What is the Hypothyroid Management Package?
The Hypothyroid Management Package supports individuals managing Hashimoto’s disease and other forms of hypothyroidism. The emphasis of this package is on sustainable weight management and ensuring adequate dietary intake of nutrients essential for converting inactive thyroid hormones into their active form.
Key Features of the Hypothyroid Management Package
What Services Are Included in the Hypothyroid Management Package?
The Hypothyroid Management Package follows a 4-stage Integrated Nutritional Framework.
2. DESIGN: Individual Meal Plan
3. TEACH: In-depth Nutrition Education Session
4. SUPPORT: Specialized hypothyroid nutrition education
What is the Structure of Services in the Hypothyroid Management Package?
The Hypothyroid Management Package is broken down into four separate sequential services that (1) assess your needs, (2) design your individual Meal Plan, (3) teach it to you and provide you with detailed teaching handouts, and (4) support for sustainable results.
Add-on teachings are available for improving symptoms of GERD (acid reflux), gout, hiatus hernia, improving iron status from food, reducing the risk of constipation and hemorrhoids, and reducing the occurrence of kidney stones, etc.
1. In-depth Clinical Assessment:
ASSESS: The first service in the package is an in-depth clinical assessment, which is broken into two parts:
a. The first part of the assessment includes a review of your personal and family medical history and recent laboratory results to help evaluate your nutritional status and develop individualized recommendations. I’ll also clarify your current medications and nutritional supplements and obtain your waist and hip measurements (10 minutes).
b. The second part of the assessment is a comprehensive dietary and lifestyle review, where I will collect detailed information, including what you like to eat and when, food likes and dislikes, religious, cultural, or ethical dietary restrictions, and other factors that impact your health and weight, such as sleep habits and activity level (50 minutes).
2. Design of Individual Meal Plan:
DESIGN: The second service in the package is the design of your individual Meal Plan, tailored to help you accomplish the goals that you set. Your Meal Plan will take into consideration the information collected during the assessment, medications you may be taking, risk factors you may have, lab test results, food preferences, and any food restrictions.
Your Meal Plan is not a rigid menu. It’s a personalized framework to guide your food choices while allowing flexibility and variety.
The turnaround time for completing your Meal Plan will be approximately 2 weeks from the time I receive any requested or missing information, such as any nutrition labels or pending lab test results.
3. Nutrition Education Session:
TEACH: The third service in the package is the Nutrition Education Session, which begins with you receiving your Meal Plan, as well as the detailed, multi-page Meal Plan Summary handout that will serve as a reference as you implement your Meal Plan.
- Visit begins with a review of risk factors, weight, waist circumference, or out-of-range lab test results
- Step-by-step teaching of your Meal Plan, including food categories, serving sizes, number of portions, and how to make substitutions within each food category at each meal.
- Specific dietary and lifestyle recommendations to help you achieve the goals that you set.
4. Hypothyroid Nutrition Session:
SUPPORT: The fourth service in the package provides specialized nutrition education focused on the micronutrients required for the metabolic conversion of inactive thyroid hormone (free T4) to active thyroid hormone (free T3). It covers optimal supplement dosages, timing in relation to thyroid medications, and the impact of goitrogens and gluten.
How Much Does the Hypothyroid Management Package Cost?
The cost of the Hypothyroid Management Package is $510 (GST exempt), and to make submitting to extended benefits easy, receipts are broken down into the four individual services:
- Comprehensive Clinical Assessment ($150)
- Individual Meal Plan design ($120)
- In-depth Nutritional Education Session teaching ($120)
- Hypothyroid Nutrition Session ($120)
Questions About Booking, Billing, or Extended Benefits?
On our FAQ page, you’ll find answers to questions about booking, billing and payment options, appointment confirmations, extended benefits claims, and much more. If you have any questions that are not answered there, you can contact us through the form at the bottom of the FAQ page.
How to Get Started?
What Happens Once I’m Booked?
Once your assessment visit is booked, your care will follow the four-stage Integrated Nutritional Framework outlined above.
ASSESS: Before your appointment, we’ll send you a link to the Personal and Family Medical History Form. Please return it at least 24 hours before your appointment so I’ll have time to review your information and prepare for our session. If you prefer, I can email you a password-protected form to complete manually. We’ll then meet for your comprehensive dietary and lifestyle assessment.
DESIGN: Following your assessment, I’ll develop your individualized Meal Plan and supporting resources.
TEACH: We’ll then meet for your Nutrition Education Session, where we’ll review your Meal Plan together and discuss how to put it into practice.
SUPPORT: We’ll meet for your specialized hypothyroid nutrition teaching.
How Do I Get Started with the Hypothyroid Management Package?
The first step is to visit our Book an Appointment tab by clicking the button below. There you will have the choice to either complete the Intake and Service Option Form online and send it to us directly from our web page, or to download the form, complete it on your computer, and email it back to us.
Want to dive into the research?
Before we meet, you might find these articles of interest.
Questions and Answers
Q: One of my parents has hypothyroidism, and I think I may be moving in that direction. Can I take the Hypothyroid Management Package?
A: Absolutely! The Hypothyroid Management Package will enable me to work with you and your doctor or clinic to get tested, and the Hypothyroid Nutrition Session will help you to optimize your nutrient intake, which will support conversion of the less active form of thyroid hormone (free T4) to the active one (free T3).
Q: My TSH is at the higher end of the normal range, and I’m told I can’t get my thyroid lab tests done because TSH is not out of range. Can you help?
A: Provincial Healthcare plans will cover the cost of thyroid lab tests if there is a clinical reason to suspect hypothyroidism. If your history and symptoms suggest subclinical hypothyroidism, I can provide you with a checklist and a request form to present to your physician to advocate for comprehensive hormone testing.
Support With a Hypothyroid Diagnosis
Ready to address the metabolic impact of hypothyroidism? Let’s maximize the conversion of inactive thyroid hormones to active ones with evidence-based support.
