Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger. That's why today we're going to dive further into thyroid like last week. I know last week was a bit of a longer episode. Today, we're going to keep it a little bit shorter, okay? I want to give you a checklist, a checklist for optimizing your own thyroid output, your own thyroid conversion. I want to just make sure that we bring this back to you because last time specifically we talked about lab testing and all these things. Hey, look, even without lab testing, if you do like a simple body temperature measurement, right, you get a pretty good gauge of your thyroid, okay? But I want to specifically talk about the lifestyle factors that will influence your T4 production, your conversion, and really just making sure, hey, are you at least checking these boxes? So even if you're not dealing with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's, which will be a topic for next time, Hashimoto's specifically in autoimmune, but even if you're not dealing with any of that, let's just at least understand, hey, like a healthy metabolism is important, not just for burning calories, but for everything your body does. Every process, function, if you want to thrive, if you want to live in an optimal health, then it's probably worth looking into these kind of things. Because like I said last time, T3, right, that metabolically active hormone, acts on every cell in your body. So it's pretty damn important. Now, before we dive in, welcome back to the podcast. As always, I'm your host, Johan Vesters. Welcome back to Talk Nutrition. If you're a first-time listener, what's up? What's up, what's up? Just so you know, you can always DM me on Instagram, not here to sell you stuff. I'm just curious to learn what you guys want to hear from me, right? Because obviously now we're diving further into thyroid. I want to expand on autoimmune as well. Always having a lifestyle nutrition first approach. And obviously this is not medical advice. I'm going to educate you and help you understand these things better. So you can go, if you are dealing with more serious things, you can go to your doctor and get the help you deserve and need, right? But I'm always going to bring it back to lifestyle because look, people don't just get sick. Like I said in the very beginning, genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger. You can have the genetics, but if you don't have the triggers, right? You don't develop these things. Like Hashimoto's, genetics is a component here, but there's the leaky gut part and then there's the triggers, okay? And you'll learn how stress is a big part also here, by the way. But okay, genetics testing is great. And I did mine recently and learned a whole lot. Very interesting, very cool. And I think this will likely become a bigger part than I see it already in other, you know, other peers, you know, around me. And people are doing more with it to kind of like figure out more complex cases. I think it's great. I also don't think that everyone's going to need genetic testing or even DUTCH tests or GI maps. But what I will say, okay, as you're listening to this, if you are dealing with gut issues, if you are dealing with thyroid issues, if you are dealing with hormonal issues, whether it's PCOS, endometriosis, or your cycle's just gone and you're trying to figure that out, like all of those kind of things. Like don't try to figure it out by yourself, by watching content scrolling online or even listening to my podcast to be honest with you. Like I'm going to continue to educate you around this stuff, but it's a more complicated field to navigate. And even the fat loss side of things for a lot of people is already overwhelming and confusing. So I want you to understand, like, if these are things that you are trying to figure out, okay, then I'm going to say, hey, but hormones or adrenals, for example, yeah, you're going to have to do a DUTCH test to really understand. Because even there, serum labs are not going to cut it, okay? You're not even going to see how your body is truly detoxing your estrogens, for example, or your cortisol curve throughout the day, right? But anyway, we'll dive into that too. I want to bring some people on the podcast to talk more about the DUTCH test as well. If we're dealing with gut issues, we're probably going to have to test the GI map, right? Because actually looking at what's truly happening in the gut is probably smart. If we're dealing with thyroid, okay, we need like a full panel. In case of Hashimoto's, we're also going to need a GI map because you want to know. Or at least a GI map would be ideal. There is another test I recently found to be very helpful too, which is a little bit more affordable, okay? GI map is going to show you more. But if we are dealing with more serious things, then don't just try to follow podcasts, including mine. Don't just try to follow, you know, Instagram posts, like work with a practitioner, okay? If you ever want to talk about these things, what it would look like to work together, you can always find the link to my website in my show notes. I always do a free call, free consult with people first. But let's now dive into the episode because you already know where that link is. Or at least if you're a returning listener, because if you're a returning listener, welcome back. Stoked to have you. Remember too, like same thing goes for you, right? You can always message me. I'm not here to just sell anyone or everyone, right? I legit want to know what you want to learn more about. Because I, you know, I can talk about a whole bunch of different things. But if you literally just message me right now, go to my Instagram, shoot me a DM and say, hey, I have an idea for the podcast. It might literally go up next week. You know what? Let's do this. The first person who messages me while you're listening to this podcast, okay, with your suggested topic, assuming this is something I can provide value with, okay, then I will record for you. And there's a good chance I will. If I'm like, hey, this will be better to bring a specialist on for, okay, or someone who really like knows their shit when it comes to this, whether it's