challenges with personalized solutions, enabling them to live life on their own terms. So Divya.

01:02

Thank you so much for joining me here today. Evan, I'm so honored to be here and thank you for having me. Absolutely. So we're gonna be talking about thyroid and its relationship to energy and fatigue. So I think, you know, kind of starting in, I guess we can start right there, you know, in terms of that connection. What is that connection between thyroid and energy levels? Gosh.

01:28

so much and I know we can before even we dive into that, you know, it's an interesting fact that you mentioned earlier on like, you know, 80% of people you see or 60% have a thyroid condition. And that's something, you know, even when I was looking at stats, it's in the last decade, the number of hypothyroidism cases have tripled. And you would think that maybe there is more diagnosis, more testing happening, or it could be.

01:55

because of what's happening in our environment, it could be the toxins, it's the food, it's the lifestyle, it's stress. Like, you know, what is it going on that the number of cases, a number of people dealing with thyroid issues is going up as well. And in American Thyroid Association states that at least 12 to 15% of people will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetime. And women are five to eight times more likely, and I'm sure you can...

02:24

see that in your stats with your client, your patient population as well. So it is a topic definitely very near and dear to me because I myself, you know, as you said in my bio, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was 25 and my gallbladder was removed before that. And okay, and you know, hey, here you have Hashimoto's, you have Hypo, here's your medication and off you go. And

02:51

invaded the

03:21

just taking medication, can't keep living like this. And then down the road, what does it mean? Because I was seeing things unfold in my mom's health, from one autoimmune condition to getting another one, rheumatoid arthritis, that didn't look great. I'm like, I don't want that to be me. So that's how I started my journey. And with energy, you're the energy MD and you resolve chronic fatigue. And we know there could be so many causes.

03:48

If somebody goes to the doctor and be like, I don't have energy and say, where do you start? That could be a number of causes. But if you know, if people know they do have hypothyroidism, at least that's a place that we can start because your thyroid hormone are so closely related, can really influence your energy. So that's a place to start. But we also know like there, I don't know the percentage, but a lot of people have subclinical hypothyroidism. It's just the

04:17

lab ranges are so wide that they don't get diagnosed, but they are dealing with all the symptoms as well. So the way to, you know, going back to your question, the way the thyroid hormone can influence energy, you know, I think there are four different mechanisms. Number one is, you know, if you have hypothyroidism, more often than not, you probably, you know, they have a vitamin B12 deficiency as well.

04:43

And it's not because of the thyroid hormone, but most of the cases, at least in the US, are autoimmune and condition when it comes to hypothyroidism. And that can really impact your stomach lining and the protein that's needed to absorb vitamin B12. And again, I'm not sure about you. I see a lot of my clients are vegan or vegetarian route, and they're already deficient with B12. And we know how important B12 bees are for energy.

05:13

Definitely has seen one and just taking thyroid medication is not going to now suddenly make you absorb B12 better the second, you know way the thyroid hormone influences is you know, I was talking about its autoimmune condition like Hashimoto's and and there is any autoimmune condition your immune system doesn't play you have Inflammation going on and when you have inflammation in the body, you're not going to be working at hundred percent There is your body is less efficient

05:43

It could be 1897, depending on everything else going on. So you're not gonna be working, your body is not gonna be efficiently working. So that's another way how your thyroid through the autoimmune part could be affecting your energy. Number three, as we, thyroid hormone, which this is something people may know or have heard of, but your thyroid hormone is your metabolic inductor.

06:09

it directly influences how your cells take up the nutrition, your oxygen, and how much energy is burnt and energy is made. So it has a direct influence on that. And it's your T3 hormone. We will get into the hormones, but T3 is the active hormone that your cells can absorb to do that. And most people, if they are on part of medication, are on just T4 and a body has to convert it, and we can go down that path. So our...

