The Dr. Westin Childs Podcast - podcast cover

The Dr. Westin Childs Podcast

Dr. Westin Childswww.restartmed.com
Do you feel like your thyroid is taking over your life? Are you suffering from symptoms like weight gain, hair loss, fatigue, brain fog, or mood swings? If so, you aren’t alone. In fact, millions of other thyroid patients in the United States and around the world suffer from the same issues. And these issues persist even in the face of normal treatment with thyroid medication! The question is: what can you do about it? That’s exactly what this podcast is about. I’m Dr. Westin Childs (D.O.) a former practicing osteopathic physician and my goal is to help thyroid patients get back to feeling 100%. Well, I actually have 2 goals: #1. The first is to help 1 million thyroid patients directly or indirectly. And #2. To create the most comprehensive and helpful thyroid resource for thyroid patients on the internet. I know just how debilitating thyroid disease can be and I also know that it is possible to take control of your life. One of the biggest problems with thyroid management is that we just don’t talk about it enough. This podcast changes that. We are going to discuss all sorts of topics ranging from thyroid management, the use of less talked about thyroid medications, opinions on emerging treatments and therapies from leading experts, the use of natural therapies and how they fit into the conventional model, and so much more. If you want more information aside from the standard thyroid treatment of TSH and levothyroxine then this is the place for you. We won’t just stop at your thyroid, either. Other topics that are relevant and important to thyroid function will be discussed including things like hormone balance, menopause, testosterone replacement therapy, and weight loss therapies. If something helps you to better manage your thyroid, improve your symptoms, lose weight, or balance your hormones then it’s something I want to include. For more information on me and why I do what I do check out my website here: www.restartmed.com If you have any questions or have a topic you want me to discuss please shoot me an email on my website to submit a request in the "contact" section!
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Episodes

Top 10 WORST Foods for Hashimoto’s

You can do a lot of good for your thyroid by simply changing your diet. And this is true of all thyroid conditions but especially if you have Hashimoto’s. Eating the right foods can reduce inflammation and protect your thyroid gland. Or, it could do the exact opposite. It’s for this reason that you need to understand which foods you should be eating and which you should be avoiding. When it comes to eating the wrong foods, here’s the list to avoid: 1. Gluten. 2. Iodized salt. 3. Dairy products. ...

Nov 19, 202413 min

These Rx Medications Can DAMAGE Your Thyroid

Statistically speaking, thyroid patients are more likely to be taking prescription medications for other problems like: - Depression - Anxiety - High blood pressure - High blood sugar - Weight gain - And more This is a problem by itself, but there’s an even bigger one: The prescription medications used to treat these very conditions can actually make your thyroid even worse. So in a real sense, you may be taking medications for symptoms caused by your thyroid that circle back to make your thyroi...

Oct 30, 202413 min

DON’T See an Endocrinologist For Your Thyroid

Tired of feeling tired? Think that an endocrinologist is a solution to your problem? Think again. While it may seem intuitive that an endocrinologist, someone who has spent extra time studying about the endocrine system, has more specialized knowledge compared to a primary care provider, you’d be wrong. Endocrinologists do not have the specialized knowledge you think they do and tend to treat every single thyroid patient the same. Here are 5 reasons you will probably get better success with othe...

Oct 25, 202410 min

This Thyroid Medication CAUSES Weight Gain

If levothyroxine contains thyroid hormones and thyroid hormones control metabolism, shouldn’t taking levothyroxine help with weight loss? You would think so, but that’s not what happens in the real world. Instead, we have studies and anecdotal experience that show that patients taking levothyroxine experience no positive benefits to their weight. And worse than this, some actually experience weight GAIN. But how can this occur? It has everything to do with the type of thyroid hormone found in le...

Oct 23, 202411 min

The IDEAL Weight For Thyroid Patients

BMI Calculator: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm Does your weight tell you anything about your thyroid? Absolutely. In fact, because your thyroid regulates metabolism, being overweight is a flashing red light that indicates you may have a thyroid problem. This is even more true for people with existing issues like hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s. If that’s the case, does being overweight tell you something about thyroid function? Yes! In fact, it’s a great prox...

Oct 18, 20248 min

Is This The BEST Thyroid Medication For Weight Loss?

