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Hello, and welcome to the Functional Nurse Academy podcast.
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This is your host, Melissa Schreibwetter, owner and founder of the Functional Nurse Academy.
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I am so honored to have joined with me today Dr.
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Amy Myers, who is a leader in the field of functional medicine, specifically in regards to thyroid conditions and autoimmune conditions.
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We need more doctors like her.
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So I'm so glad that she's with us today.
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And uh a little bit about Dr.
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Myers.
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So she is a medical doctor, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, and an internationally acclaimed functional medicine physician who specializes in empowering those with autoimmune, thyroid, SIBO, candida, and gut issues to reverse these conditions and take back their health.
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Dr.
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Myers spent more than two decades working as a physician, including founding her own clinic before she launched Amy Myers MD, an e-commerce wellness brand that reaches millions of people in more than 140 countries around the world with over 75 products.
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She has personally formulated and a variety of programs.
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Dr.
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Myers authored the New York Times bestsellers, the autoimmune solution, the thyroid connection, as well as Amazon's number one best-selling cookbook, the autoimmune solution cookbook.
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In 2024, Dr.
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Myers launched the Take Back Your Health podcast to empower people who are seeking a path to optimal health and looking for the latest breakthroughs in longevity and functional medicine.
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Welcome, Dr.
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Myers.
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Hi, thanks so much for having me, Melissa.
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I'm super happy to be here with you and your community.
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Yes, absolutely.
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And, you know, for our community, I connected with Dr.
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Myers a while back.
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She was so gracious to have me on her show.
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And then I was really excited to get her booked on my show because as you all know, I like to frequently interviewing the nurses I have trained.
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And then I also like to mix in their experts within functional medicine.
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And I really thought it would be great to just sit down today and discuss autoimmune conditions.
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And I would love to hear a little bit about uh Dr.
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Myers about, you know, having your conventional medical doctor training and then being a leading expert in functional medicine.
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What really brought you to the field of functional medicine?
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Well, you know, unlike what I find a lot of people in conventional medicine, they got fed up with it and tired of it, and then they decide to go into functional medicine or some holistic realm.
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I actually went into medical school with the idea that I would do this.
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I just didn't know what it was.
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So I had been in the Peace Corps and uh read a book by Dr.
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Andrew Weil, Spontaneous Healing, and wanted to learn as much as I could about natural health.
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And I actually, when I got back, moved to Seattle to potentially go to Bastier.
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I still had to do all my prerequisites.
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I had graduated as a psychology major, so I had to go back and do all my post back pre-med stuff.
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And I was thinking about going to Bastier when I was working with a naturopath physician doing some research.
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And she was paying the doctors that were helping her, the medical doctors,$200 an hour, and she was paying the naturopaths$100 an hour.
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And I thought to myself, well, wait a minute.
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I'm living in Seattle where Bastier, everyone is telling me, is so esteemed that it is treated equally as any other alleopathic medical school.
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Yet I'm sitting here with a naturopath herself, and she's paying the MDs twice as much as the NDs.
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And I thought she's not viewing them, and this entire state is not viewing them as equals.
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How will the rest of the world view me?
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And so I really realized like that was not going to be the right fit for me because I didn't want to be viewed as lesser than and have constraints on where I could practice and things like that.
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So I ultimately went to alleopathic medical school, but I did all my electives in integrative health.
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I was the president of the complimentary and alternative interest group.
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I actually went and did a rotation with Dr.
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Andrew Weil my fourth year.
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And after that, I just realized like that still wasn't really getting down to the root, although it was holistic and open-minded.
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It really didn't get to the root of what was going wrong with you.
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It might say, Oh, you have irritable bowel, drink chamomile tea, do some acupuncture and meditate.
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But it didn't really say, oh, what's the root of this?
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Why do you have irritable bowel?
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So I opted to become an emergency physician because I thought if I didn't ever find what I was looking for, I could at least do international health.
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I had a lovely time in the Peace Corps.
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And then in the midst of all of this, my second year of medical school, I started having panic attacks and anxiety and losing weight and a tremor that I finally had checked by conventional medicine.
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And I was gaslit and told that I was imagining things happening to me because I was learning them in medical school and that nothing was wrong with me.
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And being the person I am, I said, no, no, no, no, I need you to do a full workup.
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So I found out I had Graves disease, which is an overactive thyroid autoimmune condition.
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And I was given the choice of medication, removing my thyroid, or ablating my thyroid.
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I went back to my natural roots and tried Chinese medicine and some natural things, even contacted Andrew Weil and was not given, there were no ME's back then, there were no U's back then, there was no functional medicine to speak of back then.
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And so I tried the medication.
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I was on PTU, and within 30 days, I was feeling 10 times worse and went back to the doctor and they checked my liver, and my liver enzymes were out the roof.
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I was diagnosed with toxic hepatitis, which happens to one in a million people on PTU, and it was happening to me.
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So I almost had to drop out of medical school and I had to get in bed and rest until my liver recovered and I had to go off the medication.
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So I was like raging hyperthyroid at this point, and had to decide if I was going to ablate my thyroid or have surgery.
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And I decided to ablate my thyroid.
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I didn't know what else to do.
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So it's still a huge regret, although I wouldn't be here today talking to you likely had I not done that.
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So at the end of all of this, of you know, graduating medical school and residency and emergency medicine, I realized even though conventional medicine, you know, solved my Graves' disease, it really never got down to the root.
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And I say conventional medicine failed me, and it's my mission to not have it fail you too, because it did fail me.
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You know, it all it did was get rid of my thyroid.
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It really didn't get to the root.
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So I ultimately heard um Dr.
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Mark Hyman speak at a uh at a conference, and I went up and talked to him, and he was so kind and loving, and I I shadowed him and he became a mentor to me.
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And I dove, you know, head first into functional medicine, took all the trainings through the Institute for Functional Medicine, and eventually opened my clinic, wrote a few books, had people from around the world coming to see me, and then ultimately started my health and wellness company, AMMD.
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And here we are.
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That that's such an amazing testimony.
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And I cannot, I I just I I think I covered I did cover it on my show just last week about how I went through a similar occurrence with my Hashimoto's, where I went around the system and they had me convinced that I was just making up my symptoms in my head.
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Um, and all they needed to do was just order a little$14 thyroid antibody test on me to figure out what was going on.
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But no one did that.
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And I I hear about this happening to women all the time, just the gas.
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All the time.
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And I did not know, like I was familiar with a little bit of your story, but I did not know about the liver issues that you had from that medication.
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And you said that was one in a million.
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One in a million, you know, and since then I have treated so many people or worked with people that have Graves disease, and I have never met anyone else that was put on PTU.
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Methamazole is the more common medication, and it was used back then.
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So I don't know why my endocrinologist chose PTU, to be honest with you.
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Um, but I have literally never met another person that has taken PTU.
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Every single Graves patient that I have seen has either come in on no medications or they've come in on methamazole.
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It's a very, very common drug.
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And, you know, it it was a common drug back then too.
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So I really don't know why I was put on PTU.
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And for our non-medical listeners, so my my husband listens to my podcast and he's non-medical and he's always like, Melissa, you've got to explain things.
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I don't know what you were talking about.
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So for non-medical listeners, um, both Graves Disease and Hashimoto's, those are autoimmune conditions that can impact the thyroid.
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And we are seeing an explosion of autoimmune conditions throughout our country, especially in women.
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And I had one of my students on my show two weeks ago, and I have so many nurses that just they start nurse practitioner school and they're like, I cannot do this.
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They're telling me things that are not true.
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So they leave nurse practitioner school and then they come train with me at Functional Nurse Academy.
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But what I hear from my students is that in school, even today, in 2026, they are learning in nurse practitioner school that with autoimmune conditions, there's really nothing you can do about it.
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Um, but you just wait until it gets so bad that maybe they need like an immune suppressant medication, or you start treating the symptoms.
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So I would love to hear your opinion on that as a functional medicine physician who is holistically functionally treating individuals with autoimmune conditions.
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Um, do you find that there are common triggers?
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And can autoimmune conditions be treated in a way that is natural?
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Absolutely.
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So, same thing.
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I mean, of course, I was in medical school many years ago at this point, but when I was learning about autoimmunity, it's taught as a as a problem of individual organs, you the immune system within an individual organ, right?
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I mean, there are there is a specialty called immunology, but it's generally not the person that you're going to if you have an autoimmune condition, right?
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If you have an autoimmune condition in your gut, you're going to a gastroenterologist.
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If you have one in your thyroid, you're going to an endocrinologist.
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So the entire system has it fractured as if it's a problem within that organ instead of a problem of the immune system.
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And then what are we taught to do as physicians?
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We're taught to shut down the immune system.
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That's exactly what all of those drugs that you were talking about.
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I would say the drug I took was more specific to shutting down my thyroid versus shutting down my entire immune system.
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But most of the medications out there available to people with autoimmunity shut down their entire immune system, which is why you can have all of these complications of infections.
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I mean, my father had an autoimmune condition, was on, I think, three or four different have heavy immunosuppressive drugs.
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He followed my program in the autoimmune solution book, got off of them for two years, had a flare, did not consult me, went back on his drugs, and within six months was septic in the ICU and passed away.
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So these are real live complications that can happen.
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So the way that I and in functional medicine work with people who have autoimmune conditions is to look at the root cause and to find ways to support the immune system and balance the immune system instead of suppress the immune system.
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And in my book, The Autoimmune Solution, which is the first book I wrote that originally came out in 2015, I have a revised and updated edition coming out later this year, I believe in the end of September.
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And I've added a few things to the list.
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I didn't take anything off the list, but I have four, I have um four pillars in that book.
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So heal your gut.
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So leaky gut is really one of the most fundamental aspects to frankly any chronic condition.
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We can even move this over into cancer, but certainly autoimmunity.
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So having a leaky gut, we can, I'm sure your practitioners are familiar with this, but in any one of these pillars, if you'd like me to dive deeper, I certainly can.
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Then, you know, getting rid of glutens, grains, and legumes is the second pillar.
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And so that's really looking at our diet at toxic and inflammatory foods, even grains and legumes, which I was a vegetarian for 27 years.
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So that was a hard one for me initially.
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And then I have pillar three is taming the toxins.
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So I find toxin exposure and toxin overload is a huge trigger for a lot of people.
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And unfortunately, over the last 10 years, our environment has only gotten more toxic.
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It hasn't gotten better.
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And then the fourth pillar is to relieve, uh, to heal your infections and relieve stress.
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And then I've added in letting go of trauma.
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So now it's heal your infections, relieve your stress, and let go of trauma.
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So that's been added into the book.
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And so infections are latent infections, such as Epstein Barr.
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We can even add COVID and long COVID into that list.
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So I updated that chapter talking about COVID, the COVID vaccine, natural immunity to COVID, having long COVID and its impact on the immune system, uh, herpes, Lyme, all of these chronic infections.
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Then there is uh stress, right?
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You know, we're all dealing with stress, uh even more so.
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And then trauma after working with patients for, you know, over a decade, I realized that trauma was a huge component to most of the people that I was seeing in my clinic.
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And so I added in and trauma.
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And so there are some other things, you know, that we can talk about dental, but to me, again, that's really infections or toxic mold.
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Again, that really falls into the toxin.
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So we can go deeper, but those buckets that I mentioned, or the pillars, or the areas that I typically have found there to be root causes, as I said, for autoimmunity and frankly, any auto um any chronic condition.
