Recently I interviewed Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, as she discussed how to address insulin resistance and thyroid hormone resistance. If you would prefer to listen the interview you can access it by Clicking Here [1].
Dr. Eric:
Although I am always excited to do these interviews, I am especially excited today because I have the honor of interviewing Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, as we will be chatting about thyroid and insulin resistance.
Let me give Dr. Ritamarie’s bio: She is the founder of the Institute of Nutritional Endocrinology. She is passionately committed to transforming our current, broken, disease-focused system into a true healthcare system, where every practitioner is skilled at finding the root cause of health challenges, and uses the wisdom of nature combined with modern scientific research to restore balance. Dr. Ritamarie is also a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic with certifications in acupuncture, nutrition, herbal medicine, and HeartMath. She specializes in digestion, thyroid, adrenal, and insulin resistance. I know you didn’t include it in your bio here, but she also has a great deal of knowledge when it comes to genetics.
She is also a master at using palate-pleasing whole fresh food medicine and is a best-selling author, speaker, and internationally recognized nutrition and functional health authority with over 30 years of clinical experience. She also has a podcast called Reinvent Healthcare. This provides health and wellness practitioners around the globe to be part of the movement to provide root cause care to people in need. Thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Ritamarie.
Dr. Ritamarie:
I’m so excited to be here. I love talking about this topic, and I’m honored to be on your podcast.
Dr. Eric:
It’s an honor having you as well. I normally ask my guests to begin by discussing their background. If you could please discuss how you got to where you are today, that’d be great.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Like a lot of people in functional health and wellness, I came through my own journey of illness. In my 20s, my health broke down, and nobody knew what was wrong with me. I went to all kinds of specialists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, ear/nose/throat docs because of the symptoms I was having. I wasn’t getting well.
I asked the fated question one day—I don’t know where it even came from—in the gastroenterologist’s office after they said, “Good news. You don’t have an ulcer.” I asked, “Great. What’s wrong with me? What do I do?” They said, “We don’t know. Just keep taking the ulcer medication.” A little bit of intelligence came up and said, “Huh? What do you mean? I’m 25. I’m supposed to keep taking ulcer medication? I don’t have an ulcer. What am I supposed to do? For the rest of my life?” They said, “Oh, maybe, until you don’t need it anymore.” The question popped up. “Could it be my diet?” They looked at me like I was crazy. They said, “No, of course not. Diet has nothing to do with your health.”
I set out to prove them wrong. This was back in 1984 when we didn’t have summits and podcasts and any of what we have now. People were in the dark about what we just freely talk about, and people get the information now. It wasn’t available then.
Long story short, went and did a lot of research. Discovered toxicity, food allergies, insulin resistance, hypoglycemia, and all kinds of things. Did some things to get myself better, but it took a long time. That’s when I decided to jump ship and leave my computer job, which prepared me eloquently for what I do now because I was a diagnostician. I was helping to fix breakdowns in software on the computer. Now I said, “I just changed the hardware and software,” and now I’m working on the body. That’s where it started. I have been passionate ever since to help people not to have to work so hard to figure it out.
Dr. Eric:
Wonderful. Thanks for sharing that. We’re going to dive into insulin resistance, tie it into thyroid resistance. I don’t know where you want to start. It’s probably best to start with insulin resistance. We can talk about what insulin is. If you want to mention metabolic flexibility as well.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Insulin is a hormone. A lot of people don’t even realize that. The hormones that people think about when we say “hormones” are progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and a more educated person will say thyroid. Insulin is actually a hormone. Its job is to take the sugar from the food you eat, glucose, and put it into the cells, so the mitochondria in the cells can make energy.
What happens is because of the diet, lifestyle that we live, not me and you, but other people out there, our living is loaded with starches and sugars and processed foods and hydrogenated fats and things that are damaging to the body.
