The Lifestyle Load That Pushes the Thyroid Over the Edge

Introduction to the Summit Guest 0:00

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Reversing Hashimoto's and Thyroid Disorder Summit. I am your host, Doctor Anshul Gupta, world's thyroid expert. And today I am really excited for a discussion because the speaker over here has tons of information. You know, that she can share with you about so many different aspects. You know, she has a great podcast, great guests, and tons of new age information is what I call it, because what she is sharing is basically cutting edge, things, which we will be using today that will be helpful for improving your health, improving your thyroid and Hashimoto's.

So stick around because you want to stay know, listen to the whole conversation. But let me introduce her first before we go into the whole discussion. So Natalie Needham is a holistic nutritionist and longevity educator, is dedicated to helping us all live a joyful life and a vibrant lives well into our 50s, 60s and beyond. She shares strategies from health tech to ancestral health to peptides and more on her podcast Longevity Podcast with Natalie Needham. She speaks internationally, sharing her deep expertise on bio regulators leading edge compounds with the power to awaken the body's innate rejuvenation system.

Nathalie, welcome over here. Thank you so much, and it's a pleasure to be here. Absolutely. So I mean, you know, before you were like, recording, this session and things, we were having this great discussion about, like, how all chronic diseases are so much interconnected with each other, including Hashimoto's and thyroid disorder. And there is so much underlying the surface which is going on with these diseases. And you kind of shared, you know, your kind of, you know, opinions about it. So why don't you why don't we start with like, what's going on with Hashimoto's and chronic disease patients?

Yeah, I mean, I, you know, as I said to you, I'm not a particular expert on Hashimoto's and thyroid in particular, but here's what I've observed. And I've observed this in communities that I manage or even from interviewing other people on podcasts. And there's these common threads that seem to run through all of these, these imbalances that we're seeing in the body. And it's and it is an imbalance. Right? It's it's, you know, and what's amazing about the human body is it can manage so much and so many imbalances for so long until it seems like one day it can't.

And it's never about the one day.

Chronic Inflammation and Hashimoto's 2:37

It's always about the years that have led up to the one day the the adaptations, the stresses and strains, the robbing Peter to pay Paul that the that the, the whole system does to keep the wheels on the bus. And gradually, gradually things start to slide. And I think that one of the reasons why, and especially subclinical, is thyroid issues that turn into sometimes as she motos down the road, they they turn into something really major. The reason this is becoming so prevalent is it's nothing. These things just aren't picked up on early in the game.

Like conventional medical doctors are not trained to look for these things particularly. Or if they are, you know, they can't get it in in their seven in the seven minute allotment they've been given by whatever system working they're working it. So one thing I like not to do is I don't like to throw conventional medical doctors under the bus. I think that by and large, you have a group of people who are doing the best they possibly can within the within the framework that they're allowed to work in.

And, and it also has to do with how they've been trained. So medical school to this at this point at least, allopathic medical school doesn't train people to look for the deficiencies in the science that is ultimately going to lead to a breakdown like a Hashimoto's, which is a full on breakdown. Right? And I think that when it comes to Hashimoto's, what are the underpinning, factors that are leading people down this path and the, the one major one that I believe we all, we all now know is this whole issue of of low, low level chronic inflammation.

And when inflammation sets in, it then becomes a question of what tissue and system in the body is. Maybe the weak link that where this is going to show up and you're smiling. But I don't know what you think about this. And this is kind of like almost like a pet theory of mine. But, you know, why do some people get cardiovascular disease and other people have Hashimoto's and other people have some other issue. And could it be that it's like, you know, we all have a weak link, or maybe there's or maybe your diet is is leading to a certain imbalance.

So with Hashimoto's, we know that gluten can be a real problem, like with thyroid in general. There are certain foods that can be a real problem to the thyroid. So maybe it's this inflammation overlaid with a nutritional, I don't know, a nutritional imbalance or it's not. I mean, gluten is not an imbalance. It's it's an intolerance. Let's say. Right. Absolutely. So I think, like, you know, what you're saying, I totally agree with that, you know, is that we have seen that it's the burning down of the body, which we call as chronic inflammation, which leads to any chronic disease.

And in Hashimoto's, that is also the case. And there's so many different factors, as you said, that is just not one thing which leads to it. It's just the rubbing down of the body by several different factors and which can easily be, you know, like, you know, the nutritional deficiencies or even intolerance to gluten or the things on top of your genetic makeup, which kind of makes you more susceptible in kind of, you know, targeting particular organs. So, absolutely. I totally agree with that. And that's what I talk about, how chronic inflammation is the root of Hashimoto's disease.