Cytomel is a T3 only thyroid medication (the brand version of liothyronine) that is far more active than levothyroxine. Because it’s so much more active, it also happens to be much better at helping thyroid patients with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism lose weight. Before you run out and grab it, though, or try to switch medications, there are a few things you need to know. When using it you will want to keep an eye on certain lab tests including free t3, total t3, and reverse T3. In addition, yo...

Oct 15, 202410 min

Rapid Weight Gain in Hypothyroidism? Here’s Why

It’s well known that your thyroid controls and regulates your weight through its impact on your metabolism. As a result, it’s actually very common that patients with hypothyroidism end up gaining weight. But what patients usually don’t understand is that if you gain weight from hypothyroidism, only about 10-15 pounds of that weight is directly from your thyroid. So why is it that some thyroid patients gain 30, 40, or even 50 pounds after their diagnosis? The cause for this extra weight gain has ...

Sep 25, 202410 min

AVOID The Carnivore Diet If You Have Thyroid Problems

There’s no question that changing the food that you eat every day can have a huge impact on your thyroid. For this reason, thyroid patients are always looking for the best diet. This search for the best diet leads a lot of them to the carnivore diet which promotes itself as one of the best diets available. But is it true and should you try it if you have thyroid problems? I’m going to argue no, for 4 main reasons: 1. Carbohydrates are needed for optimal thyroid function. Low-carb diets have been...

Sep 20, 202414 min

Start Taking Your Thyroid Medication at Night

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t HAVE to take your thyroid medication first thing in the morning. In this video, I discuss some newer studies which show that taking thyroid medication in the evening can be just as effective (if not more effective) than taking in the morning. The takeaway here is that it doesn’t really matter when you take your thyroid medication so long as you are taking it on an empty stomach. And to do that, all you need to do is make sure that you take it 2 hours after (...

Sep 09, 20249 min

Black Seed Oil Is The #1 Most Effective Treatment for Hashimoto’s

Tired of not having good treatment options available for Hashimoto’s? If so, I have some good news for you. Outside of traditional treatments like thyroid medication, there are some incredibly powerful natural options that have been shown in some research studies to help. One of the most potent is known as nigella sativa. I’m going to use nigella sativa and black seed oil almost interchangeably in this video but here’s the difference: Nigella sativa is the plant that produces black seeds and bla...

Sep 03, 20249 min

Will Iodized Salt Harm Your Thyroid? (Why You Should Avoid it)

Will consuming iodized salt help or hurt your thyroid? It depends on who you ask, but if you’re asking me (and I’ll assume that you are since you’re watching this), my answer is that there are much better sourced of iodine and using iodized salt may cause more harm than good for most people. There are several reasons for this, but some of the main ones include: 1. The fact that iodine deficiency is not the problem that it once was. 2. The fact that there are better ways to get more stable doses ...

Sep 03, 20247 min

The BEST & WORST Forms of Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is incredibly important and many people simply don’t get enough. And if you don’t get enough then you’ll end up with symptoms like fatigue, hair loss, weight gain, brain fog, depression, nerve problems, heart palpitations, and anemia. That’s one problem. The other is that the form of B12 that most people use is the wrong one. Let’s talk about the 4 most common forms of vitamin B12, which one(s) you should use, and which one(s) you should avoid: 1. Cyanocobalamin This is probably the ...

Aug 01, 202412 min

Side Effects of T2 Thyroid Hormone: Is It Dangerous?

T2 thyroid hormone, also known as 3,5 diiodo-l-thyronine, is gaining a lot of attention among thyroid patients, and for good reason. As far as thyroid hormones are concerned, T2 plays a major role in regulating metabolism, cholesterol metabolism, and heat production, making it the ideal treatment if you are suffering from hypothyroid-related weight gain as well as high cholesterol. For this reason, many thyroid patients are wondering if it’s right for them and they’ve been asking a lot of questi...

Jul 23, 20248 min

What She Eats to Stay Off Thyroid Medication

My wife was able to use a combination of diet and lifestyle changes to get off of her T3 thyroid medication. She suffered from an unusual form of thyroid resistance due to an eating disorder in her teenage years which left her with metabolic damage, treatment-resistant depression, thyroid resistance, and the inability to lose weight. She had a complete resolution in her symptoms with the use of T3 thyroid medication (liothyronine) but didn’t want to stay on her thyroid medication forever. To do ...

