Interview with Dr. Nicole and Sweta Patel: An In Depth Discussion On Hashimoto’s Disease
Episode 102
Join a conversation with Dr. Nicole and Sweta Patel where they are talking all about alternatives to conventional western medicine and Hashimoto's Disease. Dr. Nicole Rivera brings something different to the table with healthcare, she pushes the boundaries with her cutting edge approach to get well and stay well. Interested in learning more about working with IWG, click here to set up a free strategy call!
Topics: nicole, rivera, something, testing, western, different, healing, looking
Key takeaways from this episode
- Nicole Rivera was, she also has a lot of different interests that don't really pertain to, uh, naturopathal healing, like neurology, fitness, all sorts of fun stuff.
- And because I just kept thinking that there has to be more testing, there has to be better testing, there has to be other ways of looking at the body.
- I had this, this young girl who had Hashimoto's, and it wasn't until, um, probably like halfway working with her, that we were talking about something, I think we were talking about her skin, that's what it was.
- Rivera because I thought that, um, you know, we had all these doctors who are MDs, but Dr.
- So, that was amazing and then I found that she she's not about just, um, you know healing these different diseases but she's really passionate about healing the symptoms from these chronic illnesses.
Pull quotes
Rivera because I thought that, um, you know, we had all these doctors who are MDs, but Dr.
Nicole Rivera was, she also has a lot of different interests that don't really pertain to, uh, naturopathal healing, like neurology, fitness, all sorts of fun stuff.
So, that was amazing and then I found that she she's not about just, um, you know healing these different diseases but she's really passionate about healing the symptoms from these chronic illnesses.
Transcript
I'm here today with Dr. Nicole Rivera and um, I invited Dr. Rivera because I thought that, um, you know, we had all these doctors who are MDs, but Dr. Nicole Rivera brings something different to the table and she also had experience in the, um, in the western also model of health and she did not agree with it, and then, then she came into this side and a lot of these women, a lot of you are taking prescription medications and I wanted to kind of bring something from both sides. Bring both perspectives into one place to sort of, um, create a balance because, I think, you know, when you're you're working with naturopaths, they're completely against the Western approach and when you're working with Western doctors, they have no idea on natural methods whatsoever. So, I thought this would be a great balance to bring Dr. Nicole Rivera and something else I learned about Dr. Nicole Rivera was, she also has a lot of different interests that don't really pertain to, uh, naturopathal healing, like neurology, fitness, all sorts of fun stuff. So, that was amazing and then I found that she she's not about just, um, you know healing these different diseases but she's really passionate about healing the symptoms from these chronic illnesses. So, I will let Dr. Nicole Rivera sort of introduce herself and maybe share her story of how she got started and and why. Yeah. Well, it's been a journey. That's for sure. Uh, so I would say, you know, in the beginning of getting into this world, you know, I grew up like everybody else. You know, we were just talking how, you know, there's obviously such a western influence in all of our lives and I didn't grow up eating healthy and I grew up that, you know, antibiotics were the solution for everything. So, it's something that, you know, I understand where people are at, you know, in their journey. We're just kind of subscribing to what is the normal, um, and what's the common belief. But I think that a lot of us dabble in this world or, you know, start asking more questions at a certain point in time when things aren't making sense or we're just not getting better. And I did the same thing with my career is, you know, I started out with kind of always questioning and challenging what I was being taught and really always thinking, you know, does it really look like this in real life? You know, you learn everything in the textbook and then when you get into clinical practice, you're like, oh, wait. This doesn't match. Which is very eye-opening, but you know, you do the testing that is classified as the gold standard, you know, you're running the blood work. And I can guarantee most of the women that are listening have the, the levels that are imbalanced, but they still feel like crap. And that was something that I was not willing to ignore. I wasn't willing to just say, well, your levels are normal. So, it must be, you must be depressed, or it must be anxiety. It's, okay, there's something more going on here. And because I just kept thinking that there has to be more testing, there has to be better testing, there has to be other ways of looking at the body. I just kept pushing the boundary and, you know, I got into the weird stuff people call it. But really, I started to look at bridging the gap between, you know, your gold standard of your blood work and then looking at DNA based testing, and then looking at bioenergetic testing, which is the foundation of Chinese medicine and and really starting to look at the data from all of it. And neurology and looking how it all pieced together for the patient. And that was a really awesome evolution, but then what I realized is I had all these great tools from a testing perspective, but I had limited tools from a healing perspective. So, that's the thing with this functional medicine world is they teach you all this fancy testing and you're like, oh, I figured