And unless we address this chronic inflammation, your Hashimoto's is not going to get better. Yeah, 100%. And then on top of that and I think this is something that is coming up, I don't I don't think I can think of one podcast I've recorded where this, this issue has not been brought up no matter what the topic. And this is nervous system dysregulation and chronic stress. And I think that chronic stress and chronic inflammation are becoming frickin frak. They they go hand in hand. And on the one hand, the chronic inflammation at a physiological level up regulates the stress response.

So we're in a more sympathetic state. But the reality also is that the the stressors of the environment, the stressors of life. So both the physical stressors like toxins, impurities, that kind of thing that we're in, our bodies are now particularly those of us who live in big cities. Our bodies are being put in a position to have to deal with a lot more of these toxins and stressors than ever before, because people will say, well, well, you know, I mean, there's always been this stuff and yes, but not to this degree.

Right? I even think I even believe that the pace of change in lights is putting us in a situation where people are overloaded, right? Whether it's AI or social media or a boss that expects you to be plugged in 24 over seven because they can reach you 24/7. All of these, and then you've got your family, and then you've got maybe little kids who themselves are having to deal with an increasing amount of pressure at school and whatnot. And that stress is a stress on on you if you're a parent and I don't care if your mother or father, you're dealing with this stuff.

And, and that that imbalance in the nervous system is, again, it's a massive stressor that is either feeding the chronic inflammation or the, you know, like the they're coming in the hand in the hand. And it's creating a landscape in the body where if there's any kind of weakness in the system, like you said, whether it's from genetics or or nutrition or, you know, you were you spend too much time in a chlorinated pool. And so the thyroid is under is under pressure from that because it's and you don't get enough iodine on top of that.

So the iodine you do have is getting displaced by the chlorine. And then you're at it. You're in a deficiency state all the time. That's going to put us in that world where all of a sudden we're going to wake up one morning and somebody is going to your doctor is going to say to you, Holy crap, you have Hashimoto's disease. Like, and you're like, well, how did this happen? You know, I'm I'm doing the best I can. And you are. But I think that where those people who are dealing with with patients, the front line, the physicians, people like you, the front lines are starting to see that where you have to begin.

It's no longer just the supplements and the medications

Stress, Nervous System Dysregulation, and Sleep 9:08

and the thyroid replacement. It's how do I support this person in helping them to learn how to regulate their nervous system so that they can be in a in a state where the body can heal or the body can can cope, because when the body's in a sympathetic state, which means you're in fight or flight, there's no resources being given to healing. It's it's survival resources. Agreed with that. And again, you know, like it's not you and me sharing that. It's like we have tons of research. You know, every day there is more research paper coming up that how chronic exposure to stress has been leading to several chronic diseases.

And obviously thyroid is such a, you know, fragile gland that any kind of change in the body, you know, which we are experiencing, whether through physical, emotional, spiritual relationship, stress, all of this directly affects, you know, our diet gland and ultimately leads to breaking up point of it. But again, as you said, it is not just one relationship or it is just one day of stress. It is that chronic stress which is building up over the course of weeks to years, and then, you know, it combines with other things and leads to the breaking point.

So, so absolutely like, you know, stress is so much more important that, you know, like we talk about it each and every day in our practice to our patients that if one thing that you can do, which I'm giving you for free, you know, no supplements, no expensive things is just work on your stress management, you will see amazing results. So I'm so glad that, you know, you are kind of also focusing on that. So much. So we spoke about the stress. We spoke about the nutrition piece of it. You know you touched a little bit about the toxins piece of it.

Anything else that you also feel that is feeding to this chronic inflammation fear? I think, you know, one thing I want is I just in case there's somebody listening to this who hasn't been exposed to the free stress management tools, I, I just want to say to you, that it can be as simple as taking a walk outside every morning and every evening. I don't want to stress people out by telling them they're stressed and it's destroying, it can be taking, you know, doing a minute of breath work when you open your eyes in the morning before you get out of bed, or also at different points during the day when you're feeling, you know, you you know that feeling when your shoulders are up around your ears.