06:39

Thyroid hormone has a direct influence on metabolism, how we burn energy. There are studies which says, it has an impact on our mitochondria to produce ATP, which is our energy currency. So, you don't have enough thyroid hormone, that's gonna be impacted. And number four is, your thyroid hormone also has an influence on number of other hormones. Before we got started, we were talking about music and orchestra.

07:05

Similarly, our hormones also work in, our endocrine system works as an orchestra. Your thyroid hormone just doesn't work on its own. You know, the sex hormones, your cortisol, everything has to line up. So your thyroid hormone can influence your cortisol and vice versa. And we need cortisol and it gets such a bad rap, but we need cortisol to get out of bed in the morning. So it, you know, and people are stressed. We were just talking about this 2024 year has been.

07:35

stressful for yourself or myself. There's so much rollercoasters, there's so much going on, the holidays now. And it can, high cortisol can influence how much thyroid hormone, the conversion from T4 to T3. So it could be external stressors or even internal stressors, if you have a lot going on in your gut and other things. And the other is also, if you have an autoimmune condition of thyroid, insulin.

08:04

Also how well you use insulin and if your cell to absorb glucose, glucose is one of the fuel sources that your body takes up to produce energy as well. And especially people with Hashimoto's have an issue with carbohydrate metabolism and their brain is not getting the glucose it needs in the cell. So, and even with leptin resistance, which is again a hormone produced by a fat cells that can influence the satiety and energy.

08:34

I know there's so much more, but that's because it's so complicated. I wish it was so easy. You know, you have hypothyroidism, take the medication and your energy comes back. But you and I both know there are so many people who are still, Hey, I'm the medication dust doesn't seem to work. Or I'm, I'm still fatigue. I'm still tired or I feel marginally better because a, your thyroid hormone can influence energy in so many different ways.

09:01

And even to optimize it, you have to like, we have to, it's like a multi-pronged approach. Yeah, you mentioned so many things in there. I just want to touch on a couple of them. I think the first one is it's important for people to understand that thyroid really is, you know, two conditions, you know, it's this, it's the Hashimoto's, it's the autoimmunity, it's the immune system attacking the thyroid, right? And then it's leaving the thyroid or the thyroid hormone is then low. And that's what people are replacing. But it really is that

09:31

that combination of the two that I want to get into in just a minute. You know, but let's start off with, you know, people who are listening to this were like, huh, you know, I've got fatigue. I've got long COVID. How do I know if I have hypothyroidism or low thyroid? Yeah. So it's the best way is, you know, first of all, let's talk about the symptoms, right? You know, number one in terms like before you even go get the lab test to get an official diagnosis.

09:59

You know, fatigue is number one, and it's a different kind of fatigue. You know, it's not something that, you know, you sleep, you know, you had a hard day, you go to sleep, you rest, and you recuperate and you feel fine. Tired fatigue. And this is something I experienced to before my diagnosis. No amount of sleep would, you know, make me feel okay, when you wake up in the morning, you're still tired. I'm like, I'm slept for 10 hours.

10:24

I can go for more. It's a very different kind of fatigue. And if you have that, you know it, because you know, you haven't been physically, you know, putting your body through a lot that you know, like I shouldn't be this tired. So that's number one, you need to feel that fatigue is completely different. Number two is weight gain with hypothyroidism, which is again, a very calm, very common

10:47

that people will experience is weight gain. No matter what you do, no matter how much exercise you do, like you cut down on calories, you're just gaining weight because it goes back to that your metabolism is impacted. You're not burning as much at rest as you would normally with the slow thyroid hormone. You're gaining weight and then brain fog and you can brain fog and not having mental clarity. Your brain is not getting all its fuel it needs.