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You know, and when you're mentioning all these things, I'm like, yep, yep, those are all things that I I also teach my students about.
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And what is so and every time I do an episode, I really try not to get sassy about conventional medicine.
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But it really irks me that they still do not recognize intestinal permeability.
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And for our listeners, that is leaky gut.
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Intestinal permeability is a precursor to autoimmune activation.
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And we have so much evidence for this in the scientific literature, it's still just not being addressed.
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Now, with your experience, Dr.
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Myers, do you see that on the conventional side of are they recognizing any of this?
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Do you ever have patients that come to you from another provider that that they're informed about this?
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Like what are you seeing?
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Well, to be clear, I am no longer in clinical practice.
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So I've, you know, spend my time writing books and educating.
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I mean, my mission was bigger than one-on-one uh practice.
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I do uh have recently opened an inner circle where I have a health coach and where I show up every month and I do teachings and lives and things like that.
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But I don't see patients as a medical-patient relationship any longer after the birth of my daughter.
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But what I can tell you is that when I started talking about leaky gut almost 20 years ago, no one, other than perhaps those in functional medicine and Alessio Fasano, whose team has done the most research on leaky gut and intestinal permeability, these were the only people talking about it.
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So when people were coming to see me, they were really, you know, dear in the headlight.
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What are you talking about?
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There was no information out there.
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And certainly their GI doctors poo-pooed it.
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As my practice continued on, I do believe that the word was getting out now, was getting out more.
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And now, as I've returned back to social media and things like that, you have every influencer and their brother and sister talking about leaky gut online.
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And I always said 15, 20 years ago, as soon as a drug company has invented a zonulin blocker, because zonulin is what gets released with leaky gut, and they are racing to uh come up with these drugs.
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I said, you know, the minute they release these drugs, someone finds a way to block zonulin, every GI doctor on this planet will suddenly be believing in leaky gut.
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So I've seen a lot of things change.
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You know, SIBO was not well recognized when I started out.
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It was impossible to get patients' prescriptions for xyfaxin.
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Uh, it cost thousands of dollars for people, which is why I actually created a supplement microbe clear that can treat SIBO because I had so many patients having difficulty getting the antibiotic covered by insurance and they couldn't afford thousands of dollars for it.
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And by the end of my practice, you know, people uh were coming from their GI doctor with a diagnosis of SIBO.
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So these things are becoming more recognized.
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And just literally the other day in my community, somebody asked me about a drug.
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I honestly can't remember the name of it.
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And I said, I'm so sorry I'm not familiar with that drug.
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And she said, it's a zonulin blocker.
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So it sounds like these drugs are out there, potentially on the market or in testing phase now.
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And so we are going to see more and more GI doctors because now they have a prescription drug solution to this problem talking about this.
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And so this is where I think you probably know, and and many of your practitioners know that what we see out in the research area and in clinical practice is often 20, 10 to 20 years ahead of what ultimately gets into conventional practice, right?
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They have been researching.
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I mean, when I was talking about leaky gut 15, 20 years ago, Alessio Fasano's team had already been researching this for 10 years.
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So I was already sort of behind, you know, behind the eight ball when it came to this.
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And now here it is 15 years later, and conventional medicine is starting to talk about it.
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So I have seen those things in real life occur exactly how um it's you know stated in the research, that the research is there and it takes 10 to 20 years before it shows up in a clinical practice.
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And that is what I am observing.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And I I see that too.
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And I actually, one of the uh studies I have listed in my program is that there was a study that was showing that on average it takes about 17 years from when we uh learn a new concept for that actually be to be implemented into the guidelines.
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And I would even challenge that because I think if it is something that could be um a competitor with big industry, we may never see it get into the guidelines.
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I I also want to circle back around to to diet.
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Um, because you had mentioned that doing an anti-inflammatory diet and how how important it is.
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And I wanted to ask you, because we do see this time and time again with gluten.
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And and I I always say, I'm like the gluten that we are eating today, this is not the same gluten that Jesus was eating.
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It has been hybridized, it is not a natural food anymore, and I see it over and over and over.
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People, when they completely give up gluten, I see so many issues resolved.
00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.559
Now, I know that you mentioned gluten, grains, and legumes.
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:05.359
Um, could you elaborate a little bit more on the grains and the legumes?
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:10.960
And is that something that you typically recommend long-term or short-term elimination?
00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:19.759
So in the autoimmune spectrum, in the autoimmune solution book, I coined the term the autoimmune spectrum.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.480
So there is a spectrum that I believe we all sit on right, you know, down here.
00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:29.119
There's no inflammation whatsoever, which is, I think, pretty rare these days in anybody.
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.519
And then there are different levels and you work your way all the way up to autoimmunity.
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:47.039
And so I didn't really define it in the first edition quite as well as I have in my revised edition, which is in the revised edition, I actually created levels in you know, level one, two, three, and four.
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:53.920
So if you're a level four, eighty or above on a scoring system of a quiz that's in the book, you're high on the spectrum.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:22:01.359
You've likely been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, you likely have active antibodies, and you actually likely have Active symptoms.
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:07.519
So if you're there on the spectrum, I do recommend that you really dive deep into the diet.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:19.599
And you know, I the chapter is called Get Rid of Gluten Grains and Legumes, but there are other foods: sugar, caffeine, GMOs, eggs, dairy, nightshades that I recommend people give up.
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:25.359
These have all been shown to be inflammatory in general, or particularly with people with autoimmunity.
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:35.519
And so I do recommend that you do the Myers Way diet for 30, 60, 90, however many days it is, until you start to work your way back down the spectrum.
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:46.480
And so if you've worked your way back down the spectrum and your score is, you know, lower, at really at level three, we say you can start to add back in foods and see how you respond to them.
00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:55.119
Now, the caveat to that is if you've ever been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, I do recommend that you avoid gluten and dairy at all cost.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.640
And that is through the theory behind molecular mimicry.
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.519
And if you need me to explain that, I'm I'm happy to.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:08.160
I'm not sure if your listeners, you know, if they need a re-explanation of a molecular mimicry.
00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.240
Would you like me to dive into that real quick?
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.680
Or you feel like the excellent.
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.839
If you could touch on that, I'd appreciate it.
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:19.920
So you guys may have noticed that uh we've completely changed the environment here.
00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:21.920
So tech issues happen.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.640
So Dr.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:24.480
Meyer, she lost power.
00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.480
And then this is what several weeks.
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.160
Many, I think it's at least two months or something like later.
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.720
Well, I'm in Babyland, so I I'm like, I never know what day.
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:33.759
Me either.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.839
But she was so kind to reach out to me because she's in the Franklin area.
00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:43.200
So we got to get together and do a in studio podcast.
00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:49.920
So my husband was in here, like set it up for me because I eventually want to do things like this more in person.
00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.160
So well, um, good to see you again.
00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:52.799
You too.
00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.680
Thanks for having me.
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.039
I'm glad we can make this happen.
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.319
Yes, it's really fun.
00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:56.880
Absolutely.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.559
Yeah, well, it's always so great to be able to meet in person, you know?
00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:01.039
Yes.
00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.720
I mean, I feel like I already know you, but it is, you know, different.
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.359
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.400
Well, and tech is great because you can connect with people all over the world, but it's just different when you're actually in person.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:10.880
Yeah.
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:12.319
So cool.
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.440
Well, great to have you over.
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.079
Thank you.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:15.119
Um, I know.
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:28.559
So before we so rudely were interrupted by tech issues, you were explaining molecular mimicry because we were talking about why, you know, gluten is not the best thing for people with autoimmune conditions.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:29.759
So can you explain?
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:30.880
Absolutely.
00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:32.559
So that is that is correct.
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:49.359
In fact, I was watching last night radical remission on Netflix or no, on Amazon Prime, and a woman on it had a spontaneous remission from MS, but she contributed all of her autoimmunity to leaky gut, of course, and gluten.
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.359
So let's explain why that is.
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:58.000
So gluten looks very similar to many of our tissues, particularly the thyroid tissue.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.039
And so it's a case of mistaken identity.
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:12.240
So as your gut is leaky, as those drawbridges that I'm assuming I explained previously are open, large molecules such as the gluten molecule can get through.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.160
And then your immune system is sitting there.
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:19.200
About 85% of your immune system is sitting right there, one cell layer thick.
00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.000
And so as gluten comes over, your immune system says, Oh, that's not supposed to be here, that's foreign.
00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.160
Let me go and attack that.
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:37.359
And as it goes to attack it, it can inadvertently attack your spinal cord, your joints, your thyroid, because these tissues look so similar to the gluten.
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:41.279
A case of mistaken identity, molecular mimicry.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.680
And that's really one of the main theories behind autoimmunity.
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:54.559
And so it's why I say certainly if you've been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, absolutely no gluten, no ifs, ands, or buts.
00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.400
Even when you go to Europe, yes, the weed is different, but it still contains gluten.
00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:09.519
Now, if you're lower on the spectrum and you never got diagnosed with an autoimmune condition and you just maybe have some gluten sensitivity, I still don't recommend that you eat gluten, but maybe you can eat it when you're in Europe.
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:16.480
But if you've ever been diagnosed with autoimmunity, I do not recommend that you ever go back to gluten for this very reason.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:31.519
You know, and I have seen time and time again that's when I start working with people, I teach them about hey, let's do a trial of eliminating gluten, let's incorporate an anti-inflammatory diet.
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:41.279
I see people get so many results when we just go back to eating the foods that God had designed for our bodies to eat.
00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:46.880
And you know, so much, so many gluten-containing foods are highly ultra-processed.
00:26:47.119 --> 00:27:08.319
But what I am starting to see now, which it's more accessible now, but I wanted to ask you specifically about um what your opinion is on things like ancient grains, like ironcorn, because for my situation, I do not eat just regular conventional hybridized glute stone.
00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.519
Um however, I did incorporate ironcorn.
00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:18.640
My um wonderful husband has been baking fresh bread with eincorn flour.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:25.039
He made like organic ironcorn, and I do really well on it, and I don't notice my antibodies increasing.
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:34.079
And the good thing about Hashimoto's is you can do different things, and then you can measure your antibodies and take into account your um, you know, your symptoms.
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:38.000
We are already about halfway through the show.
00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:40.079
It always goes by so fast.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.680
So we are going to cut to break.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:50.880
If you are a fed up nurse, I can absolutely train you at the Functional Nurse Academy.
00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:59.920
The Functional Nurse Academy is the leading and most comprehensive functional nursing program on the market.
00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:15.359
We are accredited for 90 nursing CEs, multiple board certification titles, and all of our students also receive business tools and live mentorship with me.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:31.519
So if you want to learn more about that program, you can go to functional nurseacademy.com or click on the link in the show notes to join me live for the next informational webinar.
00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:44.640
This show is also syndicated on America Out Loud Talk Radio on the Nurses Report Radio show and podcast.
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.160
So you can also find me there on any major app.
00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:51.519
Welcome back.
00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:54.160
I am joined today by Dr.
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.000
Amy Myers.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:04.000
And we are having a discussion on functional approaches for autoimmunity.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:13.039
But what do you think about like a trial of a really clean ancient grain if someone's able to monitor their symptoms and their autoimmune markers?
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:17.359
So I'm gonna say the short answer is I would not do it, but I will give you the longer answer.
00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.160
And my father, the first thing, he had polymyositis.