If you check, if you learn, kind of get into the habit of checking in with yourself and saying, wow, can I lower my shoulders if your shoulders come down more than an inch? They were sitting up here. You're in a in a stress state. If at that moment you can just even if you have to run to the bathroom, like just sit with yourself for from 1 or 2 minutes and breathe deeply into your lower belly. And just. And I'm not. It doesn't have to be complicated. It can be for counts to inhale and then six counts to exhale.

You will notice your your whole system start to calm down. And that that know it can be that simple. So I just wanted to make sure that that we don't leave people with the stress of being stressed. I love that. And again, I think that's an important point too, because when I talk to my patients about, well, you have to work on your stress, suddenly I can see their eyes bulging. That okay, well, this is the difficulties. I cannot do this. And I tell them, no, no, no, I'm not talking about, you know, resolving each and every issues in your life today.

That is not happening. I'm talking more in just a few seconds or a few minutes. Right. Just for yourself, sitting with yourself as you shared the power of breath. So these simple tools can be very amazing. So, I'm so glad that, you know, you know, kind of pointed out that it is not about the stress. Don't get stressed out, you know, by just listening to us stress. I think, you know, sleep disorders is another disordered sleeping, not sleep disorders. Disordered sleeping. So and here there's there's a big a lot of pieces and you know well how does not sleeping affect your inflammation.

Well because you're if you're not sleeping your cortisol levels are going to be elevated also chronically. And that also will feed into the stress bucket into the inflammation bucket. And so the issues around sleep is the low hanging fruit. Obviously there are people with serious sleep issues that have to be managed by a professional. But until you've addressed these few pillars of sleep that I'm going to talk about now, you haven't taken you haven't done the low hanging fruit yet. So the low hanging fruit is things like your sleep hygiene.

So what are you doing in the three hours before you go to bed? We're recording this at a time of year where we've lost control of these things. You know, it's it's it's, holidays. I this podcast will come out long after that by then. Hopefully you'll be through all this. But the problem is, there's always a reason to eat too late. So if we want to finish eating three hours before we're going to bed. So that when you're sleeping, your body now can turn its attention to managing you, to restoring itself from the damage of the day.

That's what happens when you're sleeping. Your sleep is probably the most active time of day for the body, where it's repairing and rejuvenating and restoring when they call. When we talk about beauty, sleep, when it's not a joke like you, literally, you can see it in your face when you have a horrible night's sleep. Ask any new parent or any new parent with a baby that's not sleeping. It will. The good news is, trust me, you will recover. But in the while you're in the throes of it, it's like you're aging visibly every day.

So managing that sleep. So the three hours before sleep, just as we have sleep routines for our children and our babies as that we're we're trying to teach them how to wind down, how to prepare their minds and their bodies for sleep. We need to do this for ourselves, getting away from our screens in that last hour. And if if you really can't, then at least get that red light turned on on the as the back light on your phone to avoid the blue light, signaling the brain that it's daytime kind of thing.

Allow your brain to get with the program and understand where you are in space and time. So not trying not to eat three hours before bed. Stay the heck away from the news. Do things that allow you to unwind whether if you love baths, then have a bath. If you want to do a little bit of breathwork, a few minutes of breathwork as you're lying in your bed with your eyes closed it. I often refer to people as if you're going to bore yourself to sleep, because if you're focusing on your breath, it becomes a lot harder to spin out about the things that you're trying to resolve from the day.

You know that your subconscious. If you're getting into the right levels of sleep, your subconscious will work out a lot of the problems that you're trying to solve during the day. The trick is just to allow the conscious brain to quiet down so that the rest of the brain and the rest of the body can take care of things. If you really are spinning with thoughts before bed, right? Think have a pen and paper beside your bed and think of it as unloading the thoughts out of your brain and put them on a piece of paper.

It'll kind of give you the peace of mind to say, you know what? I'm not going to forget. It's okay. I'll think about it tomorrow. So sleep, I think, is that other big pillar that even though people will sit there and go, how many times are you going to tell me it's the basics. It's the basics. We're going to keep saying it to you guys until we really get our heads around the fact that before we get into all the the fancy stuff, or even as we're using the fancy supplements and, and all the things we must be to handle managing this piece of the puzzle, or none of those things are going to work the way that they can, or as well as they can, and sometimes they won't work.

So sleep. And we didn't talk about exercise yet. I think moving the body in whatever way is accessible to you. So if you haven't seen the inside of a gym in 40 years, I'm not going to tell you to go lift weights today. But I'm going to tell you that as a gateway to that, you need to get out of your seat, go for a walk, and if that walk is 15 minutes around the block, ten minutes don't care. Wherever you need to start is where you need to start because moving the body is a way for the body to manage inflammation.

