Author: Karline Jensen
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Diet, Supplements, and Lifestyle for Hypothyroidism
If you have hypothyroidism — or suspect you may — you may have wondered whether what you eat, the supplements you take, or your daily habits could make a real difference. The answer, supported by a growing body of research, is yes. A functional medicine approach to hypothyroidism goes well beyond medication management to address…
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Understanding Thyroid Lab Tests: A Functional Medicine Approach
If you have been told your thyroid is fine because your TSH is normal, but you still feel exhausted, cold, and mentally foggy, you are not alone — and you are not imagining things. TSH is a useful starting point, but it is only one piece of a much larger picture. A functional medicine approach…
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Preventing Depression
A systematic review by O’Neill et al. (2022) examined 7 randomized controlled trials on the effect of different dietary interventions on depression in adults, and found fresh produce, wholegrains, low-fat dairy and lean protein to be beneficial, and processed and high-fat foods to be detrimental. In their discussion they highlight a study by Lindseth et…
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Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing has been shown to be more effective than standard care in eliciting change towards more healthy diets. Hollis et al. (2015) used the technique with 28 premenopausal women ages 44-50, with the goal of influencing their diets to be less likely to result in weight gain as they entered their menopausal years. The…
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Binge Eating
There is a tool called the Binge Eating Scale which can be used to identify binge eating (Grupski et al., 2013). It consists of 16 phrases and the client can rate to what degree they identify with each one, for example concealing their eating or eating when bored. I feel like it would be a…
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Malabsorption
Even if someone’s diet seems to include plenty of a particular nutrient, if they aren’t absorbing the nutrients they are consuming they could still have deficiencies. In the Discussion section of their paper, the authors of the LIFEHOUSE study (Stone et al., 2023) mention vertical ridging of the nails as an example of a symptom…
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Phytonutrients
The IFM Phytonutrient Spectrum – Comprehensive Guide has some great ideas about how to diversify your diet and consume a broader range of nutrients, like that cooking carrots with a little olive oil can make the carotenoids more bioavailable. I love the idea that eating green leafy vegetables every day slows aging by 11 years. …
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When Your TSH Is Normal But…
If your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is normal but you still feel exhausted, cold, and foggy, you are not imagining things. TSH is a useful screening tool, but it does not tell the whole story of thyroid function. Research points to several nutrient deficiencies and inflammatory conditions that can disrupt thyroid hormone levels — and…
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Mediterranean Diet
Because of the prevalence of anxiety during pregnancy, a study was conducted at a hospital in Spain to see if the Mediterranean diet could help prevent this condition (Casas et al., 2023). This study was a randomized controlled trial, where 680 women whose pregnancies were considered to be high risk were randomly assigned to either…
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Black Seed Oil
Razmpoosh et al. (2024) report on a crossover design randomized controlled trial where they gave 2 g/day of Nigella sativa oil or placebo to 46 overweight and obese women ages 25 to 55 for eight weeks, with four weeks of washout before the groups switched. The cold-pressed Nigella sativa oil with thymoquinone concentration of 1.1%…
Northern Nutritionals 