Ep 340 A Functional Approach to PCOS, Autoimmunity, and Hormonal Healing with Hannah Davis
On today’s episode of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, I am joined by Hannah Davis (@rooted.with.hannah), a Registered Dietitian and certified meditation teacher who specialises in women’s health, hormones, and autoimmune conditions. After being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s while navigating early motherhood, Hannah shifted her clinical nutrition practice to focus on uncovering the deeper root causes of symptoms like fatigue, cycle irregularities, and PCOS.
We dive into how nervous system dysregulation often underlies hormonal imbalances and why functional testing, mineral status, and emotional safety are crucial for true healing. From decoding PCOS types to understanding thyroid antibodies and the connection between trauma and calcium retention, Hannah offers a deeply integrative and compassionate lens for supporting women on their fertility and healing journeys.
This conversation is packed with practical tools and fresh insights—don’t miss it!
Key Takeaways:
PCOS is not just about ovarian cysts—it's a metabolic and inflammatory condition with many root causes.
Nervous system regulation is foundational for hormone balance, digestion, and fertility.
Functional lab testing (like Dutch and HTMA) reveals hidden patterns traditional labs may miss.
Excess calcium in tissues may indicate trauma or over-supplementation with Vitamin D.
Diet, stress, sleep, and gut health all influence autoimmune and hormonal symptoms.
Guest Bio:
Hannah Davis, RD (@rooted.with.hannah) is a Registered Dietitian and certified meditation teacher with advanced training in functional nutrition, lab testing, and spiritual psychology. She specialises in supporting women with hormonal imbalances, autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, and chronic fatigue through an integrative approach that blends clinical science with deep nourishment and nervous system healing.
After navigating her own health challenges postpartum, Hannah now helps women reclaim their energy, resilience, and sense of safety through 1:1 coaching and group programs at Pivot Nutrition Coaching. She’s especially passionate about working with mothers, self-healers, and cycle-breakers who are ready to feel like themselves again.
Links and Resources:
For more information about Michelle, visit: www.michelleoravitz.com
Check out Michelle’s Latest Book: The Way of Fertility!
https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility
The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/
Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/
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# VIDEO-Hannah-Davis
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Michelle: Welcome to the podcast, Hannah.
Hannah: thanks for having me.
Michelle: So I'm very excited to have you on. We're gonna be talking about a lot of really cool topics, but before we get started, I always like to start out with kind of like an origin story and learn how you got into the work that you're doing.
Hannah: Yeah. I am a registered dietician. I've been mainly practicing medical nutrition therapy for the last 10 years in a more clinical setting. And you know, and then I became a mom. I have two. One's almost eight, you gotta say almost eight. And the other one's, and the other one's nine. So they're really, they're really young and I, you know, working at the hospital part-time and I started noticing.
Hannah: My own symptoms of, of things that just felt like off. And simultaneously [00:01:00] I was also becoming more interested in learning about more integrative functional nutrition. And so that really led me down. It, it started off as, oh. A way for me to kind of figure out what was going on with me, because of course, like so many of my, the clients I work with now you know, you go to the doctors, you ask for some labs to be done and they just say, oh, you're absolutely fine.
Hannah: You might just be stressed. You're stressed out, you're a young mom. Of course it's normal to feel exhausted all of the time and stuff like that. So, I just was like really interested in doing more digging and so I, we got some training in advanced lab testing and more like integrative functional nutrition.
Hannah: And so. From there I was able to figure out what's going on with me, and I, I actually have an autoimmune condition. It's called Hashimotos. And so that really affects, you know, your, your [00:02:00] energy levels, your, your gut health, your immune system obviously is involved. So I, it was so incredibly validating and it really excited me.
Hannah: I was like, I feel. If I can figure out a way to use advanced lab testing and combine that with my. More of my more clinical, you know, expertise and combine that together to really like, help women feel empowered about how to support their health and, and how they feel and their showing up in their lives every day.
Hannah: And so it just really, really excited me. So that's kind of what got me started with that. And then I, I pivoted towards, towards that about three years ago started my own virtual practice working more in like the women's health space. So like hormones, gut health, autoimmune conditions.