And and that because you're you're moving your circulation is moving. You're all the things are happening. And I'm not sure. Is our internet connection a little weird? A little bit, but that's that's okay. I think they'll they'll be fine. So so the exercise under exercising and over exercising are the same problem. So for those of you who are training for a marathon and a high rocks competition at the same time, maybe reconsider your choices, especially if you're getting a sign from you were mentioning the thyroid gland being delicate, like it's often the canary in the coal mine.

And so if you're getting those signs from your body that that the thyroid, let's say, is not functioning at its max and at its full potential, you need to go back and look at your lifestyle to make sure that you're not somehow feeding into that. So, so stress management, sleep, diet, I mean, eating a healthy whole food diet. I think with people who have thyroid imbalances and I don't know how you feel about this, I think there are certain foods that may maybe, maybe getting in the way of healing.

So things like cruciferous vegetables that are raw, I think they won't necessarily be a problem to someone with a healthy thyroid who's getting enough iodine and all the things. But to someone who's thyroid is challenged, I think that raw broccoli, raw cabbage, raw cauliflower these are these can be quite genic foods. They can be very hard for the thyroid to do its work because of the because of the nutritional profile of these foods. And so it might be a good idea to take a break from them for a little while.

And if you're going to eat them, then at least cook them. I'm I'm wondering, what are your thoughts on this? Yeah. So I mean, obviously like, you know, different people have different like, you know, issues and things. So we also kind of help people kind of the sulforaphane foods are good in general. They are. Yes. If you are dealing with hypothyroidism and things and sometimes, you know, like you cannot just eat broccoli and cottage like, you know, cabbages or cauliflower with each and every meal, but sticking to like, you know, maybe minimal times 2 or 3 times in a week.

And then obviously having the thyroid healing foods, you know, like the iodine rich foods and other things are very important. So I think that's very important that, you know, you kind of break it down to the basics, you know, like these are the things which are the foundation of any thyroid healing protocol. Without these things, the supplements doesn't work, the peptide doesn't work, the biotech glitters. None of these things work. So absolutely like, you know, working on your lifestyle improvement with your great diet. We're working on your stress management.

Sleep and and body movement is such a important key. And again, sometimes we get lost into very complex, you know, like you know, situations of creating like a complex exercise regimen or a very complex like, you know, regimen of how you want to de-stress and things. But I liked it that how you break down of how simple things can be yet so powerful, you know, in improving, you know, thyroid patients. So I like that approach of working somewhat, you know, in the basics and then moving on to the higher things.

Yeah. Which I think we can do now. Like I think, you know, having addressed these basics, one of the areas where I do speak quite a bit is in the space of peptides and bio regulators. Now, peptides are problematic because many of them are technically they haven't been approved for, and they're not being used in conventional medicine because they have not been approved for human use for the most part. So I you know, I'm going to talk about some of the peptides today that have been know have been seen to be helpful, but know that you would do to get your hands on them and use them appropriately.

You're going to want to find a functional medicine doctor or maybe a I don't know if you're using peptides in your practice, we do. But so if you're using peptides in your practice so you're getting them through compounding pharmacy. Your you know that those that that set of problems is is being addressed by the physician. And I think that, you know, with what I see happening in the peptide space is it's very much become the wild wild West DIY. Oh, I heard this peptide is great. I'm just going to use it.

And I, I want to say to people,

Diet, Exercise, and Thyroid-Friendly Basics 22:08

yes. And there's an order of operations with peptides as well. You can't very often you can't just throw a peptide in and think that all your problems are magically going to resolve. So the peptides that I'd seen in the thyroid space to be helpful, though, when they're used at the right time, in the right way, is there's a very, very powerful anti-inflammatory peptide called TPV, which is a fragment of a larger peptide. Now know about the peptides that these are often they are fragments of proteins that are naturally occurring in the body.

So the beauty of the peptide and the people, the reason why people are so excited about them is because your body there, there are receptors in the body for these peptides. There are cellular pathways that are known that that that get initiated by the peptide because it's a natural part of the body. And so it in some ways it lulls people into a bit of a maybe false sense of security because they think, well, I mean, if it's natural to the body, nothing could possibly go wrong. And, you know, mostly it can't.