What happens is every cell has receptors, little places that hormones latch onto and get entrance into the cells. The receptors for insulin get damaged and tired and resistant, and they start to want to protect the inside of the cells from that hormone. There is so much of it because we have so much glucose and starch that is converted into glucose coming in. We develop something called insulin resistance. When we develop insulin resistance, all of that sugar stays in the blood. Doesn’t get into the cells. We have hyperglycemia, which eventually can lead to diabetes.
Long, long, long, long, and I emphasize, long, before it becomes diabetes, it’s a problem in the body. It’s a problem because of the damaging effects of insulin. We are going to talk a little bit more about the damaging effects of insulin on thyroid function in a bit.
Getting back to metabolic flexibility and what that is. We’re intended to burn carbohydrates, or we can burn fat as fuel. Most people are eating enough glucose all day long that they just look for glucose. When they are doing that all the time, the body is going, “I can burn glucose. Whoops. There’s no more glucose. I need glucose.” You have food cravings, low energy in between meals, etc.
When somebody is metabolically flexible, it means that they can switch between fat burning and glucose burning. But you can’t be metabolically flexible if you’re eating corn flakes, sugar toast with butter and jelly, that kind of stuff. You just can’t.
Recent research around 2018 was that 88% of the population is metabolically unwell, meaning that whole glucose/insulin/metabolism and the way it’s supposed to work doesn’t work properly. 88%! Think about that. That means 12% of the population is metabolically well and healthy. 12%! That’s tiny. This was pre-pandemic. My guess is it’s a much higher percentage of metabolically unwell people over the last few years.
Metabolic unwellness leads to all sorts of problems: cardiac problems, kidney problems, blood pressure problems, and imbalances in other hormones. Thyroid is a train wreck when insulin is out of balance. We can’t get the thyroid in balance if we continue with the process of too much insulin and insulin resistance. That’s in a nutshell insulin and the whole concept of metabolic health.
Dr. Eric:
It’s more of a cellular problem. Insulin resistance is too much insulin, but it’s not getting into the cell.
Dr. Ritamarie:
This is true of all hormone resistance. People know about insulin resistance. We have kind of started to hear about leptin resistance. But you can develop resistance to all hormones. The way it manifests is the body shows signs of too little of that hormone, even though in the blood, there is either enough or too much of that hormone. The cells are smart. They know that too much thyroid in a cell causes somebody to be hyperthyroid and all kinds of complications that you talk about a lot.
Same thing with insulin. Too much insulin in the cell can cause lack of elasticity. It actually damages endothelial linings and cells. The body tries to protect itself from it, and it becomes resistant. You can get resistance to hormones by taking too much hormone. We think, Oh, hormones are not like drugs. It’s not like the chemical things that are foreign to the body; it’s natural to the body, so we should be able to take hormones safely. In reality, we have to take just the right amount to fill in what the body isn’t doing. Otherwise, you develop lots of complications of hyper hormone, but you also develop the resistance to that hormone.
Dr. Eric:
What are some of the common causes of insulin resistance? Why do so many people have insulin resistance these days?
Dr. Ritamarie:
Have you looked at what people are eating? That’s one reason. The garbage processed food.
Second is stress. Under stress, we release a lot of another hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is meant to help us run away from hungry animals. A tiger is chasing me, so I need cortisol to run away. One of the mechanisms by which cortisol works is to mobilize stored energy. That could be in the form of fat, protein, or glycogen carbohydrate, and create more sugar in the blood so we can run away from tigers. In that situation, it’s a good mechanism, and we don’t get in trouble unless we slow down and get eaten by the tiger. For the most part, it doesn’t get us in trouble to have that elevated sugar. It actually helps us.
In the day to day, modern life, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had a tiger chase me recently. I’ve had deadlines chase me. I’ve had lots of anxieties perhaps. I don’t really get anxious, but people have lots of fear and anxiety around our current world: the economics, the crime, all that stuff. That causes that same stress response as if we have a hungry tiger chasing us, except we don’t get to run away from the tiger and burn that energy. It sits in the blood and causes that elevation of the sugar.