11:17

Um, then it can be, you know, not wanting to, you know, when you're feeling tired, you, you know, you're gaining weight, your brain, you don't have the clarity, you don't want to exercise either. Right. So everything slows down. You can have muscle weakness and joint pains as well that can prevent that. That was one of my top most, uh, my symptoms was as early like 20 something, my muscles would hurt like, you know, weird, like it's just like, it's a weird kind of a pain. Like I

11:46

I didn't lift heavy weight or I didn't do anything, but my muscles are so sore and I'm tired all the time. So those are, again, there are, since your thyroid hormone influence every cell tissue organs in your body, your symptoms can also vary, hair loss, dry skin, itchy skin, even carpal tunnel, that all of that, there could be a lot of symptoms, but.

12:13

Fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, even digestive issues, because that can slow down. Constipation is pretty common as well. So you could experience that too. So that's one, to start really noticing, how are you feeling and what are these symptoms? And to really know if you have, to really get the diagnosis, you want to get the lab work, the blood work done. But please, the standard, the golden rule and still in conventional medicine is just,

12:41

TSH, which is the thyroid stimulating hormone. And that's just one part of the story. That's just the hormone that, you know, the pituitary gland in your brain is creating to send the signal to your thyroid, hey, make thyroid hormone. And most conventional system uses just, even now just uses that as a standard way to measure if your hypothyroidism or not. So if that is high,

13:09

And that is, again, the range of standard ranges are quite wide. Like if you are about 4.5, you can go from 0.45 to 4.5. Then they would say, okay, you are, it's hypothyroidism because I know it seems a little odd if it's high, it's low because that means you're, yeah, it's screaming at your thyroid gland, hey, make more thyroid hormone. That's why you're low. But to, but again, we, I like it to be more optimal. We want it to be.

13:37

ideally between one and two. So even if you're in the, I would say upper quadrant or the lower quadrant of your standard range, you might be dealing with subclinical thyroid hypothyroid symptoms, even if it's just a TSH. But I would like recommend and suggest for everyone to get a full thyroid panel. Number one is a TSH. Then getting a free T4 and free T3. So free T4 is a main hormone that your thyroid hormone.

14:05

The thyroid gland produces after it gets a signal, 70 to 80% and people can, you know, they're still out there, it could be more or less. And a little amount of T3. So your T4, everyone, this thing, it's inactive. It does nothing. It needs to be converted into the active form, which is T3. So a thyroid gland produces some of it, but a body, a liver, a gut, peripheral tissues, different area in the body converts.

14:32

from T4 to T3. So it's important. T3 is what our cells absorb. And T3 is what we can do something about it. So that's what can help your energy and everything in your body. So T4, T3, TSH, getting those antibodies tested for TPO and TPG, especially for Hashimoto's just to rule out if there is an autoimmune aspect to it. And even getting reverse T3 is something I recommend because

14:59

If there's a lot of stress going on in the body, inflammation and blood sugar ratio, your T4 may be going down the reverse T3 path, which it has a role to play. We need some of it, but when if it's too high, it's just the opposite of T3. Your cells don't, it looks like T3, but it's another twin which just doesn't do the same job as the T3. So getting these six tests as a basic panel would be helpful to really determine

15:27

if you have hyperthyroidism, whether even if it's a clinical or if it's a conversion issue that's going on, it's me hey, your thyroid is functioning but it's not converting so we can really then have a targeted protocol or way to then help with that. Excellent. Yeah, I do things very similarly. I don't do the reverse T3 because I see it as a stress marker and everybody that I see has it elevated and it doesn't really change my treatment.

15:55

And the antibodies I always have a question on because, you know, 90% of all low thyroid is Hashimoto's, it's autoimmune based, right? And so most of the people, or the majority of the people that I see who have low thyroid, we can assume that it's autoimmune. And so the question that I always have is, with that lab test, what am I gonna do differently? So what do you do differently if you see antibodies versus not antibodies? Yeah, it's interesting, I have. I run it because it's good to see if...

