I actually read this book around four years ago now and overall was pleasantly surprised, as it was more useful than I thought it would be.
Dr. Lipinski has Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism herself and I found her personal health story to be very similar to my own, so I was immediately drawn in to continue reading.
She went on to train as a naturopathic doctor, so her stance on treating thyroid issues is very much in this vein.
Chapters included in Healing Your Thyroid Naturally cover thyroid basics (what the thyroid gland does and types of thyroid issues), toxins and where to find them, stress and its impact on thyroid health, considerations for fertility and pregnancy, diet, gut health and supplements. Dr Lipinkski also includes a health plan and recipes to further compliment the information in her book.
The title is slightly misleading in that, this book is not about coming off your thyroid medication and taking something ‘natural‘ instead, but more so how to locate those extra jigsaw puzzle pieces which are so often lifestyle factors.
The book itself starts with her journey to becoming a naturopathic doctor through her own thyroid diagnosis. Just like many of us, she received this news with fear and concern about what it meant, but also relieved to have a name for what had been plaguing her for years. This will feel relatable to many.
The book is really to help guide thyroid patients who take medication such as Synthroid and Levothyroxine, yet still feel unwell and are not sure where to start with other lifestyle factors and interventions. After all, making dietary changes, one of the biggest recommendations we see, can feel very daunting indeed.
As a naturopathic doctor, she combines some mainstream recommendations with herbs, diet, supplements and other lifestyle changes. I found the chapter on ‘toxins’ to feel quite heavy and the tips for ‘detoxing’ may not be affordable for everyone. There is also still debate about whether we really need to support our body’s own detoxification processes. I also did not feel a lot of confidence in the accuracy of the chapter on EMF’s.
The book is packed full of information on supporting your gut health which many will find useful, and I did appreciate the chapter on fertility, pregnancy and postpartum life with thyroid disease as these are areas often overlooked in other ‘thyroid books’. However, Dr. Lipinkski states that TSH is the gold standard in pregnancy which I do not agree with after going through my own pregnancies with thyroid disease. I do appreciate her talking about using NDT medication in pregnancy though as this is information I needed while pregnant!
Overall, I enjoyed the range of topics covered, although did not agree with all claims made (as mentioned above), so I left some information and took what was helpful to me and my personal situation. The depth of information on gut health and managing stress in relation to endocrine health will be very helpful to many.
You can get a copy of this book from Amazon here.
