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#31 Thyroid Health: what you need to know
44 Plays19 days ago
The Bean Talk - Episode 31: Thyroid Health: what you need to know
This week, Riannon and Jeremy talk about all things Thyroid. Diving into what the thyroid actually is and what it does for our bodies.
Riannon shares valuable information about how thyroid health affects our overall wellbeing and the importance of testing the right things (not just TSH!) to get a complete understanding of your thyroid health.
This educational episode is a must listen for anyone interested in health and thyroid function.
Connect with us on Instagram @mungbean_health or visit mungbeanhealth.com for expert support.
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Shop Hydramama: www.mungbeanhealth.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Mission at Mungbean Health
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Bean Talk with me, Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother, joined by my trusted partner in life and in the mission of Mungbean Health, Jeremy. Here at Mungbean Health, we're on a mission to unlock the secrets of fertility and natural wellbeing episode at time.
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome back. Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of The Bean Talk with Rhiannon and Jeremy. Anne and Jeremy, we're excited to have argue you here. We are excited. I've been told going to bring some more energy energy back to the podcast, so hopefully I can bring it. ge you eyes can let us You guys can let us know what you think, yeah what we need.
00:00:43
Speaker
Let's talk about a little bean and big bean. What have you got for me? Oh, man, I'm just, you know...
Personal Health Updates and Testing
00:00:50
Speaker
doing my best i know last week we were talking oh when i was doing the episode with emily i was talking about getting my testing organized i've done part of it i need to finalize it and then we did some testing for jeremy as well yeah we did this cool thing we can't talk too much about yet it's bit annoying but yeah exciting and it's just like talking about finding out a bit more about longevity and learning about your body and where you're at for your age essentially
00:01:17
Speaker
Really cool. I've already done it, which I think I've spoken about before, actually, about my results. I was similar to my age for a lot of things and then a lot younger for some other things on there, which was so cool to see. So it's going to be pretty exciting to see where I see.
00:01:31
Speaker
Let's see what you've got going on. So yeah, definitely testing, ticking that off. Oh,
The TempDrop Device and Listener Perks
00:01:35
Speaker
also temp drop. Have been checking my temperature. so Which is so cool. i don't know if you guys have seen the temp drop before, but it is freaking amazing. This probably won't go live by the time that this is on. They have a sale at the moment, but they always have my discount code available, which is 15% off.
00:01:53
Speaker
And the code is AF, A for apple, F for Fred, Mungbean, M-U-N-G-B-E-A-N. It's like this cool little cuff that you wear on your arm at nighttime and it starts to track your basal body temperature, which is amazing for our hormones, our fertility, our thyroid.
00:02:11
Speaker
tells us a lot about us. Cool. And 15% off, that is a win. Any discount is a win. Absolutely. can get something to save a bit of those. dollars absolutely and it lasts you ages I've still got my original one that I had like before Evie so that's five years plus it must be like six years now god I was trying to look up what their birthday sale was how many years anyway probably should have looked that up but yeah they you can always stack my code on top of their sales as well so use the code but yeah temp drop amazing it's so good How good? so that Is that the big bean or is that the little bean?
00:02:43
Speaker
Ah, they've been mixed. I know. Testing one, temp drop the other. Yeah. What do you got testing? Doing the test to see what my age and drinking more water.
00:02:55
Speaker
I have been drinking more water, which is such a good one for me. I think that's always going to be my big bean and little bean because who doesn't need a bit more water in their lives? seriously I mean the hydromama makes it a hell of a lot easier know if you're struggling with drinking water you need to get hydromama like we go through it so much of it not only in clinic but also personally at home the kids love it as well like they're always stealing the water bottle hydration tastes good some vitamins in there vitamin c methylated folate yeah bit of B6, so good. Makes drinking water fun. But circling back, yeah, TempDrop and the thyroid, there is a nice little link there because our thyroid is like the little conductor of the body and it's important for so many different processes and that actually does hugely support our fertility.
Understanding the Thyroid and Its Impact
00:03:39
Speaker
So I thought we'd talk a little bit more about the thyroid today and unfortunately it's something that we see so often in clinic and it's often unsupported and miseducated.
00:03:51
Speaker
Right. What is the thyroid? Let's talk a bit more about the thyroid, but essentially it is this small butterfly shaped gland that sits in the base of your neck and it plays a massive role in your health overall. It controls our metabolism, energy levels, body temperature, obviously that's why it's important for the temperature, drop hormone balancing, digestion, our skin health, hair growth, and even mood and fertility as well.
