Latest / Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease / What you should know about T2 thyroid hormone ⎸ Ep. 222

Transcript

What you should know about T2 thyroid hormone ⎸ Ep. 222 · Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

• 0:00
  You're scrolling social media and a reel pops up. A doctor is talking to you
• 0:04
  on the video saying that this specific thyroid hormone is, quote,
• 0:08
  the most powerful thyroid hormone when it comes to weight management. What do you do next?
• 0:15
  That's what we're talking about today. Two of these ads from two different companies
• 0:18
  came across my feed recently and I was intrigued. It was T2.
• 0:24
  I would love to know, have you seen ads for a T2 cream or a T2 pill?
• 0:30
  Have they come across your feed and what are you doing about it?
• 0:34
  I want you to have the tools that you need as the CEO of your own health so
• 0:40
  that when an ad comes across your feed, you can immediately figure out,
• 0:45
  you can run it through a framework and figure out,
• 0:48
  is this something that applies to me?
• 0:50
  Is this worth my trust? Is this worth my money? Is this worth my time? Should I try it?
• 0:57
  That's what we're talking about today, specifically about T2.
• 1:01
  Maybe you got a prescription and a follow-up appointment for six weeks later,
• 1:05
  or maybe you got told that your
• 1:06
  numbers are fine for now, and we're just going to keep an eye on things.
• 1:10
  Either way, your provider probably did not tell you that Hashimoto's is two things and not one.
• 1:15
  It's a thyroid that can't keep up because it's also an immune system that's attacking the thyroid.
• 1:20
  Medication can help handle the first, but the second one is all yours to work
• 1:25
  on. You are the CEO of your own health.
• 1:27
  You can start working on that immune system side before your labs say that you have to.
• 1:32
  Hi, I'm Esther Yunkin. I am a registered nurse. I've been a nurse for 25 years
• 1:36
  and I am the host of the Health with Hashimoto's podcast.
• 1:39
  I am the nurse who helps you sort your Hashimoto's into thyroid or immune.
• 1:43
  Let's sort. So in episode 22, I covered exactly how to run this framework,
• 1:50
  whether it's your friend talking to you about something or whether it's an ad.
• 1:54
  The specific topic on episode 22 is how to evaluate supplement claims without wasting money.
• 2:00
  And we're going to go through that framework, applying it to T2.
• 2:04
  But the first question we need to talk about is, what is T2?
• 2:08
  I don't talk about it on the podcast. I don't think I have ever mentioned T2.
• 2:13
  And that is because we don't know a lot about it. But here is the nuts and bolts.
• 2:17
  Your thyroid produces T4. The four stands for four molecules of iodine.
• 2:24
  So four molecules of iodine are attached to this thyroid hormone.
• 2:28
  It is T4. It is the inactive form of thyroid hormone.
• 2:32
  The T4 is converted. One of those molecules of iodine is taken away, and now it becomes T3.
• 2:40
  It could be the active T3, or it could be reverse T3. And I hope you're seeing
• 2:45
  both of those on your labs.
• 2:47
  The reverse T3 is like a brake pedal. Your body is saying, nope,
• 2:51
  we don't need more gas. We don't need more keys. We don't need more ignition keys.
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  We don't need to go, go, go. we need to rest. We need to heal.
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  So that's what reverse T3 is. It's your body asking to chill out so that it
• 3:03
  can relax, so it can heal.
• 3:06
  T3 is the active ignition keys. It is the active form of thyroid hormone that your cells need.
• 3:13
  Well, then that T3, whether it's reverse T3 or the active T3,
• 3:19
  it is also going to lose a molecule of iodine and it's going to become T2.
• 3:25
  The T2 also breaks down, not breaks down, gets another molecule removed and that becomes T1.
• 3:32
  Now the very first time I saw anything about T2 was on an ad and I happened
• 3:38
  to be going to the pharmacy later that day to pick up my thyroid medication.
• 3:42
  And so I asked the pharmacist, what is T2? I said, I just had an ad come across my feed.
• 3:47
  They are promoting a supplement of T2. What is it? And she had no idea.