it out. But then your approach is either diet, supplements, and maybe a little bit of medication, if you need it. And that also got me questioning, okay, but we're only working on one aspect of the body, the biochemistry. Like, what about the rest? Like, what about the neurology? What about the emotional side of things? Like, what about trauma? What about scar tissue? What about the physical body? And I'll blow your minds later when we talk about the physical elements of Hashimoto's? Um, but that was the second evolution was to start to expand the healing modalities and understanding that it's all about how you do it. It is not about necessarily what you do, but it's about bringing strategy into your healing process. There's so many people that have come to me and they're like, well, I've done infrared sonars. Well, I've done the medication. Well, I did supplements and none of it worked. And sometimes it's not that they didn't work. Sometimes they weren't done in the right way. So that's been a really fun thing is, you know, over the past 10 years, I can't believe it's been 10 years, but it's just been these like challenge, challenge, challenge and hitting roadblocks with my patients that kept me pressing the envelope and getting to a place of understanding that the integration of all different medicines is really the key to helping people the most. Absolutely. And I think a lot of the women in this group, they're they come to me and they're like, well, you know, I'm, my diet, like, you look at their diet and it's cleaner than probably 95% of America. And, you know, you look at like their supplements, very healthy. Um, and every functional medicine doctor I've spoken to, they're they're like, oh. It's all leaky gut, you know, autoimmune is leaky gut. And it makes me rip my hair out, by the way. The gut is so important, but it's like everybody blames everything on the gut nowadays and I'm like, no. So what's your your take on that? That um, is that a misconception? Is that a myth or where do you usually start? So, where we start is definitely different person to person, but when it comes to the gut, the gut is very important for a lot of reasons because it does play a huge role in the immune system and it plays a very big role in the amount of inflammation that you have in your body. But the thing is is that unfortunately in this day and age, everyone has a messed up gut and it's because there's so many chemicals and pesticides in everything we put in our bodies and everything we put on our bodies. So, if we're going to try to say that if you heal the gut, you're going to heal everything, then that's a huge misconception. There's definitely many people that that's part of their puzzle, but there's usually other components. And the, the thing with Hashimoto's is that I worked with so many cases of Hashimoto's and women that have been all on different supplements, medications, like different procedures, you know, you name it, I've seen it. And really the common denominator with these men and women is that there was always a structural and lymphatic issue. So, when you really think about just the anatomy of the location of the thyroid being smack in the middle of the neck, is it is surrounded by tonsils, a bunch of lymph nodes, the teeth, the lymph of the jaw, the sinuses. So, when you start to ask questions to, you know, even the people in this group, how many of you have had sinus infections. How many of you have had even just low grade sinus issues or you snore? Some of you might have sleep apnea. How many of you have tonsil issues? Had chronic strep when you were a kid? Maybe it was in your throat. Maybe you had chronic ear infections. That's usually also caused by strep. How many of you had your tonsils removed, but still get sore throats occasionally. How many of you your neck hurts all the time, but when you press on it, it feels squishy or lumpy because that's all in your lymph nodes. So, how many of you don't really sweat or you get a bunch of ingrown hairs in your armpit? Because the lymph from your neck goes all the way down into your armpit. So, how many of you get breakouts all along your jawline? How many of you have root canals, dental fillings, have had teeth pulled that got infected? All of those things are some of the biggest contributing factors to Hashimoto's. That's so true because when I was young, I had my tonsils taken out. Um, you know, and my lymph nodes, like, every day, I would wake up congested. Like my sinuses and I, I felt like, you know, this congestion was inflammation. And there was no reason why I would have walk outside and I would be congested and everybody would be normal. Yeah. And, um, the only thing that had helped me at that point was doing coffee enemas and that cleared everything up and, um, I think, you know, like when when you look at it from that perspective of all these different symptoms in that structural structural area, it totally makes sense that that's like the sign. But what do you do about it, you know? Yeah. So, this is actually such a crazy story. I had this, this young girl who had Hashimoto's, and it wasn't until, um, probably like halfway working with her, that we were talking about something, I think we were talking about her skin, that's what it was. She's like, you know, I just still like get some breakouts on my, on my jawline. Even though like most of her thyroid symptoms resolved, her antibodies were practically normal. And, um, we were talking and I was like, well, have you had any dental work? And she's like, well, not recently. She's like, but I have been, you know, I have a lot of irritation in my gums, um, in the lower part of my jaw. You know, it really actually started after I had, um, a really bad infection that my entire jawline turned green. And