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:26.480
And when I said, um, you know, you need to give up gluten, and he said, But, you know, bread is the body of Christ.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:27.519
What are you talking about?
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:28.640
It's all over the Bible.
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:30.319
We ate bread forever.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:43.440
Well, it's a different bread, but I think, you know, someone like yourself, you're you have probably, I'm imagining, walked through all four pillars of the Myers way, or, you know, you've done your own version of that, right?
00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:53.279
And so you've cleaned up you your environment, you've healed your gut, you've gotten off the foods, um, you know, maybe you've worked on your stress, you've healed your trauma, all of these things.
00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:05.440
So someone like yourself, that, you know, if we look at our body as a glass of water, and as we're dumping toxins in, stress in, traumas in, gluten in, it overfall, you know, fills.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:11.359
And so if you're not addressing all the other things and you just want to go eat some ancient wheat, no, probably not.
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:20.319
But if you're someone like yourself or someone like me who's really dealt with all of these things and you've gotten your cup much lower, it's a possibility, you know?
00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:32.880
And certainly if your autoimmune condition is something like Hashimoto's, where you can very readily and easily and not very expensively check your antibodies, I think that's something people could try.
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:36.480
I personally have not, you know, done that myself.
00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:40.799
Um, I just, for me, it's it's just easier.
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:46.559
Um, I read this somewhere years and years ago, just you know, knowing your nose, and then it makes life a lot easier.
00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:54.079
I was having dinner with some friends years and years ago, and we went out to dinner, and none of them follow a gluten-free lifestyle.
00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:57.759
And some cake or some sort of dessert had arrived.
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.200
And they looked over at me and they said, Oh, Amy, we're so sorry.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:10.559
And I just remember I had been talking to them and I kind of looked down, saw cake, thought gluten, dairy, sugar, not for you, and moved on with the conversation.
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:12.960
And I said, What are you apologizing for?
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.680
I said, Oh, we ordered cake and you know, you can't have any.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:19.359
I said, Oh, I mean, it didn't even, you know, quickly registered.
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.279
So I sometimes find just knowing those no's, it makes life easier.
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:34.640
If you start kind of creeping into these, oh, maybe it's a yes, and then it's that, that it can sometimes be harder, you know, to manage life when you, when you kind of have the maybes.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:42.000
But someone like I said, who's done the work like yourself, it's possibly reasonable to try.
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:54.319
I have not personally done it, but I don't recommend that the average person that has not walked through and really gotten that cup of water to, you know, get get down here instead of being almost at the top, right?
00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:56.880
It can be the final thing that kicks you over.
00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:06.400
Well, and I've just seen so many people get better when they clean up their diet, reduce their toxic burden, and address these things.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:20.640
But are you seeing, like your physician colleagues that are treating individuals with autoimmune disorders, are are our conventional physicians getting on to the whole, okay, let's try removing gluten.
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:22.640
Let's go gluten-free for autoimmune.
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:24.160
Like, what are you seeing?
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.680
You know, that is very difficult.
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:36.799
I mean, I had a lot of people go to their rheumatologist and bring my books, and because I am a physician, they were somewhat more open-minded about it.
00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:45.519
Where I think things have changed over the last 12 years since I wrote that book, um, or the original edition of the Autoimmune Solution.
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:49.839
And of course, I have the expanded revised edition coming out in January.
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:57.279
Um, where I think people are acknowledging something is when it comes to leaky gut.
00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.519
And so I always said that 12 years ago, right?
00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:02.559
Nobody was talking about leaky gut except for a few of us.
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:16.079
And I said, you know, as soon as they have a zonulin blocker, as soon as the drug companies come up with a zonulin blocker, every GI doctor on the corner is going to be talking about leaky gut and how to heal it with this pill.
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:17.440
And we're there, right?
00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.240
We're there that there are some zonulin blockers in trials coming to market.
00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:29.519
And now everybody and their brother, who's an influencer on Instagram and social media, is talking about leaky gut, right?
00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:35.039
And molecular mimicry and gluten sensitivity and all of these things that nobody was talking about.
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:42.480
Um I think that there are some open-minded physicians, but not nearly as many as people would like.
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:48.880
I still hear stories daily of people, you know, getting dismissed, told this is the only way of life.
00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:50.960
You're gonna be on these drugs forever.
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:52.960
You have no other option.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:58.960
And it's so sad for these children getting diagnosed with autoimmune conditions.
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:12.480
And I see kids going on medications or, you know, children that are having psychiatric issues and they're being put on pharmaceuticals and they're not being advised on diet, you know?
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:18.480
And it's like I like in my brain always goes to, you know, what can we do first that is non-invasive?
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:23.760
Like what interventions can we start to incorporate that are not going to be harmful down the road?
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.679
Because so many of these medications have very serious psychosis.
00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:35.199
Oh, my father ended up, you know, he got all he had polymycitis and in the original edition of the autoimmune solution.
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:40.239
He is in my the last chapter, the chapter of hope, where he got off all his immunosuppressive drugs.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:46.480
He was on celsept, methotrexate, prednisone, got off all of it for several years by following my program.
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:55.519
And then I was dealing with toxic mold and sleeping on a balcony because I was so sick and he had a flare and went back on and within six months died of sepsis.
00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.559
Oh, so he got pneumonia, you know, and he was immunosuppressed from these drugs.
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.239
So people think that, you know, oh, it's no big deal.
00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:09.440
Well, this is a real side effect that you can get a pneumonia and die of sepsis.
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:11.360
I mean, it happened to my father.
00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:22.400
And, you know, back to the thing about the children, you know, I remember this one child in my clinic, uh, he was very young, and he had had literally a million-dollar workup with a neurologist.
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:26.480
You know, he was having falling over, having these seizures, all kinds of problems.
00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:30.960
And I got him off gluten and dairy and everything resolved overnight.
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:45.519
So it is um, it is really sad how uh children are getting diagnosed from everything from ADHD to, you know, other neurologic issues and autoimmunity.
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:52.880
And really, if you get them off gluten, gluten, and dairy because of that molecular mimicry, a lot of these things improve.
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:58.480
So I have, I follow a pharmacist, uh, Michaela Walkall.
00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:08.079
She's been on my show before, but she had a severely autistic child and she recovered him from doing natural things.
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.320
And there are, there's even published case studies of this now in the literature.
00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:16.400
And I think that informed consent is so lacking.
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:26.079
I see this over and over again that the average patient doesn't completely understand how the medications are working and the risks associated.
00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:36.000
And then also sometimes there are medications on the market like SSRIs or heaven forbid, COVID vaccines that I still can't believe are on the market.
00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:40.400
But anyway, we these pharmaceutical products come on the market.
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:47.840
We're told they're safe, and then we find out sometimes decades later that they were never safe and they're causing all kinds of issues.
00:36:48.079 --> 00:37:02.480
But something I've heard about the immune suppressant medications to individuals that have autoimmune conditions is they're like, well, I used to be sensitive to these foods, but now I'm on these immunosuppressive agents and I can eat all these foods and I feel fine.
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:14.800
But then I think that some patients aren't making that connection that, like, yes, that's helping with your symptoms temporarily, but then in the long run, it's gonna make you more susceptible to things like cancer and other infections.
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:15.920
Well other right.
00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:29.280
And a lot of these medications, such as steroids, it's a very rather universal first-line medication for people with different autoimmune conditions and steroids themselves cause leaky gut.
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:43.679
I think it's a shame that it's just not, and it seems like it's common sense to me, you know, that if you are eating nourishing foods that are not ultra-processed, that you're gonna feel better.
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:49.119
So it is just it's it's surprising to me that it's not part of just standard guidance.
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:50.320
I mean, it should be, right?
00:37:50.400 --> 00:38:00.000
I mean, we're introducing a foreign substance into your body and your immune system sitting right there, you know, anywhere from one to five times a day.
00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.400
And you know, my dog is going through a cancer journey right now.
00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:21.840
And so the regular vet asks what they eat, but I've seen these various um in integrative oncologists in veterinary medicine, and one of them said, you have to see the nutritionist before you can even see the vet, which is of course how I used to do it in my clinic.
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:27.039
You know, part of the initial appointment and the follow-up were an appointment with me and the nutritionist.
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:29.119
And here we are in veterinary medicine.
00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:34.000
You know, they eagerly ask you one of the first questions, what are you feeding your dog?
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:43.440
But unless you're going to a functional medicine physician or practitioner, it's very rare that anybody in the healthcare system is asking you what you're eating.
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:45.119
And also, you know what?
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:53.199
After working in the healthcare system and being in the hospital, and you see the doctors and nurses come in with their McDonald's and their, you know, milkshakes.
00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:58.320
And I'm not, I one time I sent a picture to my husband of what was in the break room.
00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:04.960
It was donuts, cake, and McDonald's breakfast biscuits, you know?
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:09.280
But but the thing is that the people that are delivering health care really don't know what's going on.
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.719
Well, and think about if you're inpatient as a patient in the hospital, what they're feeding you, right?
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:24.320
I mean, I've personally never been in the hospital myself, but this my father's had many surgeries, or you see people talking about it online.
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:32.800
Oh, look, you know, my dad just had open heart surgery and they're feeding him chocolate pudding and you know, a hamburger or something the next day.
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:36.320
I mean, it's ridiculous what they're feeding.
00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:37.360
Yeah, yeah.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:38.800
You you can't make this stuff up.
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.400
So my my mom was in, she's better now, but she was in the hospital.
00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:46.880
And seeing the food that they were bringing her, I'm like, mom, you can't eat that.
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:53.360
Like I had to like go up there and make sure that she had like, you know, food, filtered water, you know, things like that.
00:39:53.519 --> 00:40:02.480
But uh, but yeah, so I think that there's really so many, when you think about it, kind of simple things you can do, like correcting your diet.
00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:09.519
And then um, so moving on from your pillars, I know we talked about healing the gut, removing gluten grain, and legumes.
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:10.719
What is next?
00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:15.199
Um, then pillar three is tame the toxins.
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:18.239
So, how do you get toxins into your body?
00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:23.440
You breathe them in, you drink or eat them in, and you absorb them through your skin.
00:40:23.679 --> 00:40:31.280
So eliminating that's the first step, using clean body products, clean cleaning products, drinking filtered water.
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:33.440
And then how do you get them out?
00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:35.840
You pee them out, you poop them out, and you sweat them out.
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.480
So you want to make sure you're peeing, pooping, sweating every day.
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:43.119
I personally live in the desert, so I have an infrared sauna that helps me sweat.
00:40:43.280 --> 00:41:00.719
And then pillar four, and this is one of the pillars that I have updated in the revised edition of the autoimmune solution, is to heal your infections, and that's latent infections, such as Lyme, Epstein Barr, herpes, and now we can throw COVID into that, long COVID, or if you've been vaccinated against COVID.
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:04.639
Um, heal your infections, relieve your stress.
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:06.960
It's very difficult to just get rid of your stress.
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:11.119
So, how do you find ways to pause, reset, release it?
00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:15.119
And then I've added into this addition letting go of trauma.
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:20.960
And so that's really something that I had not identified when I first wrote this book 12 years ago.
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:22.400
It was early on in my practice.
00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:33.119
I had not sat across the table from thousands of patients like I have since then and heard their stories, which is that almost everyone has a trauma or traumas.
00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:47.760
And, you know, we now know through the research using the ACE score, which is a childhood adverse events scoring, that the higher that number, the more likely you are to have any type of chronic illness, including autoimmunity.