Jul 17, 20249 min

Use Thyroid Hormone CREAM Instead of Tabets & Capsules

Have you ever wondered why you don’t hear much about thyroid hormone cream? Why is it that all other hormones exist in cream form including progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen? There really isn’t a good reason because the truth is, thyroid hormone cream is probably the single best way to take thyroid medication. It just so happens that not all thyroid hormones are available in cream form... at least not yet. Here are 5 reasons that thyroid hormone creams beat out capsules and tablets: 1. To...

Jul 12, 20249 min

How to Measure Thyroid Weight Loss Accurately (STOP Using The Scale)

Using a scale is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a thyroid patient trying to lose weight. Why? Because it doesn’t accurately tell you how much fat you are losing or how much muscle you are gaining. And, for thyroid patients, this is a big problem because you should be trying to preserve muscle mass when you lose weight. How can you accurately measure fat loss? By using these metrics: 1. Body measurements. Because muscle mass is more dense than fat, even if you lose 5 pounds of fat an...

Jun 21, 20248 min

The BEST Sugar Alternatives for Hashimoto’s

Sugar alternatives are supposed to be safe and healthy low-calorie options that can be used in place of refined and processed sugar. Their great appeal is that they allow you to eat sweet things without gaining weight. But they don’t actually work as well as you might think. Before we get into that, though, here are the best natural sugar alternatives for patients with Hashimoto’s: 1. Monk fruit 2. Allulose 3. Stevia 4. Sugar alcohols But here’s why I don’t recommend them: 1. They are all heavil...

Jun 21, 20249 min

The Low Magnesium Low Thyroid Connection (PROTECT Your Thyroid)

Magnesium is incredibly important for thyroid function and, unfortunately, most thyroid patients aren’t getting enough. This is for 3 main reasons: 1. Thyroid dysfunction increases magnesium breakdown and excretion. In other words, thyroid problems promote the elimination of magnesium from your body. 2. Stress increases magnesium usage. Because thyroid dysfunction makes you more susceptible to stress, thyroid patients have a higher demand for magnesium compared to the average population. 3. Most...

Jun 11, 20247 min

The BEST Way to Lower Cholesterol If You Have Hypothyroidism

Many patients with hypothyroidism struggle with high cholesterol due to how thyroid hormone regulates cholesterol metabolism. When thyroid hormone is low, cholesterol levels will increase. For this reason, many thyroid patients are placed on a statin to combat this high cholesterol. But is this necessary? Maybe in some situations, but definitely not all. Before you take a statin or another cholesterol-lowering medication, try these natural treatments first: 1. T3 containing thyroid medication li...

Jun 11, 20249 min

Supplements That INTERFERE With Levothyroxine (& other thyroid medication)

Over 100 million people will fill a prescription for levothyroxine this year and most of them have no idea how many different things interfere with its function. This includes food, medications, and, yes, even supplements. Which is why I put together a list of supplements that can cause problems with thyroid medication. Are you taking any? 1. Biotin - Biotin interferes with the ACCURACY of thyroid medication and levothyroxine. 2. Caffeine - Caffeine decreases the absorption of your thyroid medic...

Jun 04, 20248 min

Weight Loss After Stopping Levothyroxine (Here’s Why It Happens)

Why is it that some thyroid patients experience almost too good-to-be-true side effects when they STOP taking thyroid medication? And why does taking thyroid medication seem to make some people feel WORSE? Should thyroid medication make thyroid patients feel better? You would think so, but life isn’t always that simple. There are some people who lose weight when they stop taking thyroid medication and, in this video, I want to explain why. Here are two reasons: 1. You were taking levothyroxine w...

Jun 04, 20248 min

What Happens To Your Thyroid when You STOP Eating Sugar

Everyone knows eating too much sugar can be damaging to your body, but did you know it can also be damaging to your thyroid? If weight loss and better overall health weren’t enough to convince you to give up sugar then maybe these 5 thyroid-related benefits will be. Here’s what happens to your thyroid when you give up sugar: 1. Your thyroid hormones will be more balanced. Reducing inflammation can help your body convert T4 into T3 thereby increasing thyroid function. 2. It will be easier to lose...