I was like, wait, what? Wait, let's sidetrack here. You didn't think to tell me this when we first got started? So, and it was just like at that moment, I was like, well, there you go. Because she had so many infections in the glands and the lymph of her neck. And I explained to her that that was a huge connection to why the immune system was coming to this area. It was actually coming to the area to clear out all of the toxicity and the infections. But it was creating such a massive inflammatory response and the thyroid was like in the line of fire. And so, being able to getting the lymph working, that made a huge difference. But it was interesting because once we were able to resolve some of the residual issues in the dental area, that was when her skin completely cleared up and her antibodies were completely normal. So, and people should know that. Don't get me wrong, when some certain people have their antibodies that are in the thousands, you know, that's going to be hard to correct. But if you're in, you know, the your 50, 60 up to even, you know, two, three hundred, with the right approach, you can bring those back into balance. So, when it comes to this area here, it's really just a matter of targeting, you know, do you have certain things in your sinuses that shouldn't be there? I see strep in people's sinuses all the time. I see fungus in people's sinuses. And I'm not necessarily talking candida, but mold. Like, there's a lot of people that have been exposed to mold and some of the telltale is that you're allergic to penicillin or amoxicillin. If you have an allergy to that antibiotic, that's usually because you've been exposed to penicillium, which is a mold. So, that's definitely something that I see really often. Um, but there's different types of nasal sprays that can help to clear out uh, certain infections in the sinuses. Even dental. I work with a biological dentist who uh, helps with things that I can't necessarily handle. But even chewing chlorella can help to bind toxins out of the mouth. Um, and of course, you know, some people have fillings in their mouth that they've had for really, really long time that are leaching. That's something that, you know, you really requires, you have to get a dentist to look at it to see if they have to be replaced or or removed. But overall, if you have bleeding gums or if you have just like a receding gumline, chewing the chlorella really clears up the bacteria, helps to balance out, you know, what's going on in the mouth, which will then further help the thyroid as well. Um, and with the, the whole lymph, I want to make this disclaimer because women hear lymph and they Google and then they go get a lymph massage and then they get sick. So, I'm going to make this disclaimer now. Please don't go do that, because if you have a lot of stuff in your lymph and you go and manually stir it up, you might get sick. You might literally get strep throat. you're like, what the heck? So, just know that sometimes you have to take like a slow and steady approach to the lymph. Um, one of the things that I find is pretty safe and effective is an infrared sauna. So, but the interesting thing about that is infrared saunas, they heat you from the inside out, almost like a fever would. So, the first time I ever went into an infrared sauna, took me an hour and 15 minutes to sweat. You're supposed to sweat in 10 minutes. Oh my God. So, I've had many lymph issues in my life. Wow! So, that was very eye-opening because I, you know, my journey was a little bit different. It wasn't Hashimoto's, but I had a lot of mercury toxicity. I had I had actually a lot of parasitic infections from uh, being a, uh, sushi connoisseur. Uh, so I had, uh, you know, a journey of trying to resolve that. And I was always focused on the gut. The gut, the gut, the gut. The liver, the gut, the liver, the gut. And I had hit so many roadblocks and it was very frustrating. And like what he said before, I was the best diet, juice, smoothie, kale salad, all the like 45 supplements. I did it all. And when you don't see the progress that you hope for when you're doing that, it is so frustrating and you just want to give up. And it's for me, that was another reason why I kept looking and digging. And nobody taught me about a lymphatic system. I had to learn that on my own. Nobody talks about that until you have lymphoma, which is cancer. So, you know, I realized that, um, I, I'm almost positive. I grew up in a house that had mold because that was a huge issue for myself. And, you know, that was a big culprit why my lymph really didn't work. And I had chronic sinus sinus issues and all of that. So, um, getting the lymph working properly is, is key, but again, you have to do it gently and strategically. Totally agreed. Um, you know, with my, I, I even went into looking at genetics and DNA testing and some of things I found out about my genetics was that, you know, I, I had the gene mutation for holding inflammation. I had the gene mutation for prescription drugs and like Tylenol. So, like if I took any of that, um, I would be in trouble, basically and the other one I was like, it was about oxidative stress. You know, and these are my genes. And so, I had to figure out, okay, should I turn these off? How do I go about turning these off? What diet? What supplements do I take for that? And that's sort of the approach I took because, um, you know, like a lot of these doctors I went to, they were trying to heal my gut and I had all these different, I had EBV. I had HHV-6. I had, you know, parasites and all sorts of, uh, all sorts of triggers, you know. And, uh, and I'm, I'm like, okay. So, I got rid of these infections, but nothing is like, my symptoms are still persisting and I couldn't figure it out because like all