16:24

If I know there's an autoimmune, if the lab says it's high, there is autoimmunity present. So AVA confirms it is driving the hypothyroidism. And then we really need to focus on reducing that attack, working on the gut, even though everyone needs to work on their gut, but ensuring that, because once we get one autoimmune condition, you're three times likely to get another one. It also helps with compliance with clients.

16:52

there's an autoimmune condition going on just to have that values. And we know, no matter what, you know, my doctor still say, Hey, once you have an autoimmune condition, you are always going to have it. And I refuse that, you know, that's another I try not to argue with her. I'm like, just do what's needed. I go see her. But yes, those antibodies, I would like to see it reduced. It's one way to you know, mine used to be in 4000s.

17:22

the values. So at least if I then if I know there's an auto immunity and the, you know, they have the values and with the work we do, hey, are they going down? Because even if they reduce the antibodies reduced by 75% or 80, the inflammation is going down, the attack is going on, even if they're not completely gone. So that's one way we use it. And two, there have been scenarios where, you know, the thyroid numbers are not optimal, or there are

17:49

it looked they're having all the hypothyroidism symptoms but there's no autoimmunity happening. So then the begs the question, what else could be driving? Because we know how important or how the thyroid and the sex hormones and the adrenals work together. Is it the stress driving the thyroid or is it your stress is driving low thyroid function? Is it a lot of women in perimenopause and menopause

18:19

Diagnosed with thyroid so it's the changes in the other hormone That's putting a lot of stress in the body and changing that so at least that can help inform Hey, how much do we really focus on the thyroid or do we work on the blood sugar? Your liver health your gut health and get work on the stress that can make your body feel okay I'm safe and your thyroid can calm down Because we know it, you know cortisol and thyroid At the brakes and the accelerator in the crock. All right, they're not going to

18:49

car won't run if I press both. So it's just, it helps inform what could be driving those functions. So that's how I use it. And then at least track it every six months or a year to see if they're, how it's changing. Nice. And I'm glad you brought up the adrenals and that relationship, because oftentimes you can get false picture with the thyroid labs when the adrenals aren't working optimally as well. So it throws a little bit of wrench into those tests.

19:19

And so, like you said, you know, conventional medicine, they're going to be measuring the TSH, they're not measuring these other components. And so oftentimes they're getting not the full picture. And you know, you talked about how the stats are 12 to 15% of everybody, all women will get develop hypothyroidism in their lifetime. I bet it's two or three times that when you actually look at people who are underdiagnosed, right?

19:43

They go to see their doctor and the doctor says your TSH is fine. You got nothing to worry about. And you're like, but I still have low thyroid symptoms, right? Yeah, absolutely. And, and it's listening more to the symptoms, right? Test inform us it's good, but listen to how is the person feeling. And, and by the time things show up in the blood work, like out of range, it can take a long time because the body is working for us and not against us. It's working really hard to.

20:11

in to be in homeostasis in that balance. So the blood work may not be showing it, but you are feeling have all the classic symptoms. And especially, you know, I know we're not talking getting about because my stories even started with my gallbladder removed removal, which we you know, you and I know the liver gallbladder and thyroid are so intricately connected. And now I'm like, if anybody is dealing with gallbladder pain or issues, hey,

20:38

go get your thyroid checked because it influences your liver function, your bile production, the storage. I wish I had, did not have to lose an organ, but it's the purpose it got me here today with that story. But yeah, like a lot of people are not diagnosed and are still suffering unnecessarily.

21:02

So we've talked about symptoms in labs. So at this point, people might be who are listening, might be saying, okay, so I feel like I have thyroid issues. Now I know what labs I need to go and ask for from my practitioner. If you're not getting what you need from a conventional doc, go to see functional nutritionists like Divya or some sort of natural, more natural practitioner, natural functional medicine practitioner. And then, so then what do you do with that information? So it comes back and the thyroid is low. Somebody's got these symptoms.