00:04:20
Speaker
And there's such little explanation or education around the thyroid. So I thought maybe we'd unpack it a little bit more. Cool. Also, you probably know a little bit about the thyroid because I worked in I've heard much about thyroid clinics. feel like I'm high for it.
00:04:33
Speaker
I worked in a major thyroid clinic and learned a lot about the thyroid there and obviously how important it is in our clinic as well. So we talk a lot about it. But when the thyroid isn't functioning well, what do you think people are going to experience? What type of symptoms?
00:04:50
Speaker
I would say tiredness. Yes. Fatigue. Yeah. Weight gain. Yes. The metabolism slowed right down. So the weight gain when it's under active, when it's overactive, it's the other way they'll lose weight. Yeah. So ah maybe a fast metabolism, night sweats would be another Yeah. Night sweats. Yes. Very good.
00:05:11
Speaker
hormone irregulation yeah so irregular periods or infertility and then obviously with that would come different moods like your mood swings absolutely low mood anxiety doing well the other one is called hands and feet and another random one oh a brain fog as well but another random one is the last third of your eyebrows really thin i know so weird but it is a bit of an indicator yes So most people experiencing these symptoms will go get testing done for their
Comprehensive Thyroid Testing
00:05:41
Speaker
thyroid. So if they go to the doctor, if they go to us, we'll be like red flag, red flag, red flag.
00:05:46
Speaker
But often if they are going just straight to the GP and they lay it all out on the table, they'll be told everything's fine. But the biggest issue here is what's being tested because it's not just about TSH. So the gold standard testing for the thyroid is just to test the TSH or the thyroid stimulating hormone.
00:06:05
Speaker
It's actually a brain hormone made by the pituitary gland. Think of it like a text line from the brain to the thyroid. It doesn't necessarily measure any thyroid hormones directly, but it does pass one message across where it's like saying, hey, thyroid, wake up, we've got a job to do. And then the thyroid actually has to do that job. I feel it's like the...
00:06:29
Speaker
thermostat if nobody knows that like is control way button yes the like actual temperature yes it's a good way to explain it because if your thyroid hormones are too low the brain says turn it up and tsh will rise this is actually a lagging indicator and often doesn't reflect the full picture so if you think about it it either goes up or down so when it's going up It's the TSH keeps rising because it think of it like clapping in the face of the thyroid saying, wake up, we've got a job to do. What are you doing?
00:06:59
Speaker
Wake up. So it keeps turning up, up, up, up. up So your TSH will go up up, up, up, but the thyroid isn't listening. And we can tell that by testing our T4 and our T3 hormones. But yeah, it is a bit like a conductor in the body.
00:07:11
Speaker
It can go up or down. So think of it like if it's hypothyroid, the metabolism will be very slow. But if it's hyperthyroid, then the met metabolism will be way too fast and you'll lose weight.
00:07:23
Speaker
So can very much go one way or the other. Same as with like depression or anxiety or the bowels, diarrhea or constipation, depending which way it is. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely.
00:07:35
Speaker
So if we're only testing TSH, we will definitely usually miss things like subclinical hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroid diseases like Hashimoto's or Graves. I can't even explain how many times this is missed.
00:07:49
Speaker
and also low levels of free t three which cause most of the system most of the symptoms. sorry Because think of it like that T3, it works on all of the tissue. So the brain talks to the thyroid, that's our TSH.
00:08:04
Speaker
The thyroid then creates the hormone, that's the T4. And then it has to get activated into the T3 to work on all those tissues, like metabolism, bowel, detoxing, liver, all the things. like what I've learned from you, when they doctors do testing, they'll just test that THX.
00:08:19
Speaker
TSH. TSH. And then they'll be like, oh, if your thyroid's working right because you've got that message going through, but it's not actually functioning. 80% plus of clients that only get their TSH tested, TSH tested, have issues with their thyroid, but don't know. Because also the TSH reference range is freaking huge.
00:08:43
Speaker
The GPs are happy or the doctors or specialists or whatever happy to have that. Such a wide reference range. I'm telling you, if your TSH is over 2.0, you're going to be feeling symptoms. They're happy for you to go up to 4.0.