What the pancreas does when it sees the sugar so high, and it’s not getting into the cells, is it goes, “We just need more insulin.” It keeps producing more and more insulin. Then the cells become even more insulin resistant.
A lot of it is a modern lifestyle disease. We can change it, and I have seen people completely reverse even type two diabetes within two to three weeks of changing their diet, getting on a good stress regime, sleeping, moving, all the basic foundations of good health. That’s how we can reverse this and prevent it.
There are genetic factors that play in. I have a lot of the genes that predispose me to diabetes, so I have to be a little bit more careful than maybe somebody else who doesn’t have those genes. For the most part, the genes are a little bit of it, and the lifestyle is much more.
Dr. Eric:
Similar with autoimmunity. If someone has the genetics for Graves’ or Hashimoto’s or another autoimmune condition, that doesn’t mean they will necessarily develop the condition. Same thing. If someone has certain genetics, doesn’t mean they will certainly develop insulin resistance.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Just because they don’t have the genetics doesn’t mean they won’t develop it. You can outsmart your genetics with good diet and lifestyle, but you can also defy your good genetics and get diseases if you mistreat the body. It’s like a car. We don’t put jellybeans in the gas tank. “It must be tired because of that high octane fuel. I’m going to try something else.” Doesn’t work that way. Gums up the mechanism. Same here.
Dr. Eric:
I’m glad you expanded beyond diet because diet plays a role, but you mentioned stress and sleep. If someone is only getting four or five hours of sleep consistently, that could also be a factor.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Huge factor.
Dr. Eric:
What testing do you recommend? As you know, most conventional medical doctors just look at a fasting glucose, and that’s what they go off of when it comes to insulin resistance and diabetes.
Dr. Ritamarie:
The fasting glucose is actually the last thing to change. You can have this problem going on for decades. That’s why I said a long, long, long time. You can have it go on for decades because the fasting glucose goes too high. Plus their ranges for fasting glucose are a little too wide and not narrow enough.
The other tests I recommend is insulin. Test your insulin. We can see kids in their teens with hyperinsulinemia. You can tell by some of their behaviors. The point is you can test the insulin. You can test the fasting insulin.
You can test something called hemoglobin A1C. It’s not quite as accurate as it could be sometimes in somebody who is extremely anemic or an intense athlete, but you get a general range. Hemoglobin A1C is how much of your red blood cells are sugar-coated. We all have some percentage of them that are sugar-coated because they’re bathing in this glucose in the serum.
Around 5 is a good amount. A little bit less, a little bit more. The conventional medicine looks at 5.6. By the time somebody gets to a 5.6 in hemoglobin A1C, their average glucose is around 119. As it starts to go up, we are getting all of the complications of diabetes in somebody who has never been diagnosed. I have worked with patients who have had complications that are typically diabetic: diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, but they are not diabetic. Doctors say, “Your glucose is 95. You’re just fine.” They missed the boat. This poor person, because of the swings up and down over the years, make a difference.
I remember one person having that situation. He went and got his A1C checked, and it was 10. More than double what it should have been. No wonder he was having these things. Because of his big, wide variations in swings, by the time he made it to morning, he was okay. It was “normal.” Probably because he was producing so much insulin, and his insulin was high as well, that it got his sugars down when he had the eight-hour sleeping window.
Most of them are not recommending what I recommend: postprandial glucose. You get yourself a little glucose meter, poke your fingers, and see what your meals are doing, what your stress level is doing. What happens when you don’t have a good night’s sleep? What happens when you exercise versus when you don’t? You can see all of this.
I have been talking about these forever. I have been having people test their glucose that was prandial for the last 20 years. But more recently, there is these things called continuous glucose meters. You can actually wear it. I have one underneath. A bright blue patch. It’s got a little filament, not even as thick as an acupuncture needle, that is under the skin. It’s detecting the glucose. You know at any moment what the glucose is. “Oh, I just ate a donut. My glucose is 192. I just had a nice salad with avocado and tomato and lettuce. My glucose is 98. Wow, what a difference.” There are all kinds of ways that people can be empowered to take charge of their own health. I know that’s what you and I are all about.
