personal story

Introduction Did you know that thyroid medication can worsen blood sugar? The “highlights of prescribing information” sheets available to pharmacists and doctors for medications such as Synthroid® (generic: levothyroxine) and Cytomel® (generic: liothyronine) warn that both these types of thyroid medication can worsen blood sugar control in diabetics and increase the need for diabetes medications, … Read more

Introduction This update marks just over six months since I was diagnosed with profound hypothyroidism and began medication and nutritional treatment. It is written from a subjective perspective and thus is categorized as part of my personal story, “A Dietitian’s Journey.” At the beginning of June 2022, our family was in Tofino for the marriage … Read more

Introduction Three years ago, Tim Rees, a clinician from Germany, lost all his hair a second time to alopecia universalis (AU). As a registered clinical nutritionist, he felt he had lost his credibility to help others with autoimmune conditions, and when he expressed those feelings in a recent blog, it struck a chord with me. … Read more

Introduction The previous article titled “Hair Loss – Root Causes” was about the three most common types of hair loss, including androgenic alopecia, alopecia areata, and the most common form of diffuse hair loss, telogen effluvium, which is the type often associated with hypothyroidism. This article explains the role of specific vitamin and mineral deficiencies … Read more

Introduction Hair loss can be a very distressing symptom, especially when it is noticeable to ourselves and others. However, before outlining strategies for addressing it, we first need to understand what’s causing it. That is the purpose of this article.  The next article will address strategies for helping to restore hair loss through diet and … Read more

Introduction According to the American Thyroid Association, 6% of the population have some type of thyroid disease and 60% of them (~12 million people) are unaware of it. Assuming the same rate applies in Canada, 2.3 million people in Canada have thyroid disease and almost 1.4 million people are unaware of it. Since changes in … Read more

Introduction NOTE: This article contains aspects of my personal story which are clearly marked. My personal experience is not objective data. The pictures are provided only so that people can better understand what the “weight gain” of hypothyroidism can look like, and how different it is from ordinary weight gain. In-person visits to the doctor … Read more

Introduction I just got “the call” that my mother has tested positive for COVID-19. She has all of the major comorbidities, so the prognosis is not good. We know that age, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes significantly increase the risk of hospitalization and death. While we cannot change our age, we CAN reduce our weight, lower … Read more

Introduction I delayed posting this update due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I thought by now we could all use a little distraction. I hope this post about my health and weight recovery serves as encouragement as to what is possible simply by eating real, whole food and sticking with it. Me – April 2017, … Read more

Introduction Whether one loses 5 pounds of fat or 50 pounds of fat, I think it is very helpful to visualize just how much that is. Yes, five pounds of fat is much larger than most people realize! This past week, I purchased a life-sized model of 5 pounds of fat from a nutrition supplier. … Read more

Introduction I came across a social media post about someone who wanted to drink green tea for its health benefits, but couldn’t get over its “bad taste”.  I followed the origin of the thread to Reddit, where people guessed whether green tea’s “off taste” for that person may be genetic, like the taste of cilantro. … Read more

Some people think there is only one type of “low carb” diet; one that includes lots of meat and lots of fat, but that’s not the case.  There are low carb diets that are higher in fat than protein, higher in protein than fat and those that are somewhat of a hybrid. The same thing … Read more