maybe like a more advanced topic or let's bring someone on. I'll still do the podcast for you, right? But again, the first person who messages me right now on Instagram with a suggestion that will be kind of like related to your journey right now, I'll record a podcast for you, okay? Of course, anyone else who does it will also go on the list. But whatever first message, that will be the first on the list, okay? Maybe for next week. Now, the thyroid checklist, all right? Now, if you want to have this in PDF form, including a, hey, what labs to check for, how to understand the leaky gut side of things when it comes to Hashimoto's, the triggers, like what are the triggers, understanding your labs and what solves thyroid progress and those kind of things, I do have my brand new guide, the Thyroid Decoder, free guide, symptom quiz, all the good stuff. I will drop it in the show notes as well for you, okay? That will kind of give you an overview of like, hey, are we dealing with hypothyroidism or not? Now, today I want to specifically focus on naturally supporting your thyroid and what you can do here to at least, you know, cover your bases. So let's start from the top down, okay? So we have TSH, which is the signal from the brain to the thyroid, hey, we need to start producing thyroid hormone, okay? So TSH downstream should lead to T4 being produced. And we're going to start there. T4 is what your thyroid produces, and it'll also produce a little bit of T3, which is not as much. So mostly T4, a little bit of T3. But what about the rest of the T4? Like, where does that T4 go? It's not really doing anything. This needs to be converted into T3, okay? It can also be converted into what's called reverse T3, which will basically block T3 from acting on your cell receptors, right? Which is slowing your metabolism down. But we want to see the T4 going into T3, all right? So what's going to help T4 production? This needs the raw materials, okay? So we're talking about iodine, tyrosine. These are the raw materials. Iron and zinc are very important, okay? So long story short, it's a balanced whole food diet, sufficient calories. Because remember too, like we're not just talking about calories. It's calories come from your macros, okay? Different foods have a different macro composition, including micronutrients. And you'll see as soon as well for the conversion, there are specific factors too, okay? But we have many things that will influence the thyroid production, okay? Now we already mentioned iodine, tyrosine, iron and zinc. But also your B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin C, D. And other than vitamin D, you can get these from real foods. But what I've seen with many people on a fitness journey trying to lose body fat, trying all these different diets, well, because of those low calorie diets, we're also nutrient deficient or at least lower than optimal. So that's the first thing I would have you look at. Are you actually eating enough of maintenance, especially if you're trying to build muscle and all that, even if you're trying to lose body fat, okay? Because chronic dieting will actually counter this effect and say, hey, we're going to slow things down. We'll touch on that in a sec. Okay, so are you truly fueling and nourishing your body, getting all those micronutrients, okay, from real foods? Talking about iron, for example, we want the heme iron, okay, from animal sources like red meat. Your B vitamins also in red meat and of course eggs, okay? Your vitamin C, E, and then of course vitamin D. That is one that we need that sunlight for. So if you live in an area, unlike myself, where there's plenty of sunlight, awesome. Go and get it outside, you know what I mean? If you do spend a whole lot of time inside, and you are not consistently getting a good amount of sunlight directly on your skin, then I would say, you know, supplement with vitamin D3, or at least look into your levels. That's probably going to be the best, to be honest with you. Now I know my levels, I know exactly what I'm taking. I take 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3 combined with 100 micrograms of K2. D3 is very important here. We also want to make sure, because it's actually related to calcium absorption too, we want to make sure that the K2 in there makes it so that calcium also goes to the places we actually want it, which is not in the arteries, but to your bones, nails, and teeth. So that's it for the production side of things, the things that will support your thyroid hormone production. Now we have factors that will inhibit proper production of your thyroid hormone, T4, okay? You listening? Here we go. Stress. Stress. Really, really, really big factor here, okay? I'm even going to say, I'm going to go as far as saying that stress is probably the main cause of the vast majority of autoimmune gut thyroid conditions, or at least is a big part of the puzzle every single time. Not only stress. Infection. Trauma, okay? Could be physical, also mental. Radiation. Medications. Fluoride, okay? We talk about, you know, tap water sometimes and, you know, the fluoride that could be in there, at least if you're in the US. I live in Norway. I'm pretty grateful for our quality tap water that we have over here. But fluoride, okay? Toxins as well. Pesticides, mercury, lead, cadmium. All factors that can affect that thyroid or really inhibit, right, that thyroid hormone production. And then we do have autoimmune disease as well, okay? In case of Hashimoto's, for example, where the immune system is attacking the thyroid, it's going to start scarring that thyroid. And over time, if the thyroid gets scarred, right, thyroid production will go down. Initially, you'll often see it go up and then afterwards go down. Then we get into factors that help the conversion from T4 to T3. Zinc, selenium. Selenium deficiencies are very common when it comes to Hashimoto's. So that's one that I really want to look at. Generally speaking, though, if you just want to hit your selenium intake, two Brazil nuts a day covers that. I would say zinc. Just look up, you know, foods high in zinc. And just go through that list and think to yourself, like, am I eating these foods? If