00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:58.000
I also share a story about my own trauma that I went through in building a uh supposedly mold-proof, bomb-proof house.
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:18.079
And then my builder, uh, Paulo Santo designs just screwing it up and not following the plans and me ending up with PTSD after I had a leak and mold in my house six months in to after building this thing that took many, many years to design and build.
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:25.039
So I talk about my my own struggles with PTSD and what I did to recover from that.
00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:27.760
Yeah, I talk about that a lot too.
00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:31.519
I feel like I bring up the A study almost every week.
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:37.440
And I remember when I first got really sick because I also had a trauma history.
00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:47.519
And when I learned that, like, okay, that's something I need to actually address, I was like, ugh, because I it was something I just I just didn't want at deal with it, you know.
00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:48.719
Yeah, most people don't.
00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:58.880
But I will say for for me, I would catch myself in these cycles where I was just ruminating on these things and I never effectively processed it.
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:07.440
And uh for me, going back to the Christian religion, giving it to Christ, and there's just so much in the Bible about forgiveness.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:19.280
And I will say, like once I actually started practicing forgiveness, and again, I could not do it on my own because I am naturally like the most resentful person ever that holds grudge to everything.
00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:27.119
So Jesus helped me with that, but I have released so much of this unforgiveness, and it is amazing.
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:35.599
Like I remember, like I could almost feel it like right here, like the heaviness and it weighs you down.
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:44.800
And I think so many people that are dealing with trauma and they have not found effective, impactful ways to process it.
00:43:44.960 --> 00:43:47.840
Like we know it's contributing to chronic disease processes.
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:57.599
And I don't think that we completely understand all of the mechanisms, but I think one of the mechanisms it is it keeps you in that upregulated fight or flight response.
00:43:57.920 --> 00:43:58.159
Totally.
00:43:58.239 --> 00:43:59.519
I mean, that's really.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.519
Uh, you know, how I was, we can talk about the, you know, mold specifically.
00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:13.039
I recently there was a big storm in Santa Fe, and I had five doors that leaked, and my previous self would have gone into a tailspin.
00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:14.239
I'm not safe.
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:16.639
You know, I'm how am I here again?
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:17.920
Like, what am I gonna do?
00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:23.280
And I just, you know, said to myself, through all the work that I've done, I'm safe.
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:24.079
I'm okay.
00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:28.639
You know, I built this house in a way that I'm not gonna get sick, I'm strong enough.
00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:32.960
And, you know, I just put up my dehumidifiers and and moved on from this situation.
00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:37.760
And I mean, I make it sound like it's easy, and this is something I just sort of did overnight, but it's not.
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:42.880
I mean, I went through a lot of EMDR, I've done a lot of prayer, a lot of meditation.
00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:48.480
Um, I've, you know, even uh done some medicines that are supposed to help.
00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:52.719
And so it was a long journey of getting there.
00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:56.559
And now, you know, about forgiveness, there's a lot of debates about that.
00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:58.719
You know, do you need to forgive?
00:44:58.960 --> 00:44:59.599
I don't know.
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:04.159
I mean, you know, I think this is a good practice if you can, but I mean, I think some people can't.
00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:08.800
But how can you, you know, get to a place where you can let go of it, right?
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:12.960
And forgiveness is always a good thing if you can, but I don't know.
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:19.519
I I personally haven't been a victim of uh what one would call a big T trauma, right?
00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:25.360
Like if I had literally been, you know, uh, you know, abused or something like that, I don't know.
00:45:25.519 --> 00:45:26.800
Do those people need to forgive?
00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:28.559
I mean, I I don't know, you know?
00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:38.719
Well, I think too, with the with forgiveness, so much of it is for the person that is is the person that is is suffering, you know?
00:45:39.039 --> 00:45:50.480
But um I also think with forgiveness, forgiveness like does not mean reconciliation, you know, it just means that you're you're no longer holding on to that like grief and resentment.
00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:56.880
But again, I mean, there are people that have been put in horrible, horrible situations, you know.
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:01.199
So I do think that working to process that trauma is so important.
00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:10.559
And also seeking things like besides, not saying that cognitive behavioral therapy cannot work, but I just know of so many people that are in these cycles where they're in it for years.
00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:19.920
Well, I mean, that's the work of Peter Levine, which I talk about in the book as well, which is that if you've had significant traumas, talking about it can be traumatic.
00:46:20.239 --> 00:46:30.719
And so using things like somatic therapy, EMDR, you know, uh prayer, plant medicines, meditation, other things to take you outside of your body.
00:46:31.199 --> 00:46:34.079
Because I I give this example a lot in a podcast.
00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:41.519
I had a young woman who had um escaped Africa, I don't remember the country, you know, and has sought asylum here.
00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:44.639
And then she had been through all kinds of abuse and trauma.
00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:49.920
And her way of giving back was then to be an interpreter for other young women who the same thing.
00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:54.880
And as an interpreter, you can't sit there and say she, she, she, you have to say I.
00:46:55.280 --> 00:47:00.800
And so she had vitiligo, which is a loss of the pigment of the skin or the melanin.
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:11.760
And I said to her, you know, I I think that that your job is participating in in your illness and keeping you sick because you're having to say I and you're taking on that trauma.
00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:13.199
She didn't want to hear anything about it.
00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:14.239
She stopped seeing me.
00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:17.360
About two years later, though, she called me back and said, You are right.
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:20.800
I left my job and my vitiligo has completely reversed.
00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:23.679
But she was telling these stories of the other women.
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:28.800
And because she herself had been through it, she was saying, I this, this happened to me, this, that happened to me.
00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:32.079
And it was, and it was first person.
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.320
So she was taking all of that on.
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:38.000
So trauma doesn't even need to be something that happened to you.
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:43.199
It can even be something that you perceive or that you're, you know, it's the self-talk about it.
00:47:43.519 --> 00:47:55.760
And so I think that's a perfect example of if you have gone through trauma and then you're going to talk therapy and you're talking and you're describing the trauma, you are reading your nervous system could be reliving the trauma.
00:47:55.920 --> 00:48:05.440
And so finding other ways to let go of that through, you know, somatic healing or something else is can be very beneficial.
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:10.079
Well, and our words matter, you know, our words matter, our thoughts matter.
00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:19.679
This magnificent mind, body, spirit is always listening to everything that we're thinking, looking at what we're doing and what we're saying.
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:20.239
Of course.
00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:23.039
So, well, that's about all of the time.
00:48:23.199 --> 00:48:35.039
But I did want to ask before we close out, so what advice would you give to functional nurses who are working with individuals suffering with autoimmune conditions?
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:39.760
I follow the four, follow the four pillars of the Myers way.
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:44.559
It is, you know, it is a proven way to reverse autoimmunity.
00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:45.920
There's always hope.
00:48:46.079 --> 00:49:01.679
Um, I think the other thing is just I and have I personally have experienced moving up the autoimmune spectrum where, you know, this where I got diagnosed with PTSD, or another time I had was sleeping on a balcony because I was so sick from mold.
00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:07.199
And, you know, until that last breath, there is always hope to get you back down that spectrum.
00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.920
I've seen it time again, I've experienced it myself.
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:11.519
Life is a journey.
00:49:11.679 --> 00:49:16.559
It doesn't mean we've reached the destination, we've gone down the spectrum, and nothing's ever going to happen to you again.
00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:22.400
So until that very last breath, there is always hope and a way to get back down that spectrum.
00:49:22.719 --> 00:49:22.880
Yeah.
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:35.119
And I see it time and time again, you know, and I think it's important that people are not identifying with whatever disease or condition they got diagnosed with and that they're hopeful because these bodies are intelligent.
00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:42.159
You know, when you give the body what it needs, you take away things that are aggravating it and making it sick, the body can heal in many cases.
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:43.519
Well, this was great.
00:49:43.679 --> 00:49:46.159
Now tell our listeners where they can go to find you.
00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:53.760
Dr.Amy Myers.com is my personal brand where they can find out about the book, my inner circle.
00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:59.360
And if they're interested in any of my supplements, that's uh amimyersmd.com.
00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:00.480
Okay, wonderful.
00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:01.599
Well, it was so great to have you.
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:02.320
I know.
00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:03.119
So thank you so much.
00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:04.960
I'm so glad I got to be here in person.
00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:05.920
It was so fun.
00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:07.360
Yes, absolutely.
00:50:07.519 --> 00:50:08.000
Anytime.
00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:11.199
Open invitation if you ever would like to come back on the show.
00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:12.000
Thank you.
00:50:12.239 --> 00:50:16.960
Well, that is all of the time that we have today.
00:50:17.199 --> 00:50:17.519
Dr.
00:50:17.679 --> 00:50:24.800
Myers, I am so grateful for you taking the time to come on my show today.
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:27.920
If you want to learn more about Dr.
00:50:28.159 --> 00:50:34.320
Myers, you can go to her website, amimyersMD.com.
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:39.280
Also, in the show notes, I am going to have the links to Dr.
00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:45.360
Myers' website and to her books just to make it easier for you to find her.
00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:50.400
And we know it's not just nurses suffering in the system.
00:50:51.039 --> 00:50:59.760
There are so many other healthcare professionals that are really struggling in the sick care system.
00:51:00.159 --> 00:51:11.039
And for that reason, I did open the doors to non-nursing professionals for my functional medicine educational programs.
00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:29.440
So if you are not a nurse, if you are another healthcare professional or you are a certified health and wellness coach and you are looking for high-quality functional medicine training and board certification, you can train with me at Christian Functional Medicine Academy.
00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:32.800
That is ChristianfMA.com.
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:41.039
And you can also click on the link in the show notes to join me for my next live informational webinar.
00:51:41.360 --> 00:51:51.119
If you want to learn more about the Functional Nurse Academy, please feel free to register for our next live webinar.
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:54.800
And you will see that link in the show notes.
00:51:55.039 --> 00:52:06.079
You can also check out Functional Nurse Academy on our social media platforms or on our website at functional nurseacademy.com.
00:52:06.559 --> 00:52:11.280
Until next time, be safe, be well, and God bless.
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:08.480
Hello, and welcome to the Functional Nurse Academy podcast.
00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.599
This is your host, Melissa Schreibwetter, owner and founder of the Functional Nurse Academy.
00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:20.079
I am so honored to have joined with me today Dr.
00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:33.200
Amy Myers, who is a leader in the field of functional medicine, specifically in regards to thyroid conditions and autoimmune conditions.
00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:35.039
We need more doctors like her.
00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.200
So I'm so glad that she's with us today.
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.679
And uh a little bit about Dr.
00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:40.159
Myers.
00:00:40.320 --> 00:01:02.079
So she is a medical doctor, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, and an internationally acclaimed functional medicine physician who specializes in empowering those with autoimmune, thyroid, SIBO, candida, and gut issues to reverse these conditions and take back their health.
00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.119
Dr.
00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:23.760
Myers spent more than two decades working as a physician, including founding her own clinic before she launched Amy Myers MD, an e-commerce wellness brand that reaches millions of people in more than 140 countries around the world with over 75 products.
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She has personally formulated and a variety of programs.
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Dr.
00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:42.239
Myers authored the New York Times bestsellers, the autoimmune solution, the thyroid connection, as well as Amazon's number one best-selling cookbook, the autoimmune solution cookbook.
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:43.840
In 2024, Dr.
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:56.159
Myers launched the Take Back Your Health podcast to empower people who are seeking a path to optimal health and looking for the latest breakthroughs in longevity and functional medicine.