But, you know, I, I think that it's it's, it's still debatable right now. I mean, I'm, I haven't seen too many adverse reactions happen, but definitely to bring a peptide in and and and experience the full benefits, it's always a better idea to have it incorporated as part of a bigger program. So go. Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. So I was just going to say that that's absolutely correct. Like with anything. Right. You know that we are using there is a time and a place for it. So if you're using it correctly you're going to see a benefit when you're not using it correctly.

It might not show benefit. And then in the worst case scenario obviously it might also harm the body. I was using peptides for like five, six years now. Obviously we have not seen any significant side effects from it, so they are relatively safe. But yes, where you're getting the peptides is a very important thing and how you're using them. So absolutely. And again, in your point where you are saying that, you know, those are not approved. So what she's talking about, Natalie, actually is about FDA approval.

The DEA has not approved these peptides for specific indications. I mean, now we are using peptide like GLP one Ozempic one, you know, and and these are peptides. Insulin is a peptide. So more and more peptides are being compounded and being made as pharmaceutical medicine, which we are going to see more of them coming in the market soon. So they are not FDA approved. But you know, like obviously we have tons of research which shows that, you know, they are safe to be used. So I just want to kind of reassure people in that way that it's not me.

And Natalie just came up with this thought, okay, well, I'm going to use this debate for this reason. No, there is research behind them. So yes, please, kind of, you know, go on. You sharing about KP like, you know, and these improvements. Yeah. So on the anti-inflammatory side. So we have PV which is a three amino acid protein. Like it's it's fascinating right. It's a tiny little protein. And it is really powerful at helping the body to at lowering inflammation in the body. Now remember folks that if you're setting the fire on one side and bringing a fireman in on the other side, you're still in a battle, right?

So you just know that you want to keep doing everything you can to reduce the the fuel for the fire, if you will. And now you bring something like PV in, and you really have a very effective compound that's going to help to calm the inflammation in the body. The other nice thing about V it is it's it does have some antimicrobial effects as well. So if there's any issues with microbes in the body like bacteria it can be helpful. It's not a if it ain't no antibiotic and it's not an antiviral per se, but it can be really helpful.

And that's part of why it's one of the reasons why peptides are so beloved for by physicians who use them, because they don't just stick, you know, they're like the relative that comes in and will help you build something and will also help you clean the kitchen. They'll do whatever needs to be done in the house. The other peptide that falls into that category is BPC 157. And what's crazy about BPC? I think, is that it comes up in every conversation when we're talking about peptides, whether you're healing musculoskeletal issues, you're dealing with a brain issue, you're dealing with a cardiovascular issue, you're dealing with kidneys that aren't pulling their weight.

You're dealing with a thyroid that needs some love. The thing with BPC is BPC stands for body protective compound. And so it has it seems to have this. And you have receptors for it all over the body on every almost on every tissue. So it will be it'll kind of step in. It has global anti-inflammatory effects which can be helpful as well. And it just seems to bring a healing capacity to the to the whole body. So I'm yeah, I'm curious actually. I mean, I want to have you back on my podcast because I want to know how you, as an expert in thyroid, uses these things and what you're seeing.

But to me, BPC 157 TPV, these are going to be two two compounds that can be really helpful in calming this system and calming the systemic inflammation. Absolutely. And we love these peptides

Peptides for Inflammation and Immune Support 27:28

because you know obviously leaky gut is a major issue with a lot of people. And dysfunction or dysbiosis is an again a major issue. And both of them, you know, our great gut peptides also, as you mentioned, there has been leaky gut reducing inflammation rebalancing your gut microbiome. And then obviously that's a good one about peptides is that, you know, is that we feel that there is a supplement or a medication which targets one pathways. These peptides are working on. Multiple pathways are the same simultaneously.

They're anti-microbial, working on inflammation, working on rejuvenation, your cells protecting your cells against toxins or other things. So whole bunch of roles that they are doing. And that's the reason we bring them very quickly. And again these are two peptides which literally nobody has any reactions to. These are two of the safest peptides that you can use. Literally everybody tolerates them. So there's another peptide that I'll bet you use in your practice as well. And that's thymus and alpha one.

And thymus Alpha one is really powerful as an in stepping in and helping to bring up the innate immune system. So this is now speaking to the immune system. And because there's so many autoimmune issues with thyroid issues there, they kind of they seem to coexist and happen at the same time that thymus and Alpha one can be very beneficial now because it is it's immune modulating in the sense that someone who has an underperforming innate immune system, it's going to help to boost that. So for example, if I'm getting sick, I will use Thymus and Alpha one to help my body to kind of overcome the sick where you have to be careful.