00:08:55
Speaker
Okay, like double. Yes, and they won't even look further into it. They'll be like, you're 3.99. Oh, you're all good. Right. It's like, why is it so high? And then it's not even checking like antibodies, which can be linked to miscarriage and many other issues. It's an autoimmune disease.
00:09:09
Speaker
condition. So let's dive a little bit deeper into these tests. I think you've got a bit of an understanding, but essentially the TSH is the brain's message to the thyroid. The T4 is the storage form of the thyroid hormone.
00:09:24
Speaker
The T3 is the active form that actually fuels your metabolism. Reverse T3 is another little one that we do like to test. GPs, I remember when I first started and it was when I first started at the thyroid clinic and One client had asked their GP if they could test the reverse T3 for them and the GP didn't even know what it was.
00:09:45
Speaker
Right. don't know what the reverse is. It's like a, yeah, I'll explain it to you, but it's like a brake pedal that blocks the T3 from working, often elevated under stress and chronic illness.
00:09:55
Speaker
So it's, yeah, it's almost like a, it's probably the easiest way to explain it. your T3 can be the reverse T3 or the active T3. You really want it to be the active T3.
00:10:06
Speaker
When it's a lot of it is in the reverse T3, it's more like a feedback loop that can be essentially the T3 going into the wrong place almost, like it's not in the active form. So if you think about it like a bit of a line like that and you think reverse t three or active T3, it should be going this way, but sometimes if we're not converting it from T4 to T3, it'll go into the other one and it's not usable. Does that make sense?
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah. Do you really want to make sure we've got active T3 and enough of it? And then you've also got your thyroid antibodies. TPO and TGAB are the most common for our hypothyroid.
00:10:41
Speaker
These are to screen for autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto's or Graves. And then the other antibody is also TRAB, T-R-A-B. So there's a couple to look out for. Extra testing is always important. critical with the thyroid. Like I've never seen someone just come to me with everything. It will always be missing. Maybe it's a full thyroid panel, but it doesn't have the antibodies or it's missing a hormone or they've decided not to run it this month unless there's something majorly wrong with the thyroid. But other testing that we also look at are things like selenium, crucial for the thyroid, especially for that conversion of the T4 to the active T3.
00:11:17
Speaker
You need little cofactors to help that conversion happen. So nutrient depletion is a huge one there. Zinc, iodine obviously, iron stores as well. These are all absolutely critical for overall
Thyroid Hormones and Their Vital Roles
00:11:30
Speaker
thyroid function. And it's pretty easy to now understand why TSH isn't enough alone to test your thyroid, right? So why do we really need to care about this? What does it matter for people? We should absolutely advocate for thorough testing that then we know exactly where we stand.
00:11:49
Speaker
And when the thyroid is considered, it plays a role on so many different bodily functions. So when your thyroid hormones are balanced and working well, your energy stays nice and steady, your metabolism hums along, helping you to maintain a healthy weight easily, your heart rate and blood pressure stays stable.
00:12:09
Speaker
It's all about that speed. So people that have thyroid conditions will often find they'll have heart palpitations. Your gut moves at the right pace because it'll slow down or it'll go too fast when we got thyroid issues, preventing that constipation or diarrhea picture.
00:12:23
Speaker
Your brain works clearly, supporting good memory, mood and focus because if it's not working effectively, you'll often experience brain fog where you can't think. because everything's just slowed down like that dial. That's the word I was looking for, the dial turned right down. Your period stays more regular, fertility supported, and even pregnancy as well. Because obviously when you fall pregnant, not only does the thyroid help you fall pregnant, but it also helps you maintain a healthy pregnancy.
00:12:48
Speaker
In the first trimester, usually like that eight to 12-ish weeks, the baby, well, before that as well, but the baby will absolutely use your thyroid for all of their own bodily needs. Obviously, they're creating their nervous system and brain and all the things until they create their own thyroid and then that takes over. It also supports our hair, our skin and our nails as well.
00:13:10
Speaker
So if your thyroid is underactive or hypothyroid or you have hypothyroidism, everything slows down, you might feel really tired, gain weight easily, like you'll want to have that piece of cake and you'll honestly feel like you've gained three kilos from it.
00:13:27
Speaker
You just like a bloody look at food and it just, whereas normally we should be able to have a balanced diet and our metabolism stays comfortable and steady. You'll get constipated usually, you'll feel cold all the time, especially hands and feet.