• 3:53
  Now, I don't blame the pharmacist because I have read multiple thyroid books.
• 3:58
  I have read research. I've been, you know, I've been deep into Hashimoto's and
• 4:02
  hypothyroidism and thyroid, like all of this stuff for a long time.
• 4:08
  And I don't blame the pharmacist for not knowing. There's no T2 medication.
• 4:13
  So why would she know unless she has also gone into further research?
• 4:19
  So she said, don't know. It's probably just the T4 breaking down.
• 4:24
  And it probably doesn't matter. They're just probably trying to take your money.
• 4:29
  You don't need to pursue that. That was essentially what she said.
• 4:33
  I don't remember her exact quotes.
• 4:35
  And this is why sometimes I hesitate when I'm giving the disclaimer at the end
• 4:40
  of every podcast episode.
• 4:41
  Obviously, I have it recorded. I just, you know, drop it in.
• 4:44
  But every single episode, I say, if you have any questions or concerns,
• 4:49
  talk to your trusted healthcare professional.
• 4:52
  And that is always assuming and hoping that they're able to answer the question.
• 4:56
  But in this case, I went to a healthcare professional who was giving me my medication.
• 5:03
  I asked the right questions and she didn't know. So what do you do then?
• 5:08
  Well, you find another health professional or you do your own research.
• 5:12
  I always recommend doing your own research, learning as much as you can, because...
• 5:18
  Western medicine is broken. People don't have a lot of time to spend with their
• 5:22
  patients, whether it's a doctor or nurse practitioner or PA.
• 5:26
  If they are in a traditional clinic, they don't have time.
• 5:29
  And like I said, just like my pharmacist, they might not know. So what do you do then?
• 5:34
  Now in episode 22, the very first step was to express gratitude instead of skepticism
• 5:41
  because episode 22 was written or recorded after a friend was trying to sell me a supplement.
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  They were pitching it to me, hoping that I wanted to buy their product.
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  And so I always want to start with gratitude instead of skepticism.
• 5:58
  They're not approaching you to scam you. Your friend cares about you.
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  Your friend, yes, they might be thinking through their circle of friends,
• 6:08
  thinking about who would benefit from this.
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  And so they might have come at it making that list of friends to talk to from
• 6:17
  a money perspective or maybe a genuine caring perspective.
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  But whatever prompted them to make a list of people to talk to.
• 6:26
  Your name, your face came up because they thought that this might be a legitimate
• 6:32
  solution for a problem they think that you have.
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  So when it's a friend talking to you, I want to start with gratitude instead of skepticism.
• 6:40
  Of course, the skepticism, I get a lot of red flags immediately when somebody
• 6:45
  is talking about any kind of supplement.
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  My first reaction is, is this snake oil? Do you just want my money?
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  So I'm working to have more gratitude, but I do genuinely thank people and feel
• 6:58
  that gratitude when they want to talk to me about something because I know that
• 7:02
  they're doing it. They feel like it is a solution.
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  In this case, it was not a friend. This was an ad.
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  This was an ad targeted at me because Facebook and Instagram meta knows that I look at thyroid stuff.
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  So it was a targeted ad, not a friend. I don't have to be gratitude or I don't
• 7:20
  have to be grateful. I can just dig in.
• 7:22
  So the first thing I did is step two in episode 22. Look at the science,
• 7:27
  look at the quality, and look at the ethics.
• 7:30
  So I look at the science. What are
• 7:32
  the studies? I look at the third-party testing if the science is there.
• 7:36
  If the third-party testing is there, then I look at the quality.
• 7:39
  How does it compare to other products made of the same basic thing?
• 7:42
  And then I look at the ethics of the company. So in the case of T2 Cream,
• 7:47
  there are two different companies who have both popped up in my feed trying to sell it.
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  And so I am not going to go through the quality and the ethics of the company.
• 7:57
  Let's just talk about the science. Actually, I'm not going to go through the
• 8:00
  third party testing either.
• 8:02
  I did not do that for these both of the companies.
• 8:06
  So T2 is a thyroid hormone. We just went through how it's created.