00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:57.120
Welcome, Dr.
00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:57.680
Myers.
00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:00.000
Hi, thanks so much for having me, Melissa.
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.640
I'm super happy to be here with you and your community.
00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:04.480
Yes, absolutely.
00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:08.000
And, you know, for our community, I connected with Dr.
00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.159
Myers a while back.
00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.919
She was so gracious to have me on her show.
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:25.199
And then I was really excited to get her booked on my show because as you all know, I like to frequently interviewing the nurses I have trained.
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:30.319
And then I also like to mix in their experts within functional medicine.
00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:39.039
And I really thought it would be great to just sit down today and discuss autoimmune conditions.
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.560
And I would love to hear a little bit about uh Dr.
00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:53.680
Myers about, you know, having your conventional medical doctor training and then being a leading expert in functional medicine.
00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.759
What really brought you to the field of functional medicine?
00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:10.400
Well, you know, unlike what I find a lot of people in conventional medicine, they got fed up with it and tired of it, and then they decide to go into functional medicine or some holistic realm.
00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.800
I actually went into medical school with the idea that I would do this.
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.080
I just didn't know what it was.
00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.840
So I had been in the Peace Corps and uh read a book by Dr.
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:26.319
Andrew Weil, Spontaneous Healing, and wanted to learn as much as I could about natural health.
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:30.639
And I actually, when I got back, moved to Seattle to potentially go to Bastier.
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.560
I still had to do all my prerequisites.
00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:37.199
I had graduated as a psychology major, so I had to go back and do all my post back pre-med stuff.
00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:43.919
And I was thinking about going to Bastier when I was working with a naturopath physician doing some research.
00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:52.240
And she was paying the doctors that were helping her, the medical doctors,$200 an hour, and she was paying the naturopaths$100 an hour.
00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:54.479
And I thought to myself, well, wait a minute.
00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:04.960
I'm living in Seattle where Bastier, everyone is telling me, is so esteemed that it is treated equally as any other alleopathic medical school.
00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:10.879
Yet I'm sitting here with a naturopath herself, and she's paying the MDs twice as much as the NDs.
00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:15.919
And I thought she's not viewing them, and this entire state is not viewing them as equals.
00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:18.079
How will the rest of the world view me?
00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:27.920
And so I really realized like that was not going to be the right fit for me because I didn't want to be viewed as lesser than and have constraints on where I could practice and things like that.
00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:34.240
So I ultimately went to alleopathic medical school, but I did all my electives in integrative health.
00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.680
I was the president of the complimentary and alternative interest group.
00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.360
I actually went and did a rotation with Dr.
00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.360
Andrew Weil my fourth year.
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:47.600
And after that, I just realized like that still wasn't really getting down to the root, although it was holistic and open-minded.
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.920
It really didn't get to the root of what was going wrong with you.
00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.439
It might say, Oh, you have irritable bowel, drink chamomile tea, do some acupuncture and meditate.
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.399
But it didn't really say, oh, what's the root of this?
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:00.240
Why do you have irritable bowel?
00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:09.199
So I opted to become an emergency physician because I thought if I didn't ever find what I was looking for, I could at least do international health.
00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.279
I had a lovely time in the Peace Corps.
00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:24.160
And then in the midst of all of this, my second year of medical school, I started having panic attacks and anxiety and losing weight and a tremor that I finally had checked by conventional medicine.
00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:34.480
And I was gaslit and told that I was imagining things happening to me because I was learning them in medical school and that nothing was wrong with me.
00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.720
And being the person I am, I said, no, no, no, no, I need you to do a full workup.
00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.399
So I found out I had Graves disease, which is an overactive thyroid autoimmune condition.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:51.120
And I was given the choice of medication, removing my thyroid, or ablating my thyroid.
00:05:51.360 --> 00:06:05.680
I went back to my natural roots and tried Chinese medicine and some natural things, even contacted Andrew Weil and was not given, there were no ME's back then, there were no U's back then, there was no functional medicine to speak of back then.
00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:09.279
And so I tried the medication.
00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:21.360
I was on PTU, and within 30 days, I was feeling 10 times worse and went back to the doctor and they checked my liver, and my liver enzymes were out the roof.
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:28.160
I was diagnosed with toxic hepatitis, which happens to one in a million people on PTU, and it was happening to me.
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:34.959
So I almost had to drop out of medical school and I had to get in bed and rest until my liver recovered and I had to go off the medication.
00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:41.199
So I was like raging hyperthyroid at this point, and had to decide if I was going to ablate my thyroid or have surgery.
00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.519
And I decided to ablate my thyroid.
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:44.959
I didn't know what else to do.
00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:51.120
So it's still a huge regret, although I wouldn't be here today talking to you likely had I not done that.
00:06:51.360 --> 00:07:03.120
So at the end of all of this, of you know, graduating medical school and residency and emergency medicine, I realized even though conventional medicine, you know, solved my Graves' disease, it really never got down to the root.
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:11.279
And I say conventional medicine failed me, and it's my mission to not have it fail you too, because it did fail me.
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.519
You know, it all it did was get rid of my thyroid.
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:14.959
It really didn't get to the root.
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.000
So I ultimately heard um Dr.
00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:30.639
Mark Hyman speak at a uh at a conference, and I went up and talked to him, and he was so kind and loving, and I I shadowed him and he became a mentor to me.
00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:47.680
And I dove, you know, head first into functional medicine, took all the trainings through the Institute for Functional Medicine, and eventually opened my clinic, wrote a few books, had people from around the world coming to see me, and then ultimately started my health and wellness company, AMMD.
00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:49.680
And here we are.
00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.399
That that's such an amazing testimony.
00:07:52.560 --> 00:08:08.240
And I cannot, I I just I I think I covered I did cover it on my show just last week about how I went through a similar occurrence with my Hashimoto's, where I went around the system and they had me convinced that I was just making up my symptoms in my head.
00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:17.759
Um, and all they needed to do was just order a little$14 thyroid antibody test on me to figure out what was going on.
00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:18.879
But no one did that.
00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:22.800
And I I hear about this happening to women all the time, just the gas.
00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:23.439
All the time.
00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:35.919
And I did not know, like I was familiar with a little bit of your story, but I did not know about the liver issues that you had from that medication.
00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.759
And you said that was one in a million.
00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:48.799
One in a million, you know, and since then I have treated so many people or worked with people that have Graves disease, and I have never met anyone else that was put on PTU.
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.960
Methamazole is the more common medication, and it was used back then.
00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:58.480
So I don't know why my endocrinologist chose PTU, to be honest with you.
00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:04.720
Um, but I have literally never met another person that has taken PTU.
00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:11.519
Every single Graves patient that I have seen has either come in on no medications or they've come in on methamazole.
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.960
It's a very, very common drug.
00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.080
And, you know, it it was a common drug back then too.
00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.600
So I really don't know why I was put on PTU.
00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:29.519
And for our non-medical listeners, so my my husband listens to my podcast and he's non-medical and he's always like, Melissa, you've got to explain things.
00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:31.279
I don't know what you were talking about.
00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:39.360
So for non-medical listeners, um, both Graves Disease and Hashimoto's, those are autoimmune conditions that can impact the thyroid.
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:44.960
And we are seeing an explosion of autoimmune conditions throughout our country, especially in women.
00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:58.799
And I had one of my students on my show two weeks ago, and I have so many nurses that just they start nurse practitioner school and they're like, I cannot do this.
00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:00.799
They're telling me things that are not true.
00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.840
So they leave nurse practitioner school and then they come train with me at Functional Nurse Academy.
00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:17.360
But what I hear from my students is that in school, even today, in 2026, they are learning in nurse practitioner school that with autoimmune conditions, there's really nothing you can do about it.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:27.120
Um, but you just wait until it gets so bad that maybe they need like an immune suppressant medication, or you start treating the symptoms.
00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:40.960
So I would love to hear your opinion on that as a functional medicine physician who is holistically functionally treating individuals with autoimmune conditions.
00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.440
Um, do you find that there are common triggers?
00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.399
And can autoimmune conditions be treated in a way that is natural?
00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:52.159
Absolutely.
00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:53.679
So, same thing.
00:10:53.840 --> 00:11:10.159
I mean, of course, I was in medical school many years ago at this point, but when I was learning about autoimmunity, it's taught as a as a problem of individual organs, you the immune system within an individual organ, right?
00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:19.360
I mean, there are there is a specialty called immunology, but it's generally not the person that you're going to if you have an autoimmune condition, right?
00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.360
If you have an autoimmune condition in your gut, you're going to a gastroenterologist.
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.399
If you have one in your thyroid, you're going to an endocrinologist.
00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:32.960
So the entire system has it fractured as if it's a problem within that organ instead of a problem of the immune system.
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:35.840
And then what are we taught to do as physicians?
00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.000
We're taught to shut down the immune system.
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.840
That's exactly what all of those drugs that you were talking about.
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:48.480
I would say the drug I took was more specific to shutting down my thyroid versus shutting down my entire immune system.
00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:58.159
But most of the medications out there available to people with autoimmunity shut down their entire immune system, which is why you can have all of these complications of infections.
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:05.279
I mean, my father had an autoimmune condition, was on, I think, three or four different have heavy immunosuppressive drugs.
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:19.039
He followed my program in the autoimmune solution book, got off of them for two years, had a flare, did not consult me, went back on his drugs, and within six months was septic in the ICU and passed away.
00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.639
So these are real live complications that can happen.
00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:37.039
So the way that I and in functional medicine work with people who have autoimmune conditions is to look at the root cause and to find ways to support the immune system and balance the immune system instead of suppress the immune system.
00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:49.840
And in my book, The Autoimmune Solution, which is the first book I wrote that originally came out in 2015, I have a revised and updated edition coming out later this year, I believe in the end of September.
00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:52.879
And I've added a few things to the list.
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:59.840
I didn't take anything off the list, but I have four, I have um four pillars in that book.
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.519
So heal your gut.
00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.360
So leaky gut is really one of the most fundamental aspects to frankly any chronic condition.
00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:11.200
We can even move this over into cancer, but certainly autoimmunity.
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:20.559
So having a leaky gut, we can, I'm sure your practitioners are familiar with this, but in any one of these pillars, if you'd like me to dive deeper, I certainly can.
00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:25.279
Then, you know, getting rid of glutens, grains, and legumes is the second pillar.
00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:33.120
And so that's really looking at our diet at toxic and inflammatory foods, even grains and legumes, which I was a vegetarian for 27 years.
00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.440
So that was a hard one for me initially.
00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.360
And then I have pillar three is taming the toxins.
00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:44.799
So I find toxin exposure and toxin overload is a huge trigger for a lot of people.
00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:49.840
And unfortunately, over the last 10 years, our environment has only gotten more toxic.
00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:51.600
It hasn't gotten better.
00:13:51.919 --> 00:14:00.399
And then the fourth pillar is to relieve, uh, to heal your infections and relieve stress.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.120
And then I've added in letting go of trauma.
00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.360
So now it's heal your infections, relieve your stress, and let go of trauma.
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:08.960
So that's been added into the book.
00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.360
And so infections are latent infections, such as Epstein Barr.
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.480
We can even add COVID and long COVID into that list.
00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:30.399
So I updated that chapter talking about COVID, the COVID vaccine, natural immunity to COVID, having long COVID and its impact on the immune system, uh, herpes, Lyme, all of these chronic infections.
