Recently I attended a “thyroid mastermind meeting”, which was put together by Dr. Izabella Wentz, who is the author of the amazing book “Root Cause”. In addition to Dr. Wentz there were other very knowledgeable practitioners present such as Dr. Datis Kharrazian, Dr. Alan Christianson, and numerous others. It was a great experience, and so I figured I’d share some of the highlights. In the future I hope to have separate blog post interviews with most of these presenters, along with many of the other attendees, and so be on the lookout for this.
Dr. Izabella Wentz. Dr. Izabella Wentz started off the presentation, and one of the topics she spoke about was Blastocystis hominis, and how she finds that this parasite is common in her Hashimoto’s patients. She also discussed a survey she conducted on 2,232 of her email subscribers with Hashimoto’s, as she asked them how they felt when eating certain foods. Some of the statistics weren’t surprising, as she mentioned how most people felt better on a gluten free diet (88%), and less than 1% felt worse. 79% felt better when avoiding dairy, while only 1.5% felt worse. 81% felt better when following a Paleo diet, while only 3.2% felt worse. However, some of her findings were more surprising. For example, for those who followed a vegan diet, 30% said they felt better, but 28% of them had felt worse.
Stacey Robbins. Stacey Robbins was the next speaker. Like Dr. Wentz, she was also diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and is author of the book “You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone”. During her talk she spoke about gratitude, and how having Hashimoto’s isn’t the end of your health, but can be the beginning of your healing. She finished with a wonderful yoga/meditation exercise…thank you for that Stacey!
Shannon Garrett. Next up was Shannon Garrett, who is an integrative registered nurse, holistic lifestyle & wellness coach, and a certified nurse-nutritionist. Not only was Shannon diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, but she also was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, pernicious anemia, and interstitial cystitis. Shannon tried taking a functional medicine approach for her condition, but she didn’t respond well after two years of integrative therapies, as she didn’t feel better, her antibodies didn’t decrease, etc. But after going on low dose naltrexone (LDN) she felt much better, and eventually her antibodies weren’t detectible. Even though LDN worked well for her, she did mention that it shouldn’t be used as a standalone treatment. One important thing she mentioned that I didn’t realize is that candida will block LDN from working, and so if anyone reading this took LDN while dealing with a candida infection but didn’t receive good results, then this very well might have been the reason for this.
Michael Roesslein. Michael Roesslein was the next speaker, and his focus was on spore-based probiotics. He discussed how they have 100% survivability, and they produce powerful antimicrobials. He discussed some of its functions, and he said that spore-based probiotics seem to be especially effective for Th2 dominant conditions, which means that they might be more beneficial for those who have Graves’ Disease. He mentioned how spores can benefit people with a leaky gut by helping with the tight junctions and increasing microvilli height. He mentioned Dr. Tom Bayne, and how Dr. Bayne has seen up to a 66% reduction in TPO antibodies for those who take spores, although I wasn’t able to find this information. He also said that people with histamine issues have received great results when using spores. This past summer I attended a nutrition conference and one of the presenters there also spoke about spore-based probiotics, and so I’ll definitely need to look into this. And of course if anybody reading this has received some good benefits from taking spore-based probiotics please feel free to share your experience in the comments section.
Dr. Kirk Gair. The next presenter was Dr. Kirk Gair, who uses cold laser therapy in his practice, including on the thyroid gland of some of his patients. I recently discussed this in a blog post entitled “Can Cold Laser Therapy Regenerate Thyroid Tissue?“. One of the main studies is the Hofling study, which involved 43 patients, and it showed that cold laser therapy helped reduce the TPO antibodies and improved thyroid function. (1). It’s important to note that while the thyroid peroxidase antibodies were reduced, there was no improvement in the thyroglobulin antibodies. Dr. Gair also mentioned how people with Graves’ Disease can also benefit from cold laser therapy, although there doesn’t seem to be any research on this. Just as is the case with LDN, Dr. Gair also mentioned how you need to incorporate other aspects of functional medicine.
Dr. Jolene Brighton. Dr. Jolene Brighton is a naturopathic physician who was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and her presentation focused on postpartum thyroiditis. She started off by telling everyone that 300,000 to 400,000 births will result in postpartum thyroiditis this year alone. While many of these cases will be temporary, 30 to 40% of these women will develop permanent thyroiditis. In addition, of those who go into a state of remission, they are at risk of developing postpartum thyroiditis again if they become pregnant in the future.