Dr. Eric:
Definitely. When it comes to the levels, you mentioned with hemoglobin A1C, around 5, so a little bit higher, a little bit lower. If someone is a 5.4/5.5, you’re suggesting-
Dr. Ritamarie:
I’m suggesting let’s get you really taught and educated about how you get it lower, how you get it down to 5/5.1/4.9. It’s an early warning sign.
Dr. Eric:
Are there concerns if it gets too low?
Dr. Ritamarie:
Sure. If it gets too low, probably someone is in a hypoglycemic state most of the time. You talk about hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is “The blood sugar is low. We have to eat something to bring it up.” Most of the symptoms that people are having when they feel like they are hypoglycemic is actually hyperglycemia. The blood sugar is too high, but it’s not getting into the cells, so the cellular sugar is too low.
If the A1C goes down to 4.5, maybe your average glucose is in the 70s, but that means there may be times where it’s lower. You just have to watch. Is the person symptomatic? What’s happening overnight? What’s happening with their meals? They may just have very tight control. Their body keeps it in a very tight range. We investigate further if it goes too low. You need sugar in your system to get cellular function.
Dr. Eric:
When it comes to insulin, some functional practitioners like to see that fasting insulin below 5. Would you agree with that?
Dr. Ritamarie:
Absolutely. Between 2-5 would be the “ideal” range. Between 2-3 is even more ideal. That’s the range I like to see it. If someone has a fasting insulin between 2-3, it could be perfect, or it could be a sign that they actually have been very high, but they are heading into a pancreatic failure or have antibodies that are attacking their pancreas. I always investigate that. I look at their symptoms. What are the other factors playing in?
If they have a fasting insulin of 1.5, hemoglobin A1C of 5.1, a fasting glucose of 79, they feel good, they have good energy, then it’s perfect.
But if they are complaining of some other things, then I would want to do what’s called a postprandial insulin. I have them eat their highest carbohydrate meal that they typically would eat and then check it to see if the pancreas responds, to see if that insulin level goes up. It shouldn’t go up a lot, but it should respond. If not, it might mean they have some pancreatic failure going on.
Dr. Eric:
How soon after eating would you recommend that?
Dr. Ritamarie:
Usually 45 minutes to an hour. When you look at studies, it shows the insulin and glucose peak right around 45 minutes.
Dr. Eric:
With regular fasting insulin, or even postprandial, I haven’t done postprandial insulin testing, but I do regular insulin testing all the time. Do you get concerned if it’s a 6 or 7, or do you not really get concerned until it’s in double digits?
Dr. Ritamarie:
I get concerned as soon as it’s above 5. When I say “concerned,” that means I’m educating somebody. There is an indication you are producing too much insulin. Here are the downsides of too much insulin. Oh, you have a history of cardiovascular disease? Too much insulin stiffens your blood vessel lining, so you are more prone to have a heart attack if you go to run for the bus because your blood vessels can’t expand. High blood pressure, thyroid resistance, and other cellular hormonal resistance. At that point, I’m investigating, and I’m helping them to bring it down within the 2-5 range.
Dr. Eric:
Thyroid resistance. Let’s talk about how that relates to insulin resistance and also how that presents on a thyroid panel.
Dr. Ritamarie:
It doesn’t present on a thyroid panel. Here’s the deal. It can present as a perfectly normal thyroid panel. Normal TSH, normal T3, T4, free T3, free T4. But the person has clear symptoms of thyroid problems. We go, “Wait a minute.” The typical Western approach is you have constipation, here’s a laxative. If you have depression, here’s an antidepressant. If you have dry skin, put some moisturizer on it. They are not addressing it as a combination. Those are low thyroid symptoms. I always say if it looks like a thyroid problem, and it sounds like a thyroid problem, it’s a thyroid problem. But it’s not with the thyroid itself.