these, you know, forms and everything on Facebook and support groups, they're all about like healing the gut. But I'm like, you guys are sort of missing the big picture here. You're you're missing the DNA testing. I mean, for me, I, besides my sinus congestion, which makes sense, you know, why the antibodies were over there. But I think, you know, over the years of, um, doing the, the prednisone killed my adrenals and once I started healing my adrenals by just raw adrenal concentrate at first, um, my thyroid numbers bounced back to normal. So, um, do you see that often? Like, do you heal the adrenals? Uh, how do you go about that or is that just a myth? Yeah. No, not at all. Um, I find like, I take, um, when we do our testing, I, I take all of the data and a lot of times people do have a lot going on. like, you just said, you know, you're finding infections. Unfortunately, a lot of people have these things. They have infections. We live in a world that it's impossible that you don't have toxins in your body. So, in the beginning of my practice, I was so focused on that. Kill the bad guys, you know, like bind the heavy metals. And you find that some people get better and then there's a portion that don't. And what I started to realize is that it's not always about killing or or binding because if it can't leave the body, it doesn't matter. So, you have to make sure the pathways of elimination work. Does the liver and the gut work? Does this person poop? You know, are the kidneys working properly? Is the lymphatic system draining? So, I always want to look at those pathways. Like, how well are those pathways working or are they not working? And what can I do to start fixing that foundational issue? And after we tame some of that inflammation and make sure that those pathways are working, now we start to really see, okay. Now we have more of an accurate measure of where's the adrenals, where's the thyroid, where's the hypothalamus? How are they communicating? Are they not communicating? Um, in certain scenarios, we find that the adrenals are the root for certain people. But then there's some people that we find that they've had so many things going on in their gut or other infections like Lyme disease that those infections gave off endotoxins that suppressed the pituitary gland. So, their problem is more control center based. So, we find that, you know, we're going to support that in a bit of a different way opposed to supporting the adrenals. But then you have, like, we live near New York. So, we have the, you know, burn the candle at both ends. I commute three hours each way. I don't eat all day because I'm too busy to, you know, And then I also work on my laptop until midnight when I get home. You know, we have those people around here. So, those people, you know, of course, I'm looking at their adrenals and finding that they're burnt to a crisp. So, yes. So, yes. That is definitely the case for certain individuals. But, you know, the beauty of it is being able to look at all the data pieces. But also, look at their life. Like, look at what they're telling you about their life. And being able to know, okay, is it truly, you know, an adrenal issue or is this more of a neurological component as well? So, it's really great when you're able to decipher and then obviously help to fix the root so that the thyroid can start to heal. And like, some of uh, so what's your approach to like healing the hormones? Because a lot of natural doctors feel that, you know, if you heal the gut, the hormones will go get balanced and jump back to place. Um, or do you feel that you should take a supplement? You know, like, uh, a bioidentical hormone or something of the nature to sort of balance it out. So, the, the hard thing about hormones is that your body is super smart. So, when you're putting something in that is mimicking a hormone, like a bioidentical or, um, anything hormone replacement in general. Is that your body says, oh, that estrogen is here. Well, okay. Well, I, I better not make it. So, I, so now we don't have too much. So, you create a negative feedback loop. And now the ability for the ovaries to make the estrogen becomes compromised. So, then you come off of your bioidentical and women will be like, oh my gosh, my hair is falling out, everything's terrible, my nails are falling off. Like, they're they like, they they spiral and then the doctor's like, whoop, well, got to go back on. So, I don't love that approach and I also the way that I even look at supplementation is I will use certain things in an emergency. Like, if someone cannot sleep, they have massive insomnia, I'm going to give them something that is a neutral that's going to help them to sleep so they can heal. But I never want to use that long-term and I also never want to see that my patient takes something and then they come off of it and they go backwards. Yeah. Because it's all about accumulative effect. So, I definitely agree with the fact that, yes, maybe it's the gut. But it's if you get the body working as a whole and you improve the function, especially of the liver, especially of the liver. But if you get the function of the liver working and the gut and the kidneys and the lymph, you're going to decrease a ton of inflammation, which is going to take a huge burden off of the uh, the ability to produce, um, hormones. So, if you're able to remove that burden and allow the hormones to self-correct, great. It's not always that simple for every person. But if I have to help to assist in the, you know, hormone balancing, or getting the hypothalamus to talk to the adrenals, or vice versa, I want to use approaches that are going to move the body forward and not necessarily create a a reliance. So, that's I think the key thing is like, if a patient uses something