Dr. Alan Christianson. I’m sure many reading this are familiar with Dr. Alan Christianson, who is also a naturopathic physician, and is author of the excellent book the Adrenal Reset Diet. Dr. Christianson discussed some “curious case studies”, and he mentioned that 10 to 40% of people with Hashimoto’s will test negative for thyroid antibodies. This of course can make it very challenging at times to tell if someone has Hashimoto’s. He also spoke about how TSH isn’t linear. For example, if someone has a TSH of 94, while another person has a TSH of 12, this doesn’t mean the person with the TSH of 94 needs to take more thyroid hormone medication than the person who has a TSH of 12.
Dr. Datis Kharazian. The next presenter was Dr. Datis Kharazian, who has a very well known book on Hashimoto’s entitled “Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal? “. He spoke about the autoimmune paleo diet, and mentioned how some of the “allowed” foods might cause problems. I spoke about this as well in other blog posts, as while I like the autoimmune paleo diet and commonly recommend it to my patients, it’s not a perfect fit for everyone with Hashimoto’s and Graves’ Disease. He also spoke about cerebellum antibodies being the most common autoantibody associated with Hashimoto’s, with the exception of the autoantibodies associated with Celiac Disease. Most people reading this are familiar with the health risks of bisphenol A (BPA), but Dr. Kharrazian warned everyone attending that bisphenol S (BPS) is frequently used as a substitute, and is just as bad as BPA, and perhaps even worse. Sure enough I did some research on this, and the literature does show that bisphenol S also has endocrine-disrupting effects, as does bisphenol-F (2) (3) (4).
Andrea Nakayama. The final presenter of the day was Andrea Nakayama, who is a functional nutritionist, and she essentially spoke about how we need to educate our patients better, and make them realize that they are on a “heroes” journey. Although most people are looking for a quick and “smooth” recovery, she said what everyone attending the thyroid mastermind knows, which is that in many cases one’s recovery isn’t going to be a quick and easy fix.
Hashimoto’s Awareness. Pearl Thomas-Flanagan and Fabienne Heymans are part of Hashimoto’s Awareness, which is a non-profit organization which helps to raise awareness of this autoimmune condition. And although they didn’t have a presentation during the thyroid mastermind, I would like to encourage everyone to visit their website (www.hashimotosawarness.org) and consider helping them either by giving a donation, volunteering, or simply sharing your Hashimoto’s story with others.
Although I was honored to be invited to the thyroid mastermind meeting, initially I considered backing out due to my hectic schedule. But I’m glad that I had the opportunity to attend and meet everyone there, and I’m very thankful to Dr. Izabella for putting this together. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I’m hoping to eventually interview most of those who attended, and so you can look forward to learning even more about some of the topics mentioned in this post.
That was a great summary. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Daniella,
You are very welcome! Thank you so much for reading it!
Would you please explain what a spore-based probiotic is?
First, thank you Dr. Eric for more great information!
Spore based probiotics come from bacteria that reduce into a dormant spore forming state as a defense mechanism to survive harsh environmental circumstances. Not all bacteria do this, but members of Bacillus and Clostridium species (as well as many others) can. Spores are ubiquitous in the environment and these organisms do make up a small percentage of the normal human microbiome.
When the spores are in a favorable environment they can become metabolically active again. The human GI tract is one such place. What makes them unique as probiotics go is that they have a 100% survivability through the stomach and small intestine, allowing them to reach the large intestine and colonize.
There are several options available on the market now, MegaSpore and Prescipt Assist the bigger ones. You can also get single strains, such as Bacillus coagulans, from some companies.
I use them clinically in a wide range of patients from those that have autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s, Crohn’s, and UC to those that have significant GI infections such as SIBO.
Dr Wentz’s survey results cannot be extrapolated and are misleading since she only surveyed her current email subscribers – a very homogeneous group, NOT a representative sample and therefore cannot extrapolate from this data.
Hi Linda,
While it’s true that most of her email subscribers have an autoimmune thyroid condition, I don’t see how her survey results are misleading. After all, it’s a survey, not a randomized controlled trial. She was upfront and disclosed that it was a survey to her email list, and while I agree that we can’t apply this data to everyone, it’s definitely not misleading.
I cured my hypothyroid by using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) I may have taken a couple of months – I don’t know for sure because I was just trying it out. I was taking GTA-Forte II for my condition and getting annual blood analyses for it and the last one showed that I did not have any more hypothyroid. Of, course I am going to continue being on a diet with no Gluten, dairy products, eggs and soy. I happened to be also allergic to those foods. Also I am controlling stress with EFT as well. I felt that stress is a big factor in worsening any disease.
What is GTA-Forte II?
Hi Laureen,
GTA Forte and GTA Forte II are thyroid glandulars sold by the company Biotics Research.
I get discouraged because I DO NOT have the kinds of thyroid conditions most people have and those that are talked about and discussed on this site. I have overactive thyroid nodules that absorb too much iodine therefore throwing me into a hyperthyroid state. For this I take and have taken for the last 2 1/2 year Methimazole 5 mgs. I refused to take more. My endo said I “would not get good results with 5 mgs” and he also said, most likely I “can never be taken off of the Methimazole. Does anyone else have this kind of thyroid condition and would like to share how they are treating their thyroid? Thanks, Leesy
I too, battle from Graves (Hyper). It is very frustrating to go in time and time again and be told that you are going to need the radio active treatment OR surgery. I told my endo that this is an autoimmune issue, right? He laughed at me and said that if he had that answer, he’d have Warren Buffet cleaning his toilets! Well now you know why I do not go to him anymore!
But anyway, I have had this condition for approx 4 years. I get it and go into remission. My blood work tests were off of the chart and now, thankfully they are in range for the most part. My TSH is dragging behind. They say that it takes time for it to catch up. I am still experiencing heart palpatations, which I am not sure why they are continuing, if my thyroid tests are in the norm.
But I would suggest doing an elimination diet. I also see a natural doctor and I have been gluten, dairy and egg free for about 3 months. I also have psoriatic arthritis (another auto immune) and I have noticed less pain.
My new thyroid doctor couldn’t believe that my tests were in the normal range, because I hadn’t taken the methimozole since probably April and then I didn’t take the prescribed dose. I told her that I was doing the elimination diet and she thought that was very interesting…of course! I am not a “good” patient. I am always worried about the side effects of drugs. So over the last year, I was taking maybe 10 mg per day or the methimazole vs being prescribed 40mg and my levels still came down.
I am surprised that you were told to stay on that med. This last doc told me that Meth is not a cure and that it will do more harm than good; that I would need to decide on the radio active treatment )her preference) or surgury, to be done with it once and for all. She was concerned on how being hyper has affected the rest of my body.
Like I said, I have had heart issues since Jan of this year, on and off. I feel fine otherwise, so this is my battle now. BUT I would recommend seeing a natural doctor for sure! You will be amazed at what you will be told. I am a firm believer in diet change. I hope that you will keep educating yourself, like these articles from Dr Eric. Best wishes; you are your own best advocate!
Hi Leesy,
I’m not sure if you have read my article on multinodular goiter, and so I’ll include a link below:
https://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/articles/multinodular-goiter-natural-treatment-methods/
Thank you so much
this is a brilliant summary and wonderful to know more information about this – thank you
Hi Trish,
You are very welcome, as I appreciate you taking the time to read the post!
I have been diagnosed with Celiac Spru for the past 29 yrs and suffer with hypothyroidism for 5. I currently take 122 mg of synthroid Since reading your website I began taking natural thyroid supplements this past month to include magnesium b12 and vitamin D. I am definitely feeling more energized with the supplements but want to decrease the synthroid. I am wondering about the spore probiotics what are they and would they be beneficial?? Your site is incredibly informative I’ve learned so much. Thank You
Hi Laureen,
Although taking the spore probiotic might help, in most cases one has to do more than take nutritional supplements and herbs to restore the health of the immune system, which is usually necessary before someone is able to reduce the dosage of thyroid hormone medication. Keep in mind that not everyone can successfully wean off of the medication, but even when this is the case it’s still important to address the autoimmune component of the condition.
Spore based probiotics have worked great for me, in addition to GAPS diet and biocidin.
So far we reduced the antiobodies from 13.2 to 1O, diagnosed hashimotos.
NOw we have switched – my doc. and I to raw probiotics and GTA forte to increase T3 production. There is suspicion my thyroid won’t behave properly even with right diet, as it has been under radiation in the past. 🙁
but so far we are seeing progress… determine what makes you sick is number one,. tackle the dysbiosis of your GI is second and third support your thyroid… it should work..
Thanks for sharing your experience, as I’m glad the spore-based probiotics, GAPS diet, and Biocidin have all helped!