Those numbers look good, yet the person presents with thyroid symptoms. It’s usually because the receptors have become resistant. There are some really common imbalances that affect the thyroid receptors that cause them to underwork.
We have homocysteine. How many people do you test homocysteine? I listened to your podcast episode on your favorite tests. You test homocysteine on people. Elevated homocysteine can damage the thyroid receptors. We’re looking at that. What is elevated homocysteine caused by? Usually a deficiency of Vitamin B6, B12, folate. There are a number of other things that are less important, but those are your majors. We look at that.
Deficiency of Vitamin A can affect the thyroid receptors. If somebody is not getting enough Vitamin A, or they are getting enough Vitamin A in their diet but have a problem with fat digestion and fat-soluble vitamins, those are two very important things.
But the most important one that I think most people suffer from is either excess cortisol or not enough cortisol. In order for those thyroid receptors to work properly, we need the right amount of cortisol. Stress can respond. Cytokines, we all have heard of cytokines over the last few years in terms of cytokine storm. Cytokines are inflammatory mediators in the body. Excess inflammation, excess cytokines damage the thyroid receptors.
Last but not least, our good old friend, insulin. Insulin not only causes receptor resistance for insulin, but it causes receptor resistance for thyroid and other hormones as well.
Dr. Eric:
On a thyroid panel, it might very well be normal, so you can’t always pay attention. In some situations of thyroid hormone resistance, you will actually see thyroid hormone levels look on the higher side. In the case of hyperthyroidism, that would result in depressed TSH, but in the case of thyroid hormone resistance, sometimes you will see it elevated on a thyroid panel. TSH will actually be elevated as well, which shouldn’t be the case when you have too high.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Yes. In fact, that’s why it said it can look normal. There is no classic way it presents. I always tell people when they’re looking to solve their thyroid problems, and I give people a document that shows different kinds of imbalances, if the T4 is low and the T3 is good, or vice versa, what to do, so we can address those imbalances. If you don’t address that there might be thyroid resistance, you can address all those other things that are out of balance, get them in perfect balance, have the panel look perfect, yet there is still a problem. They are still symptomatic. I always say to address that.
Right from the start, assume thyroid resistance. If you’re wrong, great. Check the homocysteine, Vitamin A status. Address the stress levels. Address the insulin. That’s super important.
Yeah, excess of any hormone can cause resistance to that. It’s a clue: When that hormone is high, it’s turning off those receptors.
Dr. Eric:
Thanks for clarifying. As far as fixing the problem, diet, stress management, getting proper sleep, all these diet and lifestyle factors. The homocysteine, which could oftentimes relate to nutrient deficiencies, specifically some of the B vitamins and other nutrient deficiencies like Vitamin A. Trying to address all these imbalances.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Absolutely. What I find, and you may find this in your patients as well, is people want quick fixes because that’s what they have grown accustomed to throughout their lives. If you have a headache, pop Motrin. If you have heartburn, pop some antacids. That’s not the way the body really works. There is no quick fix. We have to address the underlying causes.
We have to look at what’s the gut function like? A lot of thyroid issues, especially the autoimmune, we have some sort of leaky gut usually. Hyperpermeability of the gut lining. We have some inflammation, some dysbiosis. We have to address that.
We have to address all the different stressors on the body, not just the mental and emotional stressors, but heavy metal stress, mold, all kinds of things like that. Chronic low-grade infections that aren’t resolved. There are all sorts of things we need to look at in the big picture.
Dr. Eric:
You’re right. A lot of people will focus on the diet, the stress, and the exercise, but they still might see elevated hemoglobin A1C and/or fasting insulin, but they might have disruption in the gut microbiome. They might have a higher toxin load. They might have stealth infections. Sounds like there are a lot of things that could at least be a contributing factor when it comes to insulin resistance and thyroid resistance issues.
Dr. Ritamarie:
A few years ago, I did an all-day workshop on hormone resistance. Nobody is teaching this. People need to know how to address it.