and comes off of it and it's like, I went backwards. I know that that wasn't the right approach. I know that they need something different in order to give the stimulation or get the connection made and then be able to come off of it and sustain that progress. Right. And and like dealing with Hashimotos, um, patients, what what other conception misconceptions have you seen? So, I think that the biggest thing that I have to explain to them is that it's not, as much as it's a thyroid issue, it's not as much of a thyroid issue as they realize. I I just explained to them. I'm like, this isn't a T4 problem. I'm not saying that you don't have abnormal levels, but what I'm saying is that you can take all the T4 in the world and eventually take T3. You're not going to see your antibodies change because that's not the root. The root is what is triggering your immune system and what is causing such a flood of immune cells to the thyroid. And that's when they're kind of like, oh, I didn't even really think about it that way. I go, so if you want me to be the doctor that's going to play the game of, let's test your TSH every six weeks, like, I'm not going to do it. Because I want to look at the bigger picture here of, you know, are your sinuses working? Have we resolved your dental issues? Is your lymphatic system working? You know, um, are you having swollen glands? Like, are you still snoring? Can you breathe? Do you have seasonal allergies? Like, I want to look at all of those aspects. Do you still have, you know, swelling in your neck? Like you can look at women, you see it. You know, and poor women, they are like, I have a fat neck. And I'm like, no, you don't have a fat neck, I swear. Like, it's just you have so much inflammation in here. And it's just being able to work on those layers and then being able to check in with the the thyroid and look at those antibodies. Have they calmed down? Has that inflammation calmed down? And most of the time you're looking at it and you're like, oh, well, there you go. Your TSH and your T4 are actually like a ton better than they were. And we didn't even do anything to the thyroid. All we did was fix the surrounding area. Right. And and like when you talk about these pathways, because a lot of naturopathic doctors don't ever touch the pathways. What's your approach to sort of making them work again? You mean more like the endocrine pathways? Yeah. Exactly. So, with the, our approach is a little bit unique. Uh, we actually do this style of testing called autonomic response testing. And what it does is it actually allows us to use, um, DNA. So, uh, a lot of times we work with people from all over the world, so we use the DNA of the hair. Uh, because you have DNA in your hair sample. So, we use the DNA of the hair in order to decipher what supplements, remedies, therapies are congruent with that person's DNA. So, when we start talking about, you know, like balancing the pathways, we get insanely specific based off that testing. So, I know that that's like a very unique thing that we do. But I feel like it has to be that specific because, you know, if you've ever looked at a biochemical chart, like anybody's head will spin. But the crazy thing about it is when you're talking about, okay, the hypothalamus talking to the thyroid, the thyroid talking to the adrenals and then the reproductive organs. It's not just that, it's also you need zinc, you need B12, you need B6, you need magnesium, you need calcium, you need all these other co-factors. So, when you're guessing or, you know, kind of like winging it, you're you're trying to be this biochemical master. And it's virtually impossible. It's virtually impossible. And you can definitely leverage, you know, running different tests for these deficiencies and you can run neurotransmitters and you can run those things to definitely guide you if you don't use like this style of autonomic response testing to at least allow you to know where are these things at? Like, where is the kink in the chain? Because it might not truly be that, you know, the, the thyroid can't function. Maybe it's a zinc deficiency. Maybe it's a selenium deficiency. Um, actually I want to say this too so I don't forget because I know that a lot of women are reading about, um, Hashimoto's and thyroid and being recommended to, uh, take iodine. Well, in some cases, I know that there's like certain doctors like anti-iodine, don't do iodine and then there's other doctors like do iodine. Just as an understanding, iodine is a detoxifier of the thyroid. So, sometimes when you take iodine, you will see your antibodies skyrocket. Like go they become elevated. And it's because it's detoxing the thyroid. The most common toxins I see in the thyroid is mercury from especially silver fillings in the teeth. And the other one, this is going to kind of blow people's minds, but deep or DDT, the pesticide that everybody thinks we don't use anymore, but we do. Um, the funny thing is is people are like, what are you talking about? Didn't they stop using that years ago? And I'm like, when they spray, when people say I spray my house for mosquitoes, there's Traces of in that. And in addition is, uh, back in the day when they used to have trucks that like drove through the city to spray for like bugs and mosquitoes, that was deep. So, deep for the most part is passed down generation to generation because it sticks in your tissues. Wow. I had no idea. And a lot of doctors they say like fluoride, chloride, um, those. And it could be part of it, but the common theme that I see, mercury deep. Wow. That's great to know. And with the hair test, I've done a hair test before, but it was like, uh, hair mineral test. And it was so crazy because I, I took blood tests of like a micronutrient blood test. Yeah. And