And this is where you need your practitioner to work with you, is do you need to understand is your innate immune system overactive? Because if your innate immune system is overactive thymus, an alpha one is not going to help you. It's going to make it's going to compound the problem. So but thymus an alpha one can be a very beneficial peptide when we're dealing with immune system imbalances, which as it turns out, can be a massive issue when you're dealing with thyroid issues. Absolutely. In Hashimoto's, that's the biggest, you know, driving factor is that, you know, your immune system, which has been broken down over the course of time, leads to that, you know, which leads to I've seen Barr virus reactivation or chronic Lyme reactivation.

And then plus, you know, like it doesn't let your body to heal up. So the next one is one of those things which a lot of people, especially who are very sensitive, like, you know, have histamine intolerances, are sensitive to foods. We bring in those times in alpha one comes down things and then obviously the medication works in the supplements works better. So absolutely like, you know, it's a one of those great peptides which can be very, very useful. Right. Well and as you said, healing the gut, healing the gut in and of itself is going to calm down those food sensitivities.

Like I, when I was when I was practicing as nutritionist, I stopped testing people's gut permeability because I, I learned everybody's got is leaky almost when they come in the door. And so and so if I tested them for food sensitivities, we would get a report that said they're sensitive to everything and they'd be down to four foods, which, by the way, will trash your nervous system. It there's nothing more stressful than telling somebody, oh, you're allergic. You're sensitive to all these foods because they freak out.

So I got to the point where I would really for the most I mean, I made tests online just to see how, how how bad the gut permeability issue was. But then we would just jump into a gut healing protocol and then we might test the, the food sensitivities, like, let's see what's left on the other side of this. So that was the way I was doing things. And definitely those food sensitivities which will drive the immune system into overdrive, which will drive inflammation, is going to hammer any your thyroid or anything else.

But the other peptides that I wanted to bring up, because, you know, you can't have a peptide conversation without having a conversation about these peptides is the GLP ones. And I think GLP ones are very important conversation when it comes to thyroid, because they definitely can be healing and they can be an issue at the same time. And you mentioned GLP ones earlier, GLP one is something that happens that already is naturally occurring in our gut. The problem is it only sticks around for a few seconds.

And so for people who are using. So we now have a subset of physicians and practitioners who are using GLP in a very different way than just for fat loss. And there and you know, I think the the big companies that are manufacturing these, they gnash their teeth at this. They do not want to hear about this. They're not happy about it. They've canceled people on Instagram over it. But there's a use case scenario for GLP in micro doses, where it seems to have immune modulating anti-inflammatory benefits for the body without being a player in fat loss, without suppressing appetite, so that now all of a sudden you have someone who's under eating even more, throwing the thyroid into a complete crisis.

Because now it's like you see, I told you we needed to shut down. Clearly, we're in a starvation scenario here. We must shut down to save the ship. So, and so the GLP, I think, are a very important player in the peptide world where we now have millions of people using them in one way or another. If you're using them for fat loss, you and you have a thyroid issue, or you even have the beginning of a thyroid issue, you have to be so careful that your body doesn't think you're starving. And that's the work you need to do with your physician, because you need to titrate that dose so that you're not at the point where you're just not eating anymore.

Because if you're losing weight under there circumstances and there's a positive and there's a use case where the body shut it down and GLP one or no GLP one, you're not losing any weight that there are protection mechanisms in the system for that. But if you're even able to override that and keep losing weight, you are setting yourself up for disaster. On the other side, if you're trashing your thyroid at the same time, totally agree with that. You know, because we see people each and every day, they want to lose weight and they are doing these crash diets, you know, literally like, you know, scared of eating food.

And I always tell them, well, your thyroid needs nutrition, your body needs nutrition. So obviously that doesn't mean that you eat junk, but you need it the right foods to get you the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, everything that you need. So food is not your enemy. You have to eat the right food. So absolutely GLP one's, you know, microdosing. And then also finding the right dose for people is very important because the same don't same dose doesn't work if you are a 120 pound person, you know the same dose will not work for you for as compared to for a 250 pound per person.