21:32

Where do you go next? Yeah, great. So again, everyone, we're all unique. So again, really understanding, getting to know, for me it's important to get to know my client really well, what's going on in their life, which stage they are in, especially peri or menopause, and all the other sex hormones are also influencing it. And I always, you know, at least to my community, I always share that your thyroid is just like the tip of the iceberg.

22:00

that's what is screaming, making noise, or you can see it's a yellow canary in the cold moine that's raising the alarm that something is off. We really need to look at, just like the iceberg, that we don't see what's going on underneath, how deep it is or how wide it is. Similarly, when it comes to the thyroid, if it is maybe low functioning, whether it could be autoimmune in nature or not, we got to work on your liver, we got to work on your adrenals, and we got to work on the gut.

22:29

Those are the three main, it's like the foundations of our health that we need to work on. And once we get to some sort of balance, your thyroid will also come back to balance or work better for you. So that's where I start, you know, like looking at not just the thyroid numbers, but also getting a comprehensive blood work. And I'm so glad it's getting more democratized. These days you go get your own blood work and it's not that expensive.

22:58

We're stuck in the old insurance system. These bloodworks are not that expensive. You can go run your own labs or find someone to do that. At least it's good to know baseline. So with the information that I have, it's starting there to first, it's really optimizing or improving the digestive function. You want to get some energy back. But people need to start feeling even a little better before you do something more harsh, like heavy detoxes. I...

23:26

get on discovery calls and I talk to people and they're like, I've been doing this detox that data I've got this supplement as I said, I'm like, I wish it was that easy. I wish it all worked. There's a reason it's not working, right? There's a art to it to really understand to get your body to a place where it feels safe enough, I can get rid of this. So really working on foundations, digestive function, optimizing that if you know,

23:55

somebody I'm working with, she goes to the bathroom every once in three days. I'm like, okay, right now we just need to work on, you know, resolving that constipation. So working on the gut, so still doing a stool test and a food sensitivity test. So we can, you know, Hey, what does your gut need? What's going on? Improve your digestive function, support your liver. Again, even with liver, we can't go too hard depending on if they've been on a sad American diet, got to move slow.

24:25

because you're not going to be ready, but how can we support the liver function? And as we know, 93% of our US population is metabolically unhealthy. Blood sugar balance comes into place as well. So really working on those foundational items, depending on where the focus needs to be for that particular client, one more than the other, starting there and stress management. Again, lifestyle also goes hand in hand, managing your stress.

24:55

You know, we can't, you know, we can't supplement our way out of stress or anything else. So what works? Breathwork, meditation, journaling, doing nothing. You know, one of my clients, one of my suggestions for him was just put some white space on your calendar, that's it. Block some 15 minutes where you do nothing at all. That's it. You don't have like, you know, he just had to, like, I had to keep moving or they have to lift weights or take the dog out for a walk.

25:25

can't sit still. I'm like, that's a lot of body needs some time to rest and recover. So do nothing for 15 minutes today. So really working, getting started there. And then depending on what, how the gut is working, you know, really start, you know, if there's any eradication that needs to be done. And again, that is step by step process. But at the same time, fortifying the body with the right nutrition that it has the energy.

25:52

to do that, you know, get supporting the mitochondria. So, you know, they're supporting with, you know, most people have low vitamin D, I'll see, or, you know, zinc, you know, for thyroid to work, it needs zinc, it needs vitamin D, it needs the right protein. How can we use diet and lifestyle to provide that nutrition and the right digestive supports? We can actually digest and absorb those nutrients as well. And at the same time, trying to remove, you know,

26:22

you know, reducing the toxic exposure. We're all surrounded, you know, we can't live in a bubble, but how can we reduce the toxic exposure? And for my number one pet peeve is your water. Is please, please, like everyone listening, do not drink tap water. You know, that's the number one source of getting a lot of toxins into our system. So I think that's number one, you know, getting an RO filter, electrolytes, getting that, getting some sweat in.