all these nutrients were like above high normal, but in my on my hair test, they weren't. So, I thought the hair test was a facade because I was like, oh, well, how is it that my blood test shows that all these nutrients are normal and then my hair doesn't? It's super confusing. I don't use hair for, um, heavy metals or minerals anymore because when you, when you're in practice, that's what they teach you is the standard. And then you start to see these discrepancies. But also at the same time, um, when you see very elevated, um, minerals in your blood or even B vitamins in your blood, usually that's an indicator that you're not absorbing them into your cells. So, that can get confusing. And then when you're talking about hair for minerals and heavy metals, it only tells you what you're excreting. So, if you had say mercury in your system since you were a little kid because you had silver fillings in your baby teeth, then you're in your 30s, that mercury is burrowed. It's deep in your tissues. So, you're not excreting it. You're not detoxing it anymore unless you're doing a detox. So, you do a hair sample and it's like, nope, you're good. No mercury, you're fine. Yeah. Because that happened to me. I, I had, um, it was, it was lead and it was like your lead's normal and then I started detoxing and I retested it and I'm like, and I'm like, what did I do? Like, I had all this lead and I was and I realized like, oh, my body I had it, but it was now being pushed out. So, it gets confusing with hair tests. So, when we're running, we have a very specialized technology that actually analyzes the hair, but specifically for the DNA. So, we're not looking at it for nutrients. Wow. And if like any of these women want to do that, how do they go about it? Yeah. So, we work with people from a distance. So, lovely Zoom allows us to do that. So, consultations are just via Zoom and then, uh, we'll have them send the hair sample. But we also have them send any like supplements, medications, like anything that they're taking. Because when we do the other style of testing, the autonomic response, what we do is we challenge their own supplements and medications to see, are they actually working or are they doing nothing or are they stressing the body? And then we, of course, test our own products as well and that's how we customize their regimen. I see. Wow. So, that's totally different from genetic testing. Yes, yes. So, the DNA the way I explain it to people, um, because people are like, I don't understand what you're saying, is, um, when you go to the grocery store and there's a barcode on an item, they scan the barcode and then it's like, hey, I'm celery. But if the digits were like one or two digits off, they would scan it and it would come up as something different. So, your DNA changes based off of stress, inflammation, infections, toxins, etc. So, your DNA will change very mildly under stress. So, when you see those DNA changes, you can actually see what is happening in that tissue or in those cells. That's incredible. So, one other thing, you know, um, a lot of these women, they have normal thyroid levels, but they're still feeling symptoms. You know, hair loss, brain fog, anxiety. Where are these symptoms coming from then? More than likely, it's neurological. Um, and I don't want that to sound scary by any means. But everything that we just talked about with the sinuses and the dental and potentially the lymph nodes being clogged, we also have to think about blood flow. So, blood flow goes in and it also drains out. Your brain has a very intense detox system. So, and people are like, really? And I'm like, yes, harmful things can come in contact with your brain and obviously that's bad. So, your brain has a built-in detox system called the glial system and that is designed to like deal with anything that is bad. But if you think about just, you know, anatomically, if you have a bunch of congestion in these lymph and maybe it's to the point that there's like even adhesions or you've had whiplash or you've had head injuries. And it could have been concussion or it could have been like you hit your head skiing. All of those things are going to affect blood flow in, which then means less oxygenation and then it's also going to affect blood flow out, which is when people get pressure, which we call headaches. Wow. So, if we have headaches, we have migraines, if we have cold hands and feet, so many women do and they get told, it's your thyroid. But it's not that cut and dry. It's if you have cold hands and feet, you're having a circulatory issue out to the farthest parts from your heart. Think about your head. It's also far from the heart, but it's also your blood has to go against gravity. So, when we start to have issues with the blood flow in and out and even cerebral spinal fluid flow and the blood brings the oxygen to the brain, which is one of the major nutrients it needs. The cerebral spinal fluid brings the glucose, sugar to the brain. That doesn't mean go eat a bunch of Snickers people. But your brain does need sugar. So, the cerebral spinal fluid brings that to the brain. So, these two things are what gives the brain fuel, which also means it gives the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland fuel. So, if you're not having, you know, proper balance of either one of these things, you're actually going to have issues with the hypothalamic function. And then on top of it, if we have gut issues or candida issues, then we get these toxins that are produced by these organisms, infections and that further suppresses the hypothalamic function. So, now we're having a massive signaling issue. So, this really throws people off because just because the signaling issue, it might not be the TSH. It might be the