So that's the difference that again, the conventional medicine people have still not picked up. And for them okay, it's the same dosage. Everybody goes on to you start over here and you go over there. It's not like that. Everybody's body is different. So I'm so glad that you picked up that point, that using the are also an art, that, you know, and using them the right way, you know, will definitely see benefits. Using the wrong way can have potential effects. You know, if you know, on the long term basis IRA.

And it's and and I think the the the greatest philosophy I've heard espoused by multiple physicians and practitioners is the minimum what's your minimum effective dose. And that concept of and and the thing is it takes patience folks. Right. Like the first time I, I did use a GLP when they, when I was, when it first came out and for, for a full month, I was at, you know, 1 to 5mg which was the tiniest, you know, first starting dose. Nothing happened. Nothing. But the physician I was working with said, just be patient.

We're going to stay at that dose until we're ready, until we go. And the next dose we use was 0.5. And again, nothing happened for about two weeks. And then all of a sudden my shorts were falling off like it was the craziest thing. And I never went higher than that dose, ever. I just stuck it up. The thing that I want to remind folks of is it took you possibly years to get to where you are today. It didn't it didn't. You didn't get there overnight. So if you want success with GP's or any other, if you want success with fat loss with GP's, what you want to do is find that minimum effective dose that allows to move the needle and work with it, lean into it, change your diet, change your lifestyle, work on yourself.

All the things we talked about at the beginning of this podcast, every one of them now becomes triple. More important because you want to be not just maintaining. You want to be building muscle, and you can build muscle on groups, but you have to do that work. So find that minimum effective dose that moves the needle for you, that allows the body to start releasing. And now just lean in with everything else. And it it took me I think it took me 910 months to lose. I was carrying an extra 14 pounds from menopause and, you know, working too hard and not doing the right things.

It took me almost ten months to lose that 14 pounds. But on the other side of it, it was incredible because I just I was able to come off the GLP and maintain all the things I'd been doing, and for the most part, it stuck. Like I put back a couple of extra, a couple of pounds, but my body came to a new balance. I think that giving your body enough time, it does allow the brain centers that control weight to to go through a bit of a reset, but that if you're using the maximum dose and and muscling through in three months and dropping all that weight

GLP-1s, Dosing, and Thyroid Considerations 37:38

and then your thyroid takes a hit and now you've got way more damage to, to deal with. And I'm going to say, for someone who has a lot of weight to lose, they might lose 10 pounds in a month or two months. And that's okay. That's probably inflammation. It's there's a whole lot of other stuff going on here. Right. But especially if you're in the world of losing the last 10 pounds to actually the last 10 pounds will take longer to lose properly than it would take someone who's got 100 pounds to lose, 50 pounds.

Totally agreed with that. You know, is that people, when they see even a small, teeny, tiny benefit, they want to increase the dosage very quickly because, you know, we are living in a day in our age where like, you know, everybody has attention span of one second, right? And then so they want results like tomorrow. So, you know, and you have to work with your body like, you know, quicker results doesn't mean that your body is getting healthy because the ultimate goal is to make your body healthy.

So, you know, like work with your body, the required dosage. And then if it will take some time, you know, like there is no quick fix out there. So you have to put in the effort you have to work in. Yes, these things will be useful for you, but ultimately, like, you know, it's the time you have to give in there. So I think like, you know, people who are listening over here, they might be overwhelmed, you know, and sometimes it is like, you know, how many things they have to do. And I think you are sharing a very important thing beforehand about the power of communities.

You know, like how when the community comes in and then kind of share, you know, like works on things together, you know, that kind of sees amazing results. So, you know, I think, again, you share a great community. So tell us more about that. Yeah. Well, we were talking about this before the podcast, and you were even saying in a conventional practice you would bring patients together in community and somehow they were getting better results than when they were getting the one on one. And it doesn't mean people don't need one on one attention.

But when we create community for people, when we allow people to come together and share their experiences and support each other, it is it is shocking. The the amplification of results that we see. And so I think that wherever you are in this world and whatever you're doing, if you're feeling isolated right now, one of the things one of the most important things you can do for yourself is find a community. And I know it's not easy for everybody, but you can find community in in volunteering, you can find community in a hobby.

You can find community in. Sometimes it's in a medical practice, like if if you're in, if you have a community program where you're supporting people with thyroid, you're doing the individual work with them, but you're connecting them through community. They you could I actually was telling this funny story when I started out as a nutritionist. I did this this little this is way back you guys, long before GP's ever came to ever. We're commonly known about, I call this program success in six. And it was a six program, six week program where I helped people to reboot their diet and, you know, get healthier and loosen weight and do the things and it was I think I paid I charge $60 for six weeks.