Hannah: And then I, as I was doing more of that work, I was like, okay, [00:03:00] there's. I'm seeing a common theme here. These women at their root, cause a lot of the time is nervous system dysregulation. And I got really. Tired of just saying over and over again. You know, you need to manage your stress a little bit better.
Hannah: I wanted to be able to give them so much more than that. And obviously I knew that from my own journey. I really had to integrate that. And so, but I wanted to like, figure out how to help my, my clients integrate that. So then I became a certified meditation teacher. And spent a year studying spiritual psychology, which is like a blend of Eastern ritual and practices with western psychology.
Hannah: That, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So now I really like to supplement my, programs with giving my clients tools on how to regulate their nervous systems as well. [00:04:00] And so, we'll, you know, you know, it's more of like life coaching almost. And then maybe we'll integrate some, some things like, meditation or breath work together.
Hannah: It really just depends on what the, how the client wants to be supported. So
Michelle: Awesome.
Hannah: Yeah.
Michelle: You know it's interesting 'cause I
Hannah: Yeah.
Michelle: an episode on. Nervous system. Really the vagal tone and
Hannah: Yes.
Michelle: there's a link with a weaker vagal tone and things like endometriosis or
Michelle: PCOS, and I thought that was just fascinating.
Michelle: So, yeah, I'd love to really kind of dig deep on all of these things. So just for people listening and they're kind of like hearing nervous system for the first time. 'cause well maybe they've listened to my podcast, maybe not when I talked about the nervous system. But what should people, like, explain the nervous system, explain how the nervous system ties into certain [00:05:00] conditions.
Hannah: I mean, that's a very, like, that's pretty broad because it's like, you know, it really depends on what.
Michelle: the nervous system like tie into certain conditions?
Hannah: I don't know what condition it doesn't, honestly. Uh, the more, the more I get like deep in the weeds with this, so, you know, a lot of my clients we, you know, so I am typically working with people with autoimmune conditions and hormone. I balances gut health, that kind of stuff. And I, you know, I would say the nervous system impacts all of those areas because ideally, especially when we're talking about women's health and like hormones, things like that we really just want to create safety in the body, right?
Hannah: So that we can. Manufacture hormones and ovulate naturally and things like that. So, and then, you know, inflammation's another, another piece of that. It really just, it's a great way to, [00:06:00] like, it just connects to everything right.
Michelle: Yeah, well the vagus nerve is incredibly important when it comes to gut health. the stronger the vagal tone, the better the vagus nerve, the better. It's able to lower inflammation in the body.
Hannah: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Michelle: fascinating and interesting. And so what are some of the things that you do suggest for people. they wanna regulate their nervous system and support that aspect.
Hannah: So First of all, I think it's important to just figure out what are the systems for that client? What are the systems that are working for them and what's not? And really get really honest about that. And then, you know, it could be something like starting a.
Hannah: Very doable meditation practice or some breath work like before, before meals, right? Getting into rest and digest me activating that vagus nerve so that we [00:07:00] can digest our food properly. So it really just depends on what is feels a lot most aligned for the client and, and is doable for them. But also I think another big piece of this, which is not really talked about often is eating for blood sugar balance.
Hannah: Because even like blood sugar swings throughout the day can cause fluctuations in your mood and your anxiety and cravings and all, all of, and even inflammation as well. So
Michelle: that
Hannah: like a whole body approach. Mm-hmm.
Michelle: It's such a good point. And I remember like looking into this and researching like just really the gut brain connection and. And it's interesting 'cause you can see it really go both ways. So if you have imbalanced gut microbiome that can ima impact your brain and your mood and your state and your emotions.
Michelle: And it actually is linked with certain [00:08:00] emotional um, imbalances or like mental disorders. It's really fascinating. And then they found. On the flip side that people who meditated for many years, like Tibetan monks, they had a really vast microbiome that was a lot more enriched and had a lot more diversity.
Michelle: So it's really fascinating how you really can literally get it at both ends or either end.