May 31, 20248 min

The 6 BEST Supplements for Hashimoto’s (These WORK)

Many patients with Hashimoto’s feel frustrated. They don’t like the idea of taking thyroid medication for life and they don’t like the idea of feeling like there’s nothing they can do to help themselves feel better. The good news is they can do something: take supplements. The right supplements are not only safe, they can also be effective at improving thyroid and immune function in people with autoimmune thyroiditis. Here are 6 supplements that can help you feel better if you have Hashimoto’s: ...

May 29, 202412 min

What Doctors Get Wrong About NDT Thyroid Medication

Millions of prescriptions of thyroid medication will be filled this year and the vast majority of them will be for levothyroxine. Of those millions, only about 10% or so will go to a class of thyroid medication called natural desiccated thyroid. Despite being only 10% of all prescriptions, thyroid patients have a clear preference for it. Not only does it help with weight loss, but it also can help better control thyroid symptoms based on surveys of thyroid patients. There’s only one problem: Doc...

May 28, 20249 min

6 Mistakes Thyroid Patients Make When Losing Weight (AVOID These)

Despite what many of you may feel, it’s definitely possible to get to a normal weight if you have a thyroid problem. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it does mean it’s possible. In order to do that, though, you’ll want to avoid these mistakes. Mistake 1. Massive upfront calorie restriction. Calorie restriction in some form will be necessary to get to your ideal weight but many thyroid patients should spend more time focusing on their thyroid function instead of their calories, at least in the be...

May 20, 202413 min

How To RAPIDLY Lose Weight With Hypothyroidism

Roughly 80% of hypothyroid or low thyroid patients say that they have trouble losing weight. It’s for this reason, that they are often attracted to dangerous diets that promise rapid weight loss. Unfortunately for them, instead of rapid weight loss, they are often met with thyroid damage, metabolic damage, and short-lived changes on the scale that revert back to normal the second they stop. Which is why today I’m going to talk about the most powerful weight loss treatments that exist for thyroid...

May 17, 20249 min

5 LIES About Hashimoto’s You Probably Believe

There’s a lot of bad advice that gets thrown around out there for people who have Hashimoto’s. And, believe it or not, some of the worst offenders are doctors! If you have Hashimoto’s, make sure you aren’t falling for these lies: 1. Your TSH is "normal". The TSH is an accurate test for diagnosing thyroid disease but it’s not a great test for assessing if you are being adequately treated. 2. Changing your diet won’t help your thyroid. It’s always been the case that changing your diet is an import...

May 14, 20247 min

Eat MORE Carbs DAILY For Better Thyroid Health (Here’s How Much)

You should eat low carb if you have a thyroid problem like hypothyroidism and want to lose weight, right? No! Cutting your carbohydrates has been shown to REDUCE thyroid function by negatively impacting thyroid lab tests like free T3 and reverse T3. The change that we see in people who go low carb for long periods of time mimics the same thyroid lab tests we see in chronically ill patients and in those who starve themselves. In other words, if you want better thyroid function and better thyroid ...

May 14, 20249 min

Glucomannan Makes Weight Loss Faster & Easier

Glucomannan is a plant fiber that comes from konjac root and it has some special properties that can help you lose weight. Unlike other plant fibers (which are also healthy) it can absorb up to 100x its weight in water. This holding of water allows it to press against stretch receptors in your stomach which impacts appetite. But this is just one benefit, here are 3 ways that glucomannan can help you lose weight: 1. By helping you to control your appetite. When taken before a meal, and with water...

May 07, 202411 min

What Your Nails Tell You About Your Thyroid Health

One easy way to check the status of your overall health and the health of your thyroid is by simply looking at your nails. Because your nails grow slowly, and because they respond to stressors on the inside of your body, they represent a 6 month history of your overall health. It just so happens that they also give you valuable information about your thyroid function as well. In hypothyroidism roughly: 70% of patients experience fragile nails 48% experience slow growth 40% experience thinning An...

Apr 29, 202411 min
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