It was it was this funny little program. But but the relationships that I saw emerge out of that program were nothing short of amazing like. And it was a lot of it was all women. And so these women formed these incredible relationships like one of them was a lawyer. She ended up being the divorce lawyer for another woman who was splitting up from a horrible marriage. It was just. And they all they all progressed together, right? They supported each other. They encouraged each other. Next thing you know, I had, like, busted my bum trying to come up with, different recipes and stuff.

Well, the group took on a life of its own. Like, next thing you know, there was like a cookbook worth of recipes of people sharing with each other. And so community is, is is where we see amplify the amplification that sometimes defies logic of of benefits for people. So I think that's why you're seeing all of these, all of us in this space creating community. Because I guess we we as people out in, in the public eye, we draw people to us. And then it becomes a natural extension to create a community of the people that are drawn to us, that we are drawn to, and we all end up growing together.

So as a result, this is very long winded way of saying that I ended up creating a community to around the podcast that my longevity with Natalie and in podcast. And I had to do it off Facebook because Facebook just took six years of community building, 36,000 people and just shut it down the other day. They didn't like something we were taught. And I mean, because we were talking about peptides. Peptides are crosshairs of regulatory bodies. And look, I'm not going to lie, there were people in there telling people what to do, and I it would give me a headache.

But Metta just shut the door on the thing and they do it without warning. So you have no time. But I kind of thought it was coming a while ago. So I created two communities. One was for the Facebook refugees. I called them and it's like five bucks a month. I pay a moderator to be in there. It's very inexpensive and it's really just giving people a safe space where they can have conversations with each other without somebody coming in and saying, you're not allowed to use that word or you're not allowed to talk about this.

And then I have a higher level community where I do live. Q&A is a few times a month. I bring in, podcast guests that people are really interested in. They do live Q&A. Sometimes we do, we're planning a, a program in the spring, which is a mitochondrial reset using deuterium depleted water and a mitochondrial testing kit. And, you know, we're going to create a whole we're inviting people in the community if they want to take part in this. And so we do kind of, you know, the fun stuff. But then but the most the biggest value of that community is the people that are in it.

And we have practitioners, we have people who have taken a deep dive into certain topics and they just share constantly.

Community, Resources, and Closing 43:58

I mean, some days I go in there and I'm like, wow, this is way beyond me. And but it's it's a gift to be able to bring people together and give them a place where they can interact like that. Absolutely. And I think that's a very important gift, you know, because as you were like, I, as I was sharing before, when you go to the Cleveland Clinic, we did these group visits with people, and we saw better results, you know, as compared to one to ones. So we were all amazed, like, you know, how the power of community and the group and coming together like, you know, helping each other, doing it all together, understanding each another problems that you are going through, so that that community is so important.

So I'm so glad that, you know, you have created such a safe space for people where they can come, you know, there is no judgment over there. People are just feel free to share what they want. And then obviously they have the guidance, you know, of. We know people like you who can share and do things with them. So I'm so glad. So obviously people like to know a little bit more about where they can find you. Like, you know, tell us more about your podcast. If there is a name of a community that they can know about, tell us about that.

Sure. So the best way so the podcast is longevity with Natalie Nigam. And on Instagram it's just my name, Natalie Needham. And for the community, if you go to my website, not nytimes.com, there's a tab at the top that says The Longevity Community. If you click on that, you'll get information about the community. And then, of course, there's a newsletter sign up there. And we try to bring we try to give value in every newsletter that comes out. And we now have a new section in there on peptides and bio regulators.

We didn't even get to talk about by regulators today, but we'll do a little blurb on a peptide or bio regulator every Sunday, so it's nothing else that is letter gives you that little hint. That's great. So we'll have all that information obviously into the description section. So please check out that check out our website. Podcast is awesome. Definitely a lot of great guests over there sharing a lot of great information. So you should definitely follow her wherever she's going because you're going to learn so much from her.

Unfortunately, we are running out of time today, so we'll have to stop over here. But yes, you can keep going on and on for longer time. Maybe another time we can have you back, and then, we can have a longer discussion about things. But thank you so much for coming over here and sharing all that you did today. Sure. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely, guys. So thank you so much for joining us. This is it for it. We will see you again later. Thank you so much for joining. Bye bye.