Dr. Eric:
I know you kind of answered this, but if they have cortisol resistance, they’re thinking cortisol/adrenal stress. But they can’t just block out time for mind/body medicine. They should do that, but if that’s all they do, it’s probably not going to address the cortisol resistance.
Dr. Ritamarie:
We have to do it all. We can’t just pick and choose. The yogis want to do the stress piece. The foodies want to do the food piece. The marathoners want to do the exercise piece. There is such a thing as overexercise, which we can talk about another time. We can’t just address the pieces that we like, that resonate. We have to address all of it. The sleep is huge. I don’t know about you, but people come in and tell me, “I can’t fall asleep. I can’t stay asleep. I can’t sleep more than six hours.” That’s putting a huge stress on the body and the hormone balance.
Dr. Eric:
I definitely agree. Sleep is a priority. You can’t negotiate the sleep.
Dr. Ritamarie:
I tried. That’s when I developed insulin resistance.
Dr. Eric:
Most of us notice a difference, even if it’s not reflecting right away in the blood sugar. Like you said, it can take years for that to develop. But it can affect the body in many other ways.
How about exercise? You mentioned exercise. Everyone is different. Some people listening to this might not be able to engage in certain types of exercise. On average, do you recommend more resistance training, cardio, high intensity interval training (HIIT)?
Dr. Ritamarie:
All of the above. It depends on the person. Ideally, do all of that stuff. But not everybody can. People have injuries in certain parts of their body, and they can’t move that particular area.
For blood sugar balance, the HIIT works really well, burst training, 30 seconds to a minute of all out, rest for 2-3 minutes, and do it again. Or do it throughout the day. You go for a walk, and then you run or climb a hill for 30 seconds to a minute, get your heart rate going, and then continue to walk. Other people do separate times throughout the day, 30-60 seconds of exercise. People find that easy to incorporate.
There is such a thing as overexercising, especially if there has been a lot of stress, and the adrenals have been going. Too much exercise for your constitution right now creates a cortisol release. That cortisol release puts you into stress mode. We have to watch it. If you are someone who says, “I want to exercise,” and you go out and do all out, weights, interval training, and then come back and can’t exercise again for 3-4 days because you’re exhausted. That’s a sign that you overdid it.
The hardest thing is when athletes burn out. They just want to keep doing it, and they can’t. The couch isn’t a bad idea right now. Just walk around the block a couple of times. Keep it light. Keep your heart rate going. Keep the oxygen flowing.
But I find that it’s harder to get people who are avid exercisers, who are burned out, to slow down. That’s even harder than some people who have been couch potatoes and don’t want to start it. But it’s super important to get the right balance of exercise for you.
Dr. Eric:
Agreed. I mentioned in past episodes where I was guilty of overtraining, and I’m pretty sure that was a contributing factor to the development of my Graves’ condition years ago. You don’t want to be a couch potato. You want movement to be a regular part of your daily routine, but you don’t want to overdo it in the gym or at home.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Even at home, there are so many little things you can do. If you have a staircase, running up and down the stairs 2-3 times can get your heart rate up. If you have a knee problem, you won’t do that. Work with your body and the limitations to find things.
There are these little exercise things you can put on the table. They’re like a bicycle. You can put it for your feet, but you can use it for your shoulders. If you have knee problems or hip problems, put it on the table, and you can work your heart rate up by using them as an arm exercise. There are a lot of options.
Dr. Eric:
The last thing I want to briefly chat with you about is intermittent fasting. We chatted a little bit before the recording started, but to remind you that some of the listeners have hyperthyroidism and might be losing a lot of weight. It’s not a perfect fit for everyone. On average, would you say if someone is dealing with insulin resistance, and let’s say they are gaining a lot of weight, is that something you usually address?
Dr. Ritamarie:
Intermittent fasting, I have been talking about it since before it became popular. I have been teaching it since like 2008 in my programs. We didn’t call it intermittent fasting; I don’t remember what we called it.