26:52

whether it is through exercise, if you can't for any reason because you're not ready, get in a sauna, find a sauna so you can just sweat. I have my PEMF math that I'll turn on, like 10, 15 minutes a day just to help. All these adjunctive practices, we have so many tools, they will all work, but it's not just that. Diet and lifestyle is the hardest.

27:18

And people would rather go get a massage or maybe go sit in a sauna, which is great, but you still will have to make some diet changes, add some supplements and start at the foundations and then provide supportive supplements for the thyroid, depending for some people, they just need some support. And maybe they don't need medication when everything else balances out. It's a hard question to answer because there's no one way that fits all of one methodology. It needs to be

27:46

It is personalized to each person, but it's again, the foundation is your liver health, your gut, healthy digestion, your adrenals and the lifestyle aspect. And some people do need medication and you know, that's fine. Everyone is like, I want to get off on medication. I'm like, sometimes hormones are life. And if your body has, if you've been on medication like I have for the last 20 years, I still take my medication. It's I'd maybe it's my, my

28:14

Thyroid is, after feed a bit, it will never produce. It's like a finger that's cut. It'll never grow back completely. So I do need the medication, but my goal is if I do everything else, the lowest dosage that I can be on so that my body, thyroid can function. So, and some people may need that. And then I work with their medical provider to, hey, to test it and change, hopefully reduce the dosage over time.

28:40

Excellent. Yeah, it sounds like you're, I mean, we have very similar philosophies. You know, there's the, I call a level one problem, a problem that can be fixed with lifestyle, you know, so you're sleeping more, you're drinking more water, you remove the foods that you're not supposed to be eating that are triggering some of that autoimmunity, you know, gluten, dairy, sugars, processed foods, right?

29:04

That's a level one problem if that it helps to improve the symptoms and then you replace the deficiencies, you know, like you're optimizing your thyroid and the adrenals and etc. and making things like work better, right? And that can help so many people. And then if people are still not helped or they are, if they're not able to get to the root of resolving the autoimmunity, they have to remove those toxins that are in the body, you know, the heavy metals and chemicals and molds and infections, etc.

29:31

and avoiding that ongoing exposure like you were talking about, right? So it's such a wonderful way of phrasing it. I think the other thing that I wanted to touch on was constipation. A lot of people don't realize that low thyroid is a major cause of constipation. If you can't have regular bowel movements, oftentimes it's because your thyroid is, yeah, right? So this-

29:58

This has been an amazing conversation. I so appreciate the work that you're doing. We'll drop the link below for your website, but can you just tell us again what it is? Divyagupta.net, right? That's correct. And, you know, we, I know we covered a lot and it's hard to remember, but once everyone go to the website and if they want to get a free guide of a comprehensive symptoms, if you're dealing with hyperthyroidism and the labs that I talked and with the optimal values.

30:27

And what does each of those function mean? Because I believe everyone should be the CEO of your own body. Get educated. When you go to the doctor, the doctors work for you. So ask for these tests. Print out the guide and see where, if you have labs, check where you are. So get more knowledgeable. And knowledge is power. And then you can advocate for yourself or ask the right questions. And if you're not getting what you want, you can go find someone else.

30:55

we always have the freedom to go find someone else that works for you. It has to be a collaboration. It's not a one way street. That's my, my endocrinologist, I sometimes tell her like, I need this x, y, z, we go back and forth. And then she gives in. I'm like, okay, here's the here's the research, just prescribe x, x, I just need this, I need these tests. When I was not able to run it by my by myself. Like, you know, it's like, you know, take ownership.

31:25

It's our body. We need to be the CEO. We need to know it the best and we know it the best. Yeah, so if you have hypothyroidism or you think you do, definitely get Divya in your corner. As you can see, she's got a lot of knowledge and she's a great advocate. Thank you. Thanks so much for joining me here today, Divya. Thanks a lot for having me, Evan, and have a wonderful holiday season.