ACTH, which is going to stimulate the adrenals and then the adrenals get burnt out and then that screws up the thyroid. So, there's a lot of possibilities with how the control center is affecting the whole endocrine system including the thyroid. That totally makes sense because, you know, a lot of the women, like you said, they cold hands and feet. I mean, that could be from a nerve that's not functioning, you know, in your hip that is connected to your foot, that, you know, there's no circulation then, right? Yeah. And also too, women that are losing their hair. Their hair is thinning. Like and I'm not talking like, like your hair's breaking. I'm talking like you're losing it from the root. Sometimes that's like a massive circulatory issue. So, again, like, if your scalp is not getting proper blood flow and oxygenation, you're going to have your hair follicles die. So, again, we're sitting here saying, you're getting told, it's your thyroid, it's your thyroid, it's your thyroid. But your thyroid is screwed up because you're having circulatory issues to your brain. So, it's, it's a very common thing that I see and it makes me so frustrated that it's being so overlooked because at the same time this woman is like, I'm so foggy, I can't remember anything, my anxiety, I'm depressed. Like, they have all of these other neurological cognitive issues that are being ignored, or or like, go to a a therapist, you know, you just need a therapist or just like take a Xanex. And it's like, no, it's all connected. Very true. And like, how do you get to the root of that? You know, It's like, as a naturopathic doctor, I would think that's very complicated, isn't it? To like, discover the actual because anything can cause anything, right? Yeah. And and to be able to get to that specific root, it sounds like next to impossible. It's not. I promise you. And it's, it's, you know, I, I have an institute that I teach other doctors and, and I see it all the time. They want like the, they want it to be easy, you know, they want to, they want it to be like, what technology can I use that prints the report? Like, what's the master blood work? Like, what's, you know, what's the gold standard that, you know, is easy. And my approach is not for everyone because you have to use your brain. You have to collect data points from various avenues, but you also have to act like a detective. Like, all these things that I'm saying, like, I drill people with questions under consultation. And sometimes I'm like, listen, I know you're like, why the heck is she asking me that? I'm like, I know where you're at. You have to ask those questions because though, the answers to those questions are just as important as the lab testing. So, it's you have to piece it all together. But even too, when it comes to neurological testing, one of my favorite tests that I feel like a lot of people don't know about is called neuralzer and it's through a company called Vibrant America and they have really set the bar with doing testing that evaluates the blood-brain barrier, it evaluates viruses in the brain, it evaluates, um, blood flow to the brain, inflammation to the brain, that that immune system of the brain, it evaluates all of that. So, you can get a really key understanding of what's going on in the brain just by looking at that. That totally makes sense and that would make sense to anyone dealing with anxiety, brain fog, any of these sort of issues that sort of slowing them down. Um, and, uh, there's also other tests like the ZytoScan. What do you think of these tests that are like you put your hand on something or like muscle testing? How do you feel about those type of tests? Yeah. So, we don't use Zyto. We actually have a technology called the BioScan. So, the BioScan again, like, this is the data points that I'm talking about. So, the BioScan is a bioenergetic test. So, the way that I explain to people, I go, you hear about people that go to acupuncture, right? And there are certain people that swear by acupuncture. They're like, oh my gosh, my migraines were gone. I got pregnant, like, right away. Like, it's the best thing in the world. And then there's other people that are like, doesn't work. Doesn't like, I didn't even feel anything. Like, you hear that. And it's not that it works or it doesn't work. It just is a matter of does that person have a bioenergetic problem or do they not? So, when you're talking about acupuncture, they're putting needles in a meridian. That's a really hard thing for people to understand like, what the heck a meridian is. A meridian, so the same way you have blood flow to your gallbladder, you have a meridian, an energy channel to your gallbladder. So, sometimes people have a block to their gallbladder because they have an infection or they have a toxin or they have stones, which is a physiological issue. And then sometimes they're like, in so much pain, literally like telltale gall gallbladder attack, go to the hospital and they're like, you're fine. Everything's clear. And you're like, but I literally feel like I'm dying. Like, what, I don't understand. So, sometimes the bioenergetic piece is relevant for that person. And I honestly had my own experience with this because I am like, science, data, blood work, like, I love it. Like, my husband is the, the energy guy. And it's very funny how we ended up together. But it's he was I was hitting a lot of roadblocks with my healing process. Uh, so I was I had the mercury toxicity. I had I was testing my mercury every few weeks because I was doing all the right things. I was doing all the supplements and the detox. I was doing coffee enemas. I was doing everything. And my numbers were not changing and I was so frustrated. And, uh, my husband, one of the things that we were working on at the