yes, great. If not, let's add more to our diet. If you're not getting it from your diet, you don't like certain foods, then I would consider supplementing. But looking at zinc and selenium will be key for your T4 to T3 conversion. Now we go into what inhibits the conversion or really, really not inhibits, but the factors that will shift T4 more into that reverse T3, which will act like a metabolic slowdown, right? Metabolic break, like we talked about last time. And once again, we're going to start with stress. Also here. So you see that stress and trauma too, by the way. So stress and trauma. These are both going to affect thyroid production as well as conversion. Then we have low-calorie diets, inflammation. We have toxins, infections, liver and kidney dysfunction, and again, certain medications. Now, speaking of liver and kidney dysfunction, for example, that's why I like those full panels. Not just a handful of markers that your doctor might check because, well, you look healthy, right? Now, let's actually just look at how's the body really doing, just in case, okay? Because it can affect a lot more than just that one number on the panel. So if we don't have these factors like zinc and selenium enough, or we have those factors where stress is high, we're dealing with trauma, you have been on low-calorie diets for a long time, maybe we are inflamed, things like insulin resistance and all that. Well, then we want to start looking at that. But we can assume here, hey, more reverse T3 leading to less T3 acting on the cell. Slower metabolism. And then you can even affect or influence the cellular sensitivity of thyroid hormones. Then we're talking about vitamin A, exercise, and zinc, for example, to support how your cells respond to that T3. How sensitive the receptors are to your T3, okay? So all of this really just brings it back down to, are you properly fueling your body? Are you managing your stress? Do you have extended periods of maintenance calories where we're not dieting? All this is very, very key to remember, okay? Because hypothyroidism is actually quite common. And in about 90% of those cases, it's actually Hashimoto's. And that's why we do a full panel, okay? That's why I want a full panel, at least. I'm going to ask for it every single time, right? Now, for example, I think last year, my TPOAB was pretty low still. It's like a 14 or so. So nowhere near me having to worry about it. But last time, actually this year, when I did my labs, the first time this year, because I do it twice a year, I didn't get my TPOAB. So I want to get that again next time, which will probably be in September, okay? I'm going to check for that. Because that's my last point for today. When you do get labs, which I do recommend to my clients, I'm going to say, hey, at least once a year. I like twice a year, just so that you have that info for yourself and you can see how these markers are changing over time. Because one way I don't love how labs are used or lab panels, serum labs, it's, hey, we're looking at a number. Is this within a range, boom, that's it. Without even saying, hey, this number was this, now it's this. Hey, this is elevated. This is lower. This is right. Especially when we're looking at certain key markers, you can catch it early. And that's why I'm such a big fan of labs. We use Amino in Norway with our clients because you can request a full panel. My client's got a massive discount. If you're listening to this, you want to get that code, just hit me up. But either way, I think it's going to be smart to test. Because if you want to know for sure, like with that vitamin D, if you want to know for sure, your iron levels, for example, right, is going to be worth looking into, okay? So this is really like a very basic straightforward, but it just shows you like, hey, we're not just talking about calories. No, less calories means fewer macros, those micronutrients. All of this can influence your thyroid production as well as conversion. We talked about stress, trauma. We talked about how exercise is actually very important for that cellular sensitivity. And I think especially stress is going to be a very, very big one here, okay? Not just for thyroid, for anything. Stress is so normalized these days that you feel like it's normal to run yourself into the ground, that you feel like it's normal to feel like I don't have enough hours in a day. You feel like it's normal that you are always dealing with anxiety or, you know, it's not normal. And I think we can all do better with this, including myself, okay? But the most important thing here is just looking at where we're currently at. I'm just starting there. I just posted about this recently on my stories. But stress, plus we talked about it last time, right? Stress. Knowing how big of a factor it is in so many things, all things help you. Let's really address it. And if we have been dealing with a lot of stress, start looking at your blood sugars, your blood pressure, okay? If you're really looking deeper, a DUTCH test, okay? To see where your adrenals are at. I'm going to do mine as well. Because I pushed myself a little hard last year, okay? Like end of last year and too early this year. So I would just want to double check and I'll keep you updated as well. So once, like I'll do my GI map. I'm going to do a stool test as well and a few other tests to kind of like showcase that for you. I'll share that with you, okay? And kind of like showing you what I find. Right now, one thing I will say though, my T4 is cranking, my T3 is cranking. So that's all great stuff. So I know I'm not really dealing with a shitty conversion, as much as I didn't get my reverse T3. My T3 looks phenomenal. So I'm super, super excited for that. And once again, little quick tip. If you are looking to check your thyroid or you're just trying to think of, okay, like, hey, I would like to know, but I'm maybe not ready for a test. Or finances, whatever. You can always check your body temperature as well. All right? If you want to learn more, make sure to grab my thyroid decoder. It's in the link in the show notes. That's my free guide, the symptom quiz on all things thyroid. And then I'll talk to you again next week.