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.759
Then there is uh stress, right?
00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.480
You know, we're all dealing with stress, uh even more so.
00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:49.440
And then trauma after working with patients for, you know, over a decade, I realized that trauma was a huge component to most of the people that I was seeing in my clinic.
00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.679
And so I added in and trauma.
00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:59.679
And so there are some other things, you know, that we can talk about dental, but to me, again, that's really infections or toxic mold.
00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:01.519
Again, that really falls into the toxin.
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:14.559
So we can go deeper, but those buckets that I mentioned, or the pillars, or the areas that I typically have found there to be root causes, as I said, for autoimmunity and frankly, any auto um any chronic condition.
00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:24.639
You know, and when you're mentioning all these things, I'm like, yep, yep, those are all things that I I also teach my students about.
00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:31.759
And what is so and every time I do an episode, I really try not to get sassy about conventional medicine.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:40.080
But it really irks me that they still do not recognize intestinal permeability.
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.399
And for our listeners, that is leaky gut.
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:47.600
Intestinal permeability is a precursor to autoimmune activation.
00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:56.559
And we have so much evidence for this in the scientific literature, it's still just not being addressed.
00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:58.799
Now, with your experience, Dr.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:07.360
Myers, do you see that on the conventional side of are they recognizing any of this?
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:12.720
Do you ever have patients that come to you from another provider that that they're informed about this?
00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.320
Like what are you seeing?
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.279
Well, to be clear, I am no longer in clinical practice.
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.720
So I've, you know, spend my time writing books and educating.
00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:26.399
I mean, my mission was bigger than one-on-one uh practice.
00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:34.480
I do uh have recently opened an inner circle where I have a health coach and where I show up every month and I do teachings and lives and things like that.
00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:42.639
But I don't see patients as a medical-patient relationship any longer after the birth of my daughter.
00:16:42.960 --> 00:17:01.679
But what I can tell you is that when I started talking about leaky gut almost 20 years ago, no one, other than perhaps those in functional medicine and Alessio Fasano, whose team has done the most research on leaky gut and intestinal permeability, these were the only people talking about it.
00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:06.319
So when people were coming to see me, they were really, you know, dear in the headlight.
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:07.359
What are you talking about?
00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.039
There was no information out there.
00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.839
And certainly their GI doctors poo-pooed it.
00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:18.000
As my practice continued on, I do believe that the word was getting out now, was getting out more.
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:28.240
And now, as I've returned back to social media and things like that, you have every influencer and their brother and sister talking about leaky gut online.
00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:44.720
And I always said 15, 20 years ago, as soon as a drug company has invented a zonulin blocker, because zonulin is what gets released with leaky gut, and they are racing to uh come up with these drugs.
00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:55.039
I said, you know, the minute they release these drugs, someone finds a way to block zonulin, every GI doctor on this planet will suddenly be believing in leaky gut.
00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.119
So I've seen a lot of things change.
00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.960
You know, SIBO was not well recognized when I started out.
00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.759
It was impossible to get patients' prescriptions for xyfaxin.
00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:20.480
Uh, it cost thousands of dollars for people, which is why I actually created a supplement microbe clear that can treat SIBO because I had so many patients having difficulty getting the antibiotic covered by insurance and they couldn't afford thousands of dollars for it.
00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:27.279
And by the end of my practice, you know, people uh were coming from their GI doctor with a diagnosis of SIBO.
00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.559
So these things are becoming more recognized.
00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.720
And just literally the other day in my community, somebody asked me about a drug.
00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:36.400
I honestly can't remember the name of it.
00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.640
And I said, I'm so sorry I'm not familiar with that drug.
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.720
And she said, it's a zonulin blocker.
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:46.720
So it sounds like these drugs are out there, potentially on the market or in testing phase now.
00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:56.319
And so we are going to see more and more GI doctors because now they have a prescription drug solution to this problem talking about this.
00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:14.799
And so this is where I think you probably know, and and many of your practitioners know that what we see out in the research area and in clinical practice is often 20, 10 to 20 years ahead of what ultimately gets into conventional practice, right?
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.240
They have been researching.
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:24.400
I mean, when I was talking about leaky gut 15, 20 years ago, Alessio Fasano's team had already been researching this for 10 years.
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:30.000
So I was already sort of behind, you know, behind the eight ball when it came to this.
00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:35.680
And now here it is 15 years later, and conventional medicine is starting to talk about it.
00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:48.559
So I have seen those things in real life occur exactly how um it's you know stated in the research, that the research is there and it takes 10 to 20 years before it shows up in a clinical practice.
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:50.799
And that is what I am observing.
00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:51.759
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:53.039
And I I see that too.
00:19:53.200 --> 00:20:09.039
And I actually, one of the uh studies I have listed in my program is that there was a study that was showing that on average it takes about 17 years from when we uh learn a new concept for that actually be to be implemented into the guidelines.
00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:19.440
And I would even challenge that because I think if it is something that could be um a competitor with big industry, we may never see it get into the guidelines.
00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.279
I I also want to circle back around to to diet.
00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:30.400
Um, because you had mentioned that doing an anti-inflammatory diet and how how important it is.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:36.079
And I wanted to ask you, because we do see this time and time again with gluten.
00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:42.960
And and I I always say, I'm like the gluten that we are eating today, this is not the same gluten that Jesus was eating.
00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:49.759
It has been hybridized, it is not a natural food anymore, and I see it over and over and over.
00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:55.759
People, when they completely give up gluten, I see so many issues resolved.
00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.559
Now, I know that you mentioned gluten, grains, and legumes.
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:05.359
Um, could you elaborate a little bit more on the grains and the legumes?
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:10.960
And is that something that you typically recommend long-term or short-term elimination?
00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:19.759
So in the autoimmune spectrum, in the autoimmune solution book, I coined the term the autoimmune spectrum.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.480
So there is a spectrum that I believe we all sit on right, you know, down here.
00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:29.119
There's no inflammation whatsoever, which is, I think, pretty rare these days in anybody.
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.519
And then there are different levels and you work your way all the way up to autoimmunity.
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:47.039
And so I didn't really define it in the first edition quite as well as I have in my revised edition, which is in the revised edition, I actually created levels in you know, level one, two, three, and four.
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:53.920
So if you're a level four, eighty or above on a scoring system of a quiz that's in the book, you're high on the spectrum.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:22:01.359
You've likely been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, you likely have active antibodies, and you actually likely have Active symptoms.
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:07.519
So if you're there on the spectrum, I do recommend that you really dive deep into the diet.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:19.599
And you know, I the chapter is called Get Rid of Gluten Grains and Legumes, but there are other foods: sugar, caffeine, GMOs, eggs, dairy, nightshades that I recommend people give up.
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:25.359
These have all been shown to be inflammatory in general, or particularly with people with autoimmunity.
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:35.519
And so I do recommend that you do the Myers Way diet for 30, 60, 90, however many days it is, until you start to work your way back down the spectrum.
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:46.480
And so if you've worked your way back down the spectrum and your score is, you know, lower, at really at level three, we say you can start to add back in foods and see how you respond to them.
00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:55.119
Now, the caveat to that is if you've ever been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, I do recommend that you avoid gluten and dairy at all cost.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.640
And that is through the theory behind molecular mimicry.
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.519
And if you need me to explain that, I'm I'm happy to.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:08.160
I'm not sure if your listeners, you know, if they need a re-explanation of a molecular mimicry.
00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.240
Would you like me to dive into that real quick?
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.680
Or you feel like the excellent.
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.839
If you could touch on that, I'd appreciate it.
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:19.920
So you guys may have noticed that uh we've completely changed the environment here.
00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:21.920
So tech issues happen.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.640
So Dr.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:24.480
Meyer, she lost power.
00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.480
And then this is what several weeks.
00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.160
Many, I think it's at least two months or something like later.
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.720
Well, I'm in Babyland, so I I'm like, I never know what day.
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:33.759
Me either.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.839
But she was so kind to reach out to me because she's in the Franklin area.
00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:43.200
So we got to get together and do a in studio podcast.
00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:49.920
So my husband was in here, like set it up for me because I eventually want to do things like this more in person.
00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.160
So well, um, good to see you again.
00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:52.799
You too.
00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.680
Thanks for having me.
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.039
I'm glad we can make this happen.
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.319
Yes, it's really fun.
00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:56.880
Absolutely.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.559
Yeah, well, it's always so great to be able to meet in person, you know?
00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:01.039
Yes.
00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.720
I mean, I feel like I already know you, but it is, you know, different.
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.359
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.400
Well, and tech is great because you can connect with people all over the world, but it's just different when you're actually in person.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:10.880
Yeah.
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:12.319
So cool.
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.440
Well, great to have you over.
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.079
Thank you.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:15.119
Um, I know.
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:28.559
So before we so rudely were interrupted by tech issues, you were explaining molecular mimicry because we were talking about why, you know, gluten is not the best thing for people with autoimmune conditions.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:29.759
So can you explain?
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:30.880
Absolutely.
00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:32.559
So that is that is correct.
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:49.359
In fact, I was watching last night radical remission on Netflix or no, on Amazon Prime, and a woman on it had a spontaneous remission from MS, but she contributed all of her autoimmunity to leaky gut, of course, and gluten.
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.359
So let's explain why that is.
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:58.000
So gluten looks very similar to many of our tissues, particularly the thyroid tissue.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.039
And so it's a case of mistaken identity.
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:12.240
So as your gut is leaky, as those drawbridges that I'm assuming I explained previously are open, large molecules such as the gluten molecule can get through.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.160
And then your immune system is sitting there.
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:19.200
About 85% of your immune system is sitting right there, one cell layer thick.
00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.000
And so as gluten comes over, your immune system says, Oh, that's not supposed to be here, that's foreign.
00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.160
Let me go and attack that.
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:37.359
And as it goes to attack it, it can inadvertently attack your spinal cord, your joints, your thyroid, because these tissues look so similar to the gluten.
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:41.279
A case of mistaken identity, molecular mimicry.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.680
And that's really one of the main theories behind autoimmunity.
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:54.559
And so it's why I say certainly if you've been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, absolutely no gluten, no ifs, ands, or buts.
00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.400
Even when you go to Europe, yes, the weed is different, but it still contains gluten.
00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:09.519
Now, if you're lower on the spectrum and you never got diagnosed with an autoimmune condition and you just maybe have some gluten sensitivity, I still don't recommend that you eat gluten, but maybe you can eat it when you're in Europe.
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:16.480
But if you've ever been diagnosed with autoimmunity, I do not recommend that you ever go back to gluten for this very reason.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:31.519
You know, and I have seen time and time again that's when I start working with people, I teach them about hey, let's do a trial of eliminating gluten, let's incorporate an anti-inflammatory diet.
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:41.279
I see people get so many results when we just go back to eating the foods that God had designed for our bodies to eat.
00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:46.880
And you know, so much, so many gluten-containing foods are highly ultra-processed.
00:26:47.119 --> 00:27:08.319
But what I am starting to see now, which it's more accessible now, but I wanted to ask you specifically about um what your opinion is on things like ancient grains, like ironcorn, because for my situation, I do not eat just regular conventional hybridized glute stone.
00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.519
Um however, I did incorporate ironcorn.
00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:18.640
My um wonderful husband has been baking fresh bread with eincorn flour.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:25.039
He made like organic ironcorn, and I do really well on it, and I don't notice my antibodies increasing.