00:13:39
Speaker
And you'll notice usually your hair thinning as well as your eyebrows. Your mood might also dip leading to depression and that brain fog as well. And then with an overactive thyroid, so hyperthyroidism, everything speeds up.
00:13:53
Speaker
So that dials up, up, up. You might feel anxious because you just you're working overtime, you're feeling so stressed and anxious, racing heart, losing weight rapidly, despite normal eating and not changing anything and have really frequent bowel motions as well.
Interconnection of Thyroid with Other Systems
00:14:09
Speaker
What's more is your thyroid doesn't work in isolation. It is absolutely very closely tied to many different bodily systems. So think of our adrenal health and stress.
00:14:21
Speaker
Chronic stress can push your body to convert stress active T3 into inactive reverse T3. So you're active or inactive. So it's going to push it into the inactive T3, slowing down that metabolism. You've also got gut health as a picture there. Over 20% of thyroid hormone conversion happens in the gut.
00:14:40
Speaker
So much happens in the gut. So if your digestion is off, your thyroid may struggle as well. You've also got liver health. Your liver helps to convert T4 to T3. So liver sluggishness can impact your thyroid levels.
00:14:54
Speaker
And then also your immune system, funnily enough. Autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's and Graves are actually the most common causes of thyroid dysfunction, strongly linked to miscarriage. And I've seen clients that have had the thyroid antibodies raised for a long time and it's that immune system attacking the thyroid, the thyroid starts to get eaten away and it essentially disappears.
00:15:16
Speaker
You obviously want to keep your thyroid. And unfortunately, the doctors really don't do a lot with thyroid antibodies. They are happy enough for them to just stay in thousands, which they should be very low. And they're like, yep, they're just there. Take this thyroxine. and But there is so much you can do naturally to actually support the thyroid. It's a huge one. Huge. Herbs. We've got such good herbs as well for our thyroid and for the antibody presentation as well.
00:15:41
Speaker
Right. can support the brain fog, the metabolism, obviously, food, environmental factors, drinking filtered water. up Yeah, big one. Crucial, yeah crucial.
00:15:52
Speaker
Because the filtered water, if you're not filtering it outside the body, guess what's filtering it. And then you're just giving extra work to your liver, extra work to your system that you don't need to.
00:16:04
Speaker
And then think of that in a thyroid condition case. It's like it's already all slowed down. So those little... bugs and heavy metals and crap. So we're just hanging out in there for longer and causing more of an issue.
00:16:16
Speaker
and Not good. Check your thyroid. Yes.
Advocacy for Thorough Thyroid Assessments
00:16:19
Speaker
So when we say the thyroid impacts everything, we truly mean it. And that's why getting a complete thyroid assessment and taking care of your thyroid is a foundational step for your whole body health.
00:16:31
Speaker
We will always help our clients to advocate for their health and health education. And we do our best to provide education as much as we can But yes, so much we can do in the naturopathic world. Like I see it time and time again. People have a thyroid condition. They use naturopathic medicine or better.
00:16:49
Speaker
You know, there's obviously some issues at times that would pop up that would interfere or if maybe they're not following their treatment plan or dietary, they're not following that because that can be hard. But honestly, the amount of times that I'll see the thyroid just absolutely do a 360 and be performing amazingly.
00:17:07
Speaker
actually love treating the thyroid. Yeah, because you get such amazing results. Yes. And just like first port of course, always bringing down those antibodies. Yeah. yeah Yeah. Anyway, i hope you learned something today. Yeah, we all learned something. Amazing.
00:17:21
Speaker
Amazing. Thank you guys for listening. Don't forget to follow us. Yeah, at mungbeanhealth. Yep, at mungbean underscore health on Instagram, at mungbean underscore health on TikTok.
00:17:34
Speaker
Or our website is www.mungbeanhealth.com. We do have a giveaway running at the moment, which again, I'm sorry, is going to have ended by the time you listen to this. But actually, we have another one following it. So if you're listening to this, get onto our Instagram and enter the giveaway because it's going to be an amazing prize for one lucky winner.
00:17:54
Speaker
So jump on and check it out. See you guys. See ya.
00:18:03
Speaker
And that's a wrap on today's dose of wellness. I'm Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother. Thank you for joining us. Stay connected with us on Instagram at mungbin underscore health.