Hannah: yeah. Like I tell my clients all the time, if you're breathing into your shoulders, the majority of the time it's gonna signal, or that's gonna signal to the brain that you're in fight or flight. So it's gonna send all the blood to your extremities. It's not gonna be sending the blood to, you know, your, your GI track and your, you know, your organs there.
Hannah: And so. it's gonna be a lot harder to digest your foods, whereas if you are really taking these deep breaths into your belly, it's sending all the blood there. And that's, [00:09:00] that's a, and I mean, I often get skipped, you know, people are just like, no, just gimme a, just gimme a meal plan. I wanna feel better.
Hannah: I wanna lose weight, or I wanna, you know, but it's like, you really gotta think about not just what you're eating, but how you're eating, like what your nervous system state is. You know, when you're, when you're eating food.
Michelle: That's so true. It's
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: true. And it was funny 'cause I was reading about that and it was one of the things to do is just stand. This is why they say like, don't drive and eat at the same time. Because when you're driving naturally, you're gonna be in a little bit more of a fight or flight or kind of ready for anything and. Also just to kind of throw it out there, it's not bad to be in that state, in that sympathetic state. It's part of life. It's just that sometimes you need that and then sometimes you need the other. But what you're saying is so true, like it's actually like becoming mindful of getting yourself into that state and maybe
Michelle: doing those exercises to get yourself in more parasympathetic state, which is more of
Michelle: the rest and digest, so that you're priming your [00:10:00] body when you do eat. To digest better. So I think
Hannah: Yeah. Of course, and, you know, if you're digesting better, you're absorbing nutrients better, which is gonna impact your energy levels, your mood, your hormones, everything. So yeah, there really, I feel like the more I get into it, the, more I see that there really isn't an aspect of our health, our med, our metabolic health, everything that is not touched by, your nervous system.
Michelle: Yeah, it's really fascinating. I like, the more I dig into this, the more I'm just like so amazed at how Willy, you know, it's the nervous system is kind of like this wiring of like. Information.
Michelle: It's almost like information that kind of signals to your body, all kinds of different states, but especially that safety.
Michelle: I agree with you. You know, when you, when you feel safe, you can be more creative. And what does that mean really in the body fertility and it also regeneration growth.
Michelle: So yeah, it's pretty cool,
Hannah: [00:11:00] Yeah. And I mean, hormones, that's how hormones work too. They're just chemical messengers in your body.
Michelle: right? and so talk about PCOS, 'cause I know that you work with P-C-O-S-A lot just to cover. 'cause I think of people don't really understand it fully because it is you know, there's so many different types of PCOS and people get confused and sometimes people show PCOS symptoms, but then some doctors, and we don't know if they're just not like looking. Thoroughly into it. Dismiss it. Oh, that's not PCOS. So
Hannah: Right.
Michelle: that and just kind of,
Hannah: Yeah.
Michelle: it is,
Hannah: Okay, well, we'll just start what, like, so what is PCOS? So PCOS stands for polycystic ovarian syndrome. So a lot of people get confused by that right off the bat. They think, oh, so that mean I have cysts on my ovaries. Does that mean that I have it? So it's actually not a physical ovarian condition, [00:12:00] like of the presence of cyst, but it's rather a hormonal condition and it's a, what I like to call a spectrum condition.
Hannah: You know, 'cause there's different varieties and there's different root causes. It's important to understand, first of all what kind of PCOS you have and what the root causes are which is why we, we use functional lab testing in practice. But but yeah, I think a lot of women often it's like a long confusing road full of mixed messages of like just lose weight advice,
Michelle: Yeah,
Hannah: you know.
Michelle: really thin. PCOS patients, so that's where it can get so confusing for
Hannah: Right, right, right. And so, A-P-C-O-S isn't in an ovarian condition, you know, what exactly is going on? I mean, in a nutshell, it's basically, blood sugar issues plus inflammation, plus genetic susceptibility, which is going to lead [00:13:00] to the ovaries to begin to produce large amounts of androgens.
Hannah: So, you know, and I say genetic susceptibility because, you know, just because you have like insulin sensi or insulin resistance or diabetes, that doesn't mean you automatically are gonna get PCOS. Some people just have really sensitive