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:34.079
And the good thing about Hashimoto's is you can do different things, and then you can measure your antibodies and take into account your um, you know, your symptoms.
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:38.000
We are already about halfway through the show.
00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:40.079
It always goes by so fast.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.680
So we are going to cut to break.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:50.880
If you are a fed up nurse, I can absolutely train you at the Functional Nurse Academy.
00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:59.920
The Functional Nurse Academy is the leading and most comprehensive functional nursing program on the market.
00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:15.359
We are accredited for 90 nursing CEs, multiple board certification titles, and all of our students also receive business tools and live mentorship with me.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:31.519
So if you want to learn more about that program, you can go to functional nurseacademy.com or click on the link in the show notes to join me live for the next informational webinar.
00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:44.640
This show is also syndicated on America Out Loud Talk Radio on the Nurses Report Radio show and podcast.
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.160
So you can also find me there on any major app.
00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:51.519
Welcome back.
00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:54.160
I am joined today by Dr.
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.000
Amy Myers.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:04.000
And we are having a discussion on functional approaches for autoimmunity.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:13.039
But what do you think about like a trial of a really clean ancient grain if someone's able to monitor their symptoms and their autoimmune markers?
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:17.359
So I'm gonna say the short answer is I would not do it, but I will give you the longer answer.
00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.160
And my father, the first thing, he had polymyositis.
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:26.480
And when I said, um, you know, you need to give up gluten, and he said, But, you know, bread is the body of Christ.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:27.519
What are you talking about?
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:28.640
It's all over the Bible.
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:30.319
We ate bread forever.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:43.440
Well, it's a different bread, but I think, you know, someone like yourself, you're you have probably, I'm imagining, walked through all four pillars of the Myers way, or, you know, you've done your own version of that, right?
00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:53.279
And so you've cleaned up you your environment, you've healed your gut, you've gotten off the foods, um, you know, maybe you've worked on your stress, you've healed your trauma, all of these things.
00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:05.440
So someone like yourself, that, you know, if we look at our body as a glass of water, and as we're dumping toxins in, stress in, traumas in, gluten in, it overfall, you know, fills.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:11.359
And so if you're not addressing all the other things and you just want to go eat some ancient wheat, no, probably not.
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:20.319
But if you're someone like yourself or someone like me who's really dealt with all of these things and you've gotten your cup much lower, it's a possibility, you know?
00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:32.880
And certainly if your autoimmune condition is something like Hashimoto's, where you can very readily and easily and not very expensively check your antibodies, I think that's something people could try.
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:36.480
I personally have not, you know, done that myself.
00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:40.799
Um, I just, for me, it's it's just easier.
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:46.559
Um, I read this somewhere years and years ago, just you know, knowing your nose, and then it makes life a lot easier.
00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:54.079
I was having dinner with some friends years and years ago, and we went out to dinner, and none of them follow a gluten-free lifestyle.
00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:57.759
And some cake or some sort of dessert had arrived.
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.200
And they looked over at me and they said, Oh, Amy, we're so sorry.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:10.559
And I just remember I had been talking to them and I kind of looked down, saw cake, thought gluten, dairy, sugar, not for you, and moved on with the conversation.
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:12.960
And I said, What are you apologizing for?
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.680
I said, Oh, we ordered cake and you know, you can't have any.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:19.359
I said, Oh, I mean, it didn't even, you know, quickly registered.
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.279
So I sometimes find just knowing those no's, it makes life easier.
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:34.640
If you start kind of creeping into these, oh, maybe it's a yes, and then it's that, that it can sometimes be harder, you know, to manage life when you, when you kind of have the maybes.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:42.000
But someone like I said, who's done the work like yourself, it's possibly reasonable to try.
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:54.319
I have not personally done it, but I don't recommend that the average person that has not walked through and really gotten that cup of water to, you know, get get down here instead of being almost at the top, right?
00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:56.880
It can be the final thing that kicks you over.
00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:06.400
Well, and I've just seen so many people get better when they clean up their diet, reduce their toxic burden, and address these things.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:20.640
But are you seeing, like your physician colleagues that are treating individuals with autoimmune disorders, are are our conventional physicians getting on to the whole, okay, let's try removing gluten.
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:22.640
Let's go gluten-free for autoimmune.
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:24.160
Like, what are you seeing?
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.680
You know, that is very difficult.
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:36.799
I mean, I had a lot of people go to their rheumatologist and bring my books, and because I am a physician, they were somewhat more open-minded about it.
00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:45.519
Where I think things have changed over the last 12 years since I wrote that book, um, or the original edition of the Autoimmune Solution.
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:49.839
And of course, I have the expanded revised edition coming out in January.
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:57.279
Um, where I think people are acknowledging something is when it comes to leaky gut.
00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.519
And so I always said that 12 years ago, right?
00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:02.559
Nobody was talking about leaky gut except for a few of us.
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:16.079
And I said, you know, as soon as they have a zonulin blocker, as soon as the drug companies come up with a zonulin blocker, every GI doctor on the corner is going to be talking about leaky gut and how to heal it with this pill.
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:17.440
And we're there, right?
00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.240
We're there that there are some zonulin blockers in trials coming to market.
00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:29.519
And now everybody and their brother, who's an influencer on Instagram and social media, is talking about leaky gut, right?
00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:35.039
And molecular mimicry and gluten sensitivity and all of these things that nobody was talking about.
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:42.480
Um I think that there are some open-minded physicians, but not nearly as many as people would like.
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:48.880
I still hear stories daily of people, you know, getting dismissed, told this is the only way of life.
00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:50.960
You're gonna be on these drugs forever.
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:52.960
You have no other option.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:58.960
And it's so sad for these children getting diagnosed with autoimmune conditions.
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:12.480
And I see kids going on medications or, you know, children that are having psychiatric issues and they're being put on pharmaceuticals and they're not being advised on diet, you know?
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:18.480
And it's like I like in my brain always goes to, you know, what can we do first that is non-invasive?
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:23.760
Like what interventions can we start to incorporate that are not going to be harmful down the road?
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.679
Because so many of these medications have very serious psychosis.
00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:35.199
Oh, my father ended up, you know, he got all he had polymycitis and in the original edition of the autoimmune solution.
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:40.239
He is in my the last chapter, the chapter of hope, where he got off all his immunosuppressive drugs.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:46.480
He was on celsept, methotrexate, prednisone, got off all of it for several years by following my program.
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:55.519
And then I was dealing with toxic mold and sleeping on a balcony because I was so sick and he had a flare and went back on and within six months died of sepsis.
00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.559
Oh, so he got pneumonia, you know, and he was immunosuppressed from these drugs.
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.239
So people think that, you know, oh, it's no big deal.
00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:09.440
Well, this is a real side effect that you can get a pneumonia and die of sepsis.
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:11.360
I mean, it happened to my father.
00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:22.400
And, you know, back to the thing about the children, you know, I remember this one child in my clinic, uh, he was very young, and he had had literally a million-dollar workup with a neurologist.
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:26.480
You know, he was having falling over, having these seizures, all kinds of problems.
00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:30.960
And I got him off gluten and dairy and everything resolved overnight.
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:45.519
So it is um, it is really sad how uh children are getting diagnosed from everything from ADHD to, you know, other neurologic issues and autoimmunity.
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:52.880
And really, if you get them off gluten, gluten, and dairy because of that molecular mimicry, a lot of these things improve.
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:58.480
So I have, I follow a pharmacist, uh, Michaela Walkall.
00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:08.079
She's been on my show before, but she had a severely autistic child and she recovered him from doing natural things.
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.320
And there are, there's even published case studies of this now in the literature.
00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:16.400
And I think that informed consent is so lacking.
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:26.079
I see this over and over again that the average patient doesn't completely understand how the medications are working and the risks associated.
00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:36.000
And then also sometimes there are medications on the market like SSRIs or heaven forbid, COVID vaccines that I still can't believe are on the market.
00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:40.400
But anyway, we these pharmaceutical products come on the market.
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:47.840
We're told they're safe, and then we find out sometimes decades later that they were never safe and they're causing all kinds of issues.
00:36:48.079 --> 00:37:02.480
But something I've heard about the immune suppressant medications to individuals that have autoimmune conditions is they're like, well, I used to be sensitive to these foods, but now I'm on these immunosuppressive agents and I can eat all these foods and I feel fine.
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:14.800
But then I think that some patients aren't making that connection that, like, yes, that's helping with your symptoms temporarily, but then in the long run, it's gonna make you more susceptible to things like cancer and other infections.
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:15.920
Well other right.
00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:29.280
And a lot of these medications, such as steroids, it's a very rather universal first-line medication for people with different autoimmune conditions and steroids themselves cause leaky gut.
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:43.679
I think it's a shame that it's just not, and it seems like it's common sense to me, you know, that if you are eating nourishing foods that are not ultra-processed, that you're gonna feel better.
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:49.119
So it is just it's it's surprising to me that it's not part of just standard guidance.
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:50.320
I mean, it should be, right?
00:37:50.400 --> 00:38:00.000
I mean, we're introducing a foreign substance into your body and your immune system sitting right there, you know, anywhere from one to five times a day.
00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.400
And you know, my dog is going through a cancer journey right now.
00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:21.840
And so the regular vet asks what they eat, but I've seen these various um in integrative oncologists in veterinary medicine, and one of them said, you have to see the nutritionist before you can even see the vet, which is of course how I used to do it in my clinic.
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:27.039
You know, part of the initial appointment and the follow-up were an appointment with me and the nutritionist.
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:29.119
And here we are in veterinary medicine.
00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:34.000
You know, they eagerly ask you one of the first questions, what are you feeding your dog?
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:43.440
But unless you're going to a functional medicine physician or practitioner, it's very rare that anybody in the healthcare system is asking you what you're eating.
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:45.119
And also, you know what?
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:53.199
After working in the healthcare system and being in the hospital, and you see the doctors and nurses come in with their McDonald's and their, you know, milkshakes.
00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:58.320
And I'm not, I one time I sent a picture to my husband of what was in the break room.
00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:04.960
It was donuts, cake, and McDonald's breakfast biscuits, you know?
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:09.280
But but the thing is that the people that are delivering health care really don't know what's going on.
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.719
Well, and think about if you're inpatient as a patient in the hospital, what they're feeding you, right?
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:24.320
I mean, I've personally never been in the hospital myself, but this my father's had many surgeries, or you see people talking about it online.
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:32.800
Oh, look, you know, my dad just had open heart surgery and they're feeding him chocolate pudding and you know, a hamburger or something the next day.
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:36.320
I mean, it's ridiculous what they're feeding.
00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:37.360
Yeah, yeah.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:38.800
You you can't make this stuff up.
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.400
So my my mom was in, she's better now, but she was in the hospital.
00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:46.880
And seeing the food that they were bringing her, I'm like, mom, you can't eat that.
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:53.360
Like I had to like go up there and make sure that she had like, you know, food, filtered water, you know, things like that.
00:39:53.519 --> 00:40:02.480
But uh, but yeah, so I think that there's really so many, when you think about it, kind of simple things you can do, like correcting your diet.
00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:09.519
And then um, so moving on from your pillars, I know we talked about healing the gut, removing gluten grain, and legumes.
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:10.719
What is next?
00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:15.199
Um, then pillar three is tame the toxins.
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:18.239
So, how do you get toxins into your body?
00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:23.440
You breathe them in, you drink or eat them in, and you absorb them through your skin.