• 8:10
  And why does it matter? It matters because T2 actually does help with metabolism, with energy.
• 8:21
  It can decrease inflammation. It can help with better fat burning.
• 8:26
  Like the quote that I gave at the beginning of the episode, it is,
• 8:30
  according to this ad, it was the most, is the most powerful thyroid hormone
• 8:35
  when it comes to weight management.
• 8:37
  Now, if you have hypothyroidism and you feel like you are doing everything and
• 8:41
  you are still hanging on to your weight or you're gaining weight,
• 8:44
  this is going to be really appealing, right?
• 8:46
  So there's a thyroid hormone that your body might not be making and it helps
• 8:51
  with your energy and your metabolism and decreases inflammation and helps you burn fat.
• 8:58
  Yes, please. And that's what the ads count on.
• 9:02
  They count on you looking at this video of a doctor telling you it's simple.
• 9:08
  You just squirt it on your arm or on your leg and voila, your life is better.
• 9:13
  That's what they say, right?
• 9:15
  So the research isn't super robust about T4.
• 9:19
  We do know it's a real thing. And I already talked about how it's made.
• 9:22
  And the most of the research has been done in animal cells or animals and then in isolated cells.
• 9:29
  It is suggested by the research that it increases mitochondrial respiratory activity.
• 9:36
  So yes, it's helping your mitochondria
• 9:37
  work better. Mitochondria are the energy production of the cell.
• 9:42
  I have talked about mitochondria in a whole bunch of episodes because every
• 9:46
  single day, I take a blend of herbs that tells my mitochondria to work better.
• 9:53
  And my body is doing that work of helping the mitochondria do it.
• 9:57
  The herbs just tell my body to do what my body is supposed to do. So I'm a huge fan of that.
• 10:02
  T2 also may help oxidative capacity.
• 10:07
  It may potentially raise energy expenditure.
• 10:11
  So when one of the doctors is saying that T2 can help increase your metabolism
• 10:16
  and increase your energy, well, that appears to be correct based on the research.
• 10:22
  T2 also appears to promote fatty acid oxidation, and it may reduce fat accumulation
• 10:30
  in the liver in animal models.
• 10:33
  Again, this is awesome. We want our livers working well because our liver is
• 10:39
  one of the primary places that T4 is converted to T3, and we want that conversion to be on point.
• 10:47
  We want the T4 to be converted into T3, not reverse T3.
• 10:52
  We want our bodies to be working as designed.
• 10:56
  So your body doesn't seem to be releasing weight. T2 is going to sound very appealing.
• 11:02
  What about the side effects? One research article I was reading was talking
• 11:06
  about obesity and how T2 could be a solution for diet-induced obesity and for
• 11:14
  the pandemic of obesity in humans.
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  But they said that they have observed enlarged heart weights,
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  so the heart itself is getting too big after T2 treatment.
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  The authors of this paper are specifically saying there could be cardiac side
• 11:33
  effects of this hormone.
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  Therefore, further studies are needed for a careful analysis of T2 mechanisms of action and safety.
• 11:42
  A different article, this one is in Journal of Endocrinology,
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  they were talking about T2 and
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  they said one potential problem was that it seems to suppress TSH levels,
• 11:54
  but when I was reading it, it looked
• 11:56
  like it was affecting the TSH levels without impacting your T4 or T3.
• 12:01
  So the TSH is your brain asking for more thyroid hormone.
• 12:05
  So if your TSH level is going down, we typically think of that as a really good
• 12:10
  thing. It means that our thyroid is doing its job. It's producing more T4.
• 12:14
  That T4 is being converted to T3. Our body is happy and that's why our TSH is back to normal.
• 12:21
  Well, this study is saying that your TSH might be suppressed when you're using T2.
• 12:28
  So you can't see an ad on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok and say,
• 12:32
  oh, this seems to be a solution for all my problems, or at least some of them, I'm going to get it.
• 12:38
  You really do need to look into like, what is the product? What is the science?
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  How is it going to impact my thyroid? And how is it going to impact my immune system?
• 12:48
  Hashimoto's is both of those things. You have a thyroid side and you have an immune side.