time, we were working on, how can we bring more emotional work to the practice? Like, an avenue to help because so many people are so stressed. Yeah. And, when he was dabbling in that, he was dabbling in some of the things that he understood actually with muscle testing and also with like the energetic world. So, what he did was he tested my liver because that's where all like my problems were. And he goes, he's like, so, if you were to guess what emotion do you think you're holding on to? And I was like, I don't know, anger I guess. I was like, I was pretty angry kid. And he's like, no, guess again. And I was like, uh, fear? And he's like, nope. He's like, it's rage. And I was like, what? So, I was like, okay. What does that mean? What do I do about it? So, he actually, uh, set me up on the BioScan, which is a bioenergetic like the Zyto. And it it we did it on my liver meridian and he scanned it and there was all this stuff that came up and then when you neutralize it, it neutralizes it through homeopathy. So, it sends like a homeopathic match into the body. So, the mercury came up. So, it sends a homeopathic match into through frequency into the body and then you use laser instead of the needles to clear it. So, it's like hard for people to understand like, wrap their head around it when they do it. So, the next day, I got so sick. And I'm just like, oh gosh, am I getting the flu? Anyway, fast forward a couple weeks later. Retested my mercury because that's what I did. And it dropped in half. Wow! And I was like, wait, no. And I realized that part of that was the fact that I was harboring so much and I had all these energetic blockages if I still even really understand what that means. But and just it lifted this obstacle and then all of the other efforts, the enemas and the supplements, finally were able to work better. And it was just such a eye-opening moment in my career that I was like, whoa. I can't ignore this. It's not, it's not mean. It doesn't mean that every one has that problem. But I look at it now. I look at it to see, okay, is this part of your puzzle or is it not? And I think that that's really important because when somebody hits a plateau, it's not about like, oh, well, sorry, you just have to live with it. Like, sometimes there's another layer. And the thyroid energetically is people that have not spoken up or or not allowed to speak up in their lives. So, there is a huge somato-emotional, uh, or component to the thyroid when it comes to that. And, you know, sometimes people, it it's interesting because some people are like, but I'm so outspoken. I go, yes, but you're compensating for parts of your life that you weren't allowed to speak up. And they're like, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. True. Yeah. I mean, this is the first time I've sort of connected, you know, women with doctors that I really stand by and, um, before, I was kind of just putting everything to a back burner. I wasn't speaking my truth and, you know, it was like, frowned upon to have a disease, you know. So, I was, I would never tell anybody about autoimmune conditions I've had or they may not want to work with me or they may not want to be my friend, you know. Yeah. So, um, yeah, and I I can't believe like, it's almost 4:50. Like, how did that happened? We're having too much fun but maybe, uh, I have, uh, I'll open it up to questions. Um, we have Kris on the line and she, um, has been on this call the entire time. Kris, do you have any questions for us today? Um, actually, I'm using my husband's computer, so, um, it's Racklin. I'm actually using his computer. So, I. Racklin. Sorry. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Totally. Um, actually, I have a million questions. I wrote down so many, but a lot of them I can, you know, uh, look up. Like, chewing, what is it? Uh, chlorella. I've never heard of that before and I don't know what that is. So, those are something like I can go ahead and, um, and look up and like what. Not all chlorella is created equal. I'm very like a stickler about it because a lot of it is contaminated, um, because it is a binder. So, the two companies that I trust is Energy Bits and Purity. So, definitely just keep that in mind. Got it. Okay. Perfect. So, energy bits. And puriem. Okay, I heard it go. And then there's one more question because I know, um, as far as time. I'm sorry. Tell me what my herbs are. Oh, how can you tell because you're talking about absorption of things. How can you tell if your body isn't I take a lot of supplements and how can you tell if your body is actually absorbing it and if it's not? Do you pee fluorescent colors? I don't actually. Okay, that's good. Does that mean that means I'm absorbing it well? Yeah. So, usually, um, you can tell your absorption by the color of your urine. But if you want to, um, this is kind of a simple test that will give you a little bit better of an idea of like your stomach acid as well as your enzyme production. But if you eat beets and you pee like a little bit pink or even bright red, then that's an indicator that you are probably not absorbing very well. Um, but if you eat like actual red beets and your your urine is pretty clear, then you know you're absorbing well. Okay, okay, that makes sense. And then the other stuff I could just easily kind of look up. But gosh, I really appreciate you and I really appreciate you being on here because I've learned so much just in this. Thanks. That's why you should attend more of them. Yeah, it it seems like. Yeah. So, it's like my favorite thing to do. So, I'm glad everyone learned stuff. Yeah, it it seems like.
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Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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