00:40:23.679 --> 00:40:31.280
So eliminating that's the first step, using clean body products, clean cleaning products, drinking filtered water.
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:33.440
And then how do you get them out?
00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:35.840
You pee them out, you poop them out, and you sweat them out.
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.480
So you want to make sure you're peeing, pooping, sweating every day.
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:43.119
I personally live in the desert, so I have an infrared sauna that helps me sweat.
00:40:43.280 --> 00:41:00.719
And then pillar four, and this is one of the pillars that I have updated in the revised edition of the autoimmune solution, is to heal your infections, and that's latent infections, such as Lyme, Epstein Barr, herpes, and now we can throw COVID into that, long COVID, or if you've been vaccinated against COVID.
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:04.639
Um, heal your infections, relieve your stress.
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:06.960
It's very difficult to just get rid of your stress.
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:11.119
So, how do you find ways to pause, reset, release it?
00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:15.119
And then I've added into this addition letting go of trauma.
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:20.960
And so that's really something that I had not identified when I first wrote this book 12 years ago.
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:22.400
It was early on in my practice.
00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:33.119
I had not sat across the table from thousands of patients like I have since then and heard their stories, which is that almost everyone has a trauma or traumas.
00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:47.760
And, you know, we now know through the research using the ACE score, which is a childhood adverse events scoring, that the higher that number, the more likely you are to have any type of chronic illness, including autoimmunity.
00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:58.000
I also share a story about my own trauma that I went through in building a uh supposedly mold-proof, bomb-proof house.
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:18.079
And then my builder, uh, Paulo Santo designs just screwing it up and not following the plans and me ending up with PTSD after I had a leak and mold in my house six months in to after building this thing that took many, many years to design and build.
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:25.039
So I talk about my my own struggles with PTSD and what I did to recover from that.
00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:27.760
Yeah, I talk about that a lot too.
00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:31.519
I feel like I bring up the A study almost every week.
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:37.440
And I remember when I first got really sick because I also had a trauma history.
00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:47.519
And when I learned that, like, okay, that's something I need to actually address, I was like, ugh, because I it was something I just I just didn't want at deal with it, you know.
00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:48.719
Yeah, most people don't.
00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:58.880
But I will say for for me, I would catch myself in these cycles where I was just ruminating on these things and I never effectively processed it.
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:07.440
And uh for me, going back to the Christian religion, giving it to Christ, and there's just so much in the Bible about forgiveness.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:19.280
And I will say, like once I actually started practicing forgiveness, and again, I could not do it on my own because I am naturally like the most resentful person ever that holds grudge to everything.
00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:27.119
So Jesus helped me with that, but I have released so much of this unforgiveness, and it is amazing.
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:35.599
Like I remember, like I could almost feel it like right here, like the heaviness and it weighs you down.
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:44.800
And I think so many people that are dealing with trauma and they have not found effective, impactful ways to process it.
00:43:44.960 --> 00:43:47.840
Like we know it's contributing to chronic disease processes.
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:57.599
And I don't think that we completely understand all of the mechanisms, but I think one of the mechanisms it is it keeps you in that upregulated fight or flight response.
00:43:57.920 --> 00:43:58.159
Totally.
00:43:58.239 --> 00:43:59.519
I mean, that's really.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.519
Uh, you know, how I was, we can talk about the, you know, mold specifically.
00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:13.039
I recently there was a big storm in Santa Fe, and I had five doors that leaked, and my previous self would have gone into a tailspin.
00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:14.239
I'm not safe.
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:16.639
You know, I'm how am I here again?
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:17.920
Like, what am I gonna do?
00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:23.280
And I just, you know, said to myself, through all the work that I've done, I'm safe.
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:24.079
I'm okay.
00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:28.639
You know, I built this house in a way that I'm not gonna get sick, I'm strong enough.
00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:32.960
And, you know, I just put up my dehumidifiers and and moved on from this situation.
00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:37.760
And I mean, I make it sound like it's easy, and this is something I just sort of did overnight, but it's not.
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:42.880
I mean, I went through a lot of EMDR, I've done a lot of prayer, a lot of meditation.
00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:48.480
Um, I've, you know, even uh done some medicines that are supposed to help.
00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:52.719
And so it was a long journey of getting there.
00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:56.559
And now, you know, about forgiveness, there's a lot of debates about that.
00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:58.719
You know, do you need to forgive?
00:44:58.960 --> 00:44:59.599
I don't know.
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:04.159
I mean, you know, I think this is a good practice if you can, but I mean, I think some people can't.
00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:08.800
But how can you, you know, get to a place where you can let go of it, right?
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:12.960
And forgiveness is always a good thing if you can, but I don't know.
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:19.519
I I personally haven't been a victim of uh what one would call a big T trauma, right?
00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:25.360
Like if I had literally been, you know, uh, you know, abused or something like that, I don't know.
00:45:25.519 --> 00:45:26.800
Do those people need to forgive?
00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:28.559
I mean, I I don't know, you know?
00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:38.719
Well, I think too, with the with forgiveness, so much of it is for the person that is is the person that is is suffering, you know?
00:45:39.039 --> 00:45:50.480
But um I also think with forgiveness, forgiveness like does not mean reconciliation, you know, it just means that you're you're no longer holding on to that like grief and resentment.
00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:56.880
But again, I mean, there are people that have been put in horrible, horrible situations, you know.
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:01.199
So I do think that working to process that trauma is so important.
00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:10.559
And also seeking things like besides, not saying that cognitive behavioral therapy cannot work, but I just know of so many people that are in these cycles where they're in it for years.
00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:19.920
Well, I mean, that's the work of Peter Levine, which I talk about in the book as well, which is that if you've had significant traumas, talking about it can be traumatic.
00:46:20.239 --> 00:46:30.719
And so using things like somatic therapy, EMDR, you know, uh prayer, plant medicines, meditation, other things to take you outside of your body.
00:46:31.199 --> 00:46:34.079
Because I I give this example a lot in a podcast.
00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:41.519
I had a young woman who had um escaped Africa, I don't remember the country, you know, and has sought asylum here.
00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:44.639
And then she had been through all kinds of abuse and trauma.
00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:49.920
And her way of giving back was then to be an interpreter for other young women who the same thing.
00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:54.880
And as an interpreter, you can't sit there and say she, she, she, you have to say I.
00:46:55.280 --> 00:47:00.800
And so she had vitiligo, which is a loss of the pigment of the skin or the melanin.
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:11.760
And I said to her, you know, I I think that that your job is participating in in your illness and keeping you sick because you're having to say I and you're taking on that trauma.
00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:13.199
She didn't want to hear anything about it.
00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:14.239
She stopped seeing me.
00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:17.360
About two years later, though, she called me back and said, You are right.
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:20.800
I left my job and my vitiligo has completely reversed.
00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:23.679
But she was telling these stories of the other women.
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:28.800
And because she herself had been through it, she was saying, I this, this happened to me, this, that happened to me.
00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:32.079
And it was, and it was first person.
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.320
So she was taking all of that on.
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:38.000
So trauma doesn't even need to be something that happened to you.
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:43.199
It can even be something that you perceive or that you're, you know, it's the self-talk about it.
00:47:43.519 --> 00:47:55.760
And so I think that's a perfect example of if you have gone through trauma and then you're going to talk therapy and you're talking and you're describing the trauma, you are reading your nervous system could be reliving the trauma.
00:47:55.920 --> 00:48:05.440
And so finding other ways to let go of that through, you know, somatic healing or something else is can be very beneficial.
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:10.079
Well, and our words matter, you know, our words matter, our thoughts matter.
00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:19.679
This magnificent mind, body, spirit is always listening to everything that we're thinking, looking at what we're doing and what we're saying.
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:20.239
Of course.
00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:23.039
So, well, that's about all of the time.
00:48:23.199 --> 00:48:35.039
But I did want to ask before we close out, so what advice would you give to functional nurses who are working with individuals suffering with autoimmune conditions?
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:39.760
I follow the four, follow the four pillars of the Myers way.
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:44.559
It is, you know, it is a proven way to reverse autoimmunity.
00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:45.920
There's always hope.
00:48:46.079 --> 00:49:01.679
Um, I think the other thing is just I and have I personally have experienced moving up the autoimmune spectrum where, you know, this where I got diagnosed with PTSD, or another time I had was sleeping on a balcony because I was so sick from mold.
00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:07.199
And, you know, until that last breath, there is always hope to get you back down that spectrum.
00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.920
I've seen it time again, I've experienced it myself.
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:11.519
Life is a journey.
00:49:11.679 --> 00:49:16.559
It doesn't mean we've reached the destination, we've gone down the spectrum, and nothing's ever going to happen to you again.
00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:22.400
So until that very last breath, there is always hope and a way to get back down that spectrum.
00:49:22.719 --> 00:49:22.880
Yeah.
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:35.119
And I see it time and time again, you know, and I think it's important that people are not identifying with whatever disease or condition they got diagnosed with and that they're hopeful because these bodies are intelligent.
00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:42.159
You know, when you give the body what it needs, you take away things that are aggravating it and making it sick, the body can heal in many cases.
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:43.519
Well, this was great.
00:49:43.679 --> 00:49:46.159
Now tell our listeners where they can go to find you.
00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:53.760
Dr.Amy Myers.com is my personal brand where they can find out about the book, my inner circle.
00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:59.360
And if they're interested in any of my supplements, that's uh amimyersmd.com.
00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:00.480
Okay, wonderful.
00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:01.599
Well, it was so great to have you.
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:02.320
I know.
00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:03.119
So thank you so much.
00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:04.960
I'm so glad I got to be here in person.
00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:05.920
It was so fun.
00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:07.360
Yes, absolutely.
00:50:07.519 --> 00:50:08.000
Anytime.
00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:11.199
Open invitation if you ever would like to come back on the show.
00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:12.000
Thank you.
00:50:12.239 --> 00:50:16.960
Well, that is all of the time that we have today.
00:50:17.199 --> 00:50:17.519
Dr.
00:50:17.679 --> 00:50:24.800
Myers, I am so grateful for you taking the time to come on my show today.
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:27.920
If you want to learn more about Dr.
00:50:28.159 --> 00:50:34.320
Myers, you can go to her website, amimyersMD.com.
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:39.280
Also, in the show notes, I am going to have the links to Dr.
00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:45.360
Myers' website and to her books just to make it easier for you to find her.
00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:50.400
And we know it's not just nurses suffering in the system.
00:50:51.039 --> 00:50:59.760
There are so many other healthcare professionals that are really struggling in the sick care system.
00:51:00.159 --> 00:51:11.039
And for that reason, I did open the doors to non-nursing professionals for my functional medicine educational programs.
00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:29.440
So if you are not a nurse, if you are another healthcare professional or you are a certified health and wellness coach and you are looking for high-quality functional medicine training and board certification, you can train with me at Christian Functional Medicine Academy.
00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:32.800
That is ChristianfMA.com.
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:41.039
And you can also click on the link in the show notes to join me for my next live informational webinar.
00:51:41.360 --> 00:51:51.119
If you want to learn more about the Functional Nurse Academy, please feel free to register for our next live webinar.
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:54.800
And you will see that link in the show notes.
00:51:55.039 --> 00:52:06.079
You can also check out Functional Nurse Academy on our social media platforms or on our website at functional nurseacademy.com.
00:52:06.559 --> 00:52:11.280
Until next time, be safe, be well, and God bless.