Meal spacing, let’s space your meals out. No more than three meals a day. 12 hours between the last meal and the first meal, minimally. If you can go longer, great. Finding your fasting window. Some people do great by skipping breakfast and starting to eat later in the afternoon. Some people do horribly with that, but they are really good at eating first thing in the morning, having another meal, and a light dinner. 2-3 meals a day.
Some people are doing one meal a day, but some of the research I have seen on that is it actually backfires. You gorge yourself, and you are putting all of these calories in at one time. I have a continuous blood sugar meter, so I find if I overeat at a meal, even if it’s all low glycemic stuff that I normally would eat, my blood sugar will go up. It’s just too much of a load all at once.
I’m a real big fan of intermittent fasting. I have seen amazing results with it to help people get past the plateaus of weight loss. I’ve seen it work really well for folks who have mitochondrial disruption, so their energy is low. People think, “Oh my god, I can’t not eat to get energy.” Yeah, you can. It can work really well. There is a lot of research to that effect.
It works well for brain stuff. That’s where a lot of the ketogenic diets came from. When you have intermittent fasting, you’re going longer periods of time. You have more of an opportunity to get into a ketogenic state, especially if you do a 16-hour, overnight, or from bedtime to whatever. That will help you to get into a state called autophagy, which helps your body do cleaning out. There are so many benefits to intermittent fasting.
But it’s not for everybody. You do need to be careful if you’re a menstruating woman. Don’t do it the week before your period because it can disrupt your hormones. If you find you start doing it, and your periods stop, it’s probably not the right thing for you. Like everything, it’s not for everyone.
It’s certainly not for someone with hyperthyroidism or who is underweight and has a high metabolic rate even if they’re not hyperthyroid. While everybody else is told to eat two meals a day, space your meals 4-6 hours, I say, “Eat every 2-3 hours,” because otherwise they will just burn away to nothing.
Dr. Eric:
Is there anything I didn’t ask you about insulin resistance or thyroid resistance that I should have asked you? I know there is a lot we could talk about.
Dr. Ritamarie:
There is so much. Here is the thing. If you are working on a thyroid problem, and you are ignoring your blood sugar, you won’t get very far with healing your thyroid. You must address both.
Dr. Eric:
Just a final summary as far as action steps, if someone is looking at their blood test report now and are seeing high A1C and/or fasting insulin, would you say to start with diet, cleaning up, whole healthy food, minimizing refined foods and sugars as a good place to start?
Dr. Ritamarie:
That’s a great place to start. Watch your sleep. Some people don’t sleep, not because they can’t sleep, but because they don’t get to bed. That was my situation. “I have plenty of energy. I can push it. I can stay up.” You do that and get a second wind. Just go to bed.
Make it a point to move your bedtime back so that it’s before midnight at least. Some experts would say by 11. I haven’t done that one yet, so I can’t recommend it yet. I have moved mine back to before midnight.
I’m really focused on getting 7-8, even nine hours of sleep. Some studies show that the closer you get to nine hours, the more rapidly the results and the shifts happen with healing insulin resistance.
Dr. Eric:
I can’t say I’m there yet. I usually strive for 7-8 hours, not that I wouldn’t love to get nine hours. Most nights, it’s 7-8.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Exactly.
Dr. Eric:
How can people find out more about you?
Dr. Ritamarie:
You can find me on Facebook. We post a lot there. It’s @DrRitamarie, I think. Same thing on Instagram. We are reviving our YouTube channel. Same thing. We are starting to do weekly lives and putting more content on there. If you’re a practitioner, we have a new website opening up soon. The URL is INEMethod.com. We have a lot of great resources for practitioners. I can’t wait to share those. My podcast is Reinvent Healthcare. Those are all great ways to reach me.
Dr. Eric:
Definitely check out the podcast. I mentioned I have listened to some of the episodes. Excellent information. Thank you so much. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us.
Dr. Ritamarie:
Thank you for having me. It’s my pleasure to do so.