• 12:52
  And you have to balance those buckets and see, okay, what's going on with the
• 12:57
  thyroid side? What's going on in the immune side?
• 13:00
  It sounds from all of the ads and the research that the T2 is going to address
• 13:06
  both the thyroid and the immune bucket.
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  It's addressing the thyroid bucket because it's a thyroid hormone.
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  It's helping with your metabolism and your energy with your better fat burning.
• 13:18
  It's also impacting the immune bucket because it's decreasing inflammation. It's also a.
• 13:25
  Potentially helping the liver work better. And so if the liver is doing its
• 13:29
  job, then the liver is also impacting the immune side.
• 13:32
  And then when everything is working better, the liver is also going to go into
• 13:37
  the thyroid bucket because it's helping your T4 convert to T3.
• 13:41
  Everything is connected to everything.
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  The human body is complex. And then it's not just the human body.
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  You are a whole person, body, mind, spirit, diet, environment,
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  all five of those things impact all of the other four.
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  And they all just, it comes together like soup.
• 14:01
  You don't have, when you have a bite of soup, you don't taste just one flavor.
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  It's all come together. They all impact the flavor as a whole.
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  That is you. You're like soup.
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  Everything impacts everything. So you're going through Facebook.
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  You see the real. You're seeing the doctor talk to you about this,
• 14:24
  what sounds like a miracle thing.
• 14:26
  What do you do next? Do you buy it?
• 14:30
  So we went through episode 22. We did step one. Doesn't really apply.
• 14:35
  We don't need to express gratitude because this is an ad, not a friend.
• 14:38
  Step two, look at the science and then look at the quality and the ethics.
• 14:42
  So I shared some of the science. I did share some of the side effects with you,
• 14:47
  some of the potential side effects.
• 14:49
  Because T2 is sold as a supplement and not a prescription, there is probably
• 14:56
  nobody walking you through that.
• 14:58
  It's up to you, the CEO of your own health,
• 15:02
  to figure out the pros and cons, to weigh the benefits versus the risks though
• 15:08
  I went through a couple of those if you choose to use a product look into the potential side effects,
• 15:16
  everything can have a side effect to just be aware of that.
• 15:20
  The next thing that I talk about in episode 22 is look at third-party testing.
• 15:25
  So like I said, there's two different ads that have popped up on my feed.
• 15:30
  Both of the companies have a cream. They both also have an oral form.
• 15:35
  Both of them talk about that you're probably sick and tired of taking pills,
• 15:40
  and so the cream might be better.
• 15:42
  Also, both of them have mentioned in the ads, I can't say on the website,
• 15:47
  but they both talk about how transdermal delivery is good. So that means through the skin.
• 15:53
  And so, but yet both companies also sell an oral form.
• 15:58
  So the two companies that have popped up on my feed, I would love to know if
• 16:01
  any have popped up on yours.
• 16:03
  It is Amy Horniman and her podcast and her company is the Thyroid Fixer.
• 16:08
  Fixer is spelled with two x's and no e. F-I-X-X-R.
• 16:13
  The other one is Dr. Childs, and he has a shop. It's called restartmed.com.
• 16:21
  I have purchased stuff from Dr. Childs before.
• 16:25
  I get a desiccated thyroid from him, and I also bought the thyroid red light
• 16:31
  from his company. So the thyroid light is what it's called, and it has four
• 16:36
  different wavelengths of red light.
• 16:38
  All of them have been researched, and so he said, when I was looking at red
• 16:42
  light for the thyroid, I couldn't find any that had all four wavelengths, so I made my own.
• 16:49
  So both of them have about the same philosophy in let me help you fix your thyroid,
• 16:55
  let me help you fix your Hashimoto's.
• 16:57
  Both of them sell a ton of supplements.
• 17:01
  When you go over to either shop, you're going to see things that say that they're
• 17:05
  going to help your conversion, your T3 conversion. You're going to find things
• 17:09
  that help with metabolism. You're going to find T2.
• 17:13
  You're going to find Hashimoto support. You're going to find multivitamins.
• 17:16
  There's so much to pick from.
• 17:19
  And that is why I feel like you need a framework to be able to sort what is
• 17:23
  beneficial for me and what is not needed for me.
• 17:28
  Obviously, all of the stuff in their shops has a need. Somebody has a need for
• 17:33
  it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in the store.
• 17:36
  They wouldn't have created it. They wouldn't be selling it and they wouldn't
• 17:39
  be still selling it because clearly it's working for somebody.
• 17:43
  So go to episode 22. Get that framework to figure out, is this something that you need?
• 17:49
  And also review episode 83.
• 17:52
  Both of these that I've talked about, 22 and 83, they have a blog post.
• 17:55
  You can go skim it or read it.
• 17:57
  Episode 83, I talk about how to choose the best supplements for Hashimoto's.
• 18:02
  I have my flowchart in there that takes you from what is the most important,
• 18:08
  the foundational things, all the way to what is fun to buy and to order for
• 18:15
  yourself in supplements.
• 18:16
  Because some things are, they're really shiny.
• 18:20
  You know, shiny objects. I want that pretty thing. I want that, I want that benefit.
• 18:25
  But you have to build the foundations first. So episode 22, figure out your filters
• 18:30
  episode 83 what is the most important and then maybe you're going to use some
• 18:35
  t2 cream maybe you're not be in communication with your provider if you do start
• 18:42
  it because they need to know
• 18:45
  if you're taking a supplement or thyroid hormone even if it's over the counter
• 18:49
  that could be interfering or suppressing
• 18:53
  your labs your tsh it could be changing things and also your provider hopefully
• 18:58
  wants to know if you're feeling better.
• 19:00
  They are on your team. They're on your board of directors. You are the CEO,
• 19:04
  your doctor, your nurse practitioner, PA.
• 19:07
  They are doing their very best to advise you so that you can feel like yourself again.
• 19:13
  So hopefully by now you have an idea of should you pursue this.
• 19:19
  I can't give you a yes or no because you are unique and your filter of thyroid
• 19:26
  and immune, what does my immune system need? What does my thyroid need?
• 19:29
  That's going to differ. Oh, let me talk about the Thyroid Fixer T2,
• 19:33
  that cream from Amy Horniman.
• 19:35
  Hers also has glutathione in it.
• 19:38
  Now, back in a bunch of episodes, I've talked about your NRF2 pathway in your body.
• 19:44
  It is the pathway that your body uses to tell your cells to create glutathione.
• 19:49
  Glutathione is like one of your master antioxidants. It is super, super powerful.
• 19:53
  It is fantastic in your body. You want more glutathione.
• 19:57
  You want more, you know, antioxidants fighting all of the oxidative stress.
• 20:01
  We absolutely want that. Every single day, I take a blend of herbs that tells
• 20:06
  my body to create more glutathione, 300% more glutathione.
• 20:10
  So if you're already increasing your own body's production of glutathione,
• 20:15
  I don't know if you would need that extra glutathione in that other product.
• 20:20
  Again, look at what's right for you. Follow the supplement flowchart.
• 20:25
  What are the foundations?
• 20:27
  And then what else can be beneficial?
• 20:30
  Only you can make that decision for yourself. One more thing quick.
• 20:35
  Because I order products from RestartMed from Dr. Child's site,
• 20:39
  I did become an affiliate for him when I ordered my Thyrolite,
• 20:44
  the red light for my thyroid, because I already use products from his shop.
• 20:49
  I have never investigated Dr. Horniman's shop. I don't know about the quality
• 20:54
  of the third-party testing, anything like that.
• 20:56
  I would assume it's all good, but I have never looked into it.
• 21:00
  So if you want a $10 discount code, I have it down in the show notes as my affiliate link.
• 21:05
  That's it for today. If you are ready to sort your Hashimoto's into thyroid
• 21:09
  or immune, start with Hashimoto's Decoded, and then come talk about it in the free community.
• 21:14
  Both links are in the show notes. I'll see you next week.
• 21:17
  This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
• 21:21
  Please discuss any questions or concerns with your trusted healthcare professional.