Do you take a prenatal vitamin? Maybe you take a standard multi-vitamin, or if you’re a little more specific with things, a B-complex? If you take any of these in addition to what you get from the end of your fork, listen up! There’s a nutrient in these and many other supplements that’s very important when it comes to fertility, healthy babies, healthy mamas, and to every body. That includes you, dads-to-be! It’s a vitamin that you all need, but you may not be getting it from these supplements in the form that’s best for your body. What am I talking about?

...

Biotin.

I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s the B vitamin that everyone takes to try to get thick hair, strong nails, and beautiful skin. I hope your locks are flowing and your skin is glowing! But, if you’re taking biotin in any amount, listen up!  Especially if you’re having routine lab tests done to monitor your thyroid function, and definitely if you’re using those lab results to evaluate how well your thyroid medication is working.

You don’t want anything messing around with your hopefully optimal TSH, T4, and the whole family of thyroid...

Whether or not you have a diagnosed thyroid condition, you’ve had this lab value checked at one time or another.

On so many lab panels, maybe even yours, TSH is the only thyroid lab value that’s checked to evaluate how your thyroid gland is functioning. It’s been the gold standard test for decades and is considered the most sensitive and accurate indicator by many endocrinologists and other practitioners. While it gives information about your thyroid, TSH doesn’t tell you exactly how your thyroid is working. It’s more of a secondary marker that tells you how...

Conceiving a child can be difficult. It can take many months of monitoring your fertility signs, timing your intimacy, and seeing lots of single lines before you finally celebrate seeing double.

Navigating your health when you have hypothyroidism can be difficult as well. It can cause debilitating fatigue, menstrual irregularity, sluggish elimination, and mood swings from depression to anxiety and everything in between.

When you put the two together, conceiving when you have hypothyroidism can seem like an impossibility. It might feel that way, but let’s talk some truth into why...

Brazil nuts are delicious, and they contain more selenium by weight than any other food. One ounce of Brazil nuts provides a whopping 990% of your recommended daily value! So why not eat a few nuts every day to get your selenium rather than pop one more pill? Let’s do a little myth-busting about that.

What Does Selenium do for You?

Selenium is an essential mineral for thyroid health. It’s a trace mineral, one that’s dosed in micrograms. Yet, at these seemingly minuscule amounts, a selenium deficiency can be a direct cause for hypothyroidism and even a trigger for...

This is one topic I love talking about because I’ll rarely tell someone to NOT eat their veggies! And when it comes to supporting optimal thyroid health, I’m not going to deny you your plate of greens! Let’s redeem those cruciferous vegetables and give them a place back at your table.

Delicious and nourishing vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower have been shunned from too many meals due to outdated misunderstandings and beliefs about thyroid disease.

What caused them to be dismissed?

Goitrogens.

It’s a funny-sounding word that...

We're back again with another Food-As-Medicine lifestyle intervention that will help nourish you from the end of your fork, and beyond.

We've talked about why it’s important to use foods before supplements, and we've calmed down with 10 food-as-medicine lifestyle habits to reduce stress. Now, let's get back to the end of your fork with another foundational food-as-medicine principle:

Eat foods and ingredients that your body recognizes and knows how to utilize.

Ok, y’all. I know this one sounds simple.

Eat real food. Whole, single-ingredient foods that are rich in nutrients,...

I work with many clients who come to me with various diagnoses…labels that define a collection of symptoms, lab results, past histories, and current ailments. These are outward descriptions of underlying problems.

While a diagnosis can give insight into how to move toward better health, it shouldn’t be your only decision-maker. It shouldn’t decide how you begin caring for yourself nor should it choose the tools that you use. Don’t stop at your diagnosis!

Now don’t get me wrong! I’m all for seeking out necessary and appropriate medical care, along with a...

It’s that time of year again. Pumpkins on the porch, a chill in the air, and a shot in the arm to keep you “healthy.”

The influenza vaccine remains a hot topic for many reasons and it seems that most of us on the receiving end find ourselves in one camp or the other—the yearly takers or the steadfast no way-ers!

Whether or not you choose to get this yearly vaccination, I hope you educate yourself as to the benefits, risks, and effectiveness of this sometimes confusing dose of prevention.

For the 2018-2019 flu season, the vaccine was only 29% effective at preventing...

A Food-As-Medicine Lifestyle combines the healing power of food with the synergy of restorative lifestyle habits to empower your health on a daily basis. It creates the foundation for feeling vibrant and living from a place of wellness every single day. That sounds like a great place to be!

In the next few posts, I’ll be sharing some useful and actionable food-as-medicine lifestyle interventions that you can implement right away. So, let’s jump in with this first one:

Use foods before supplements to maximize your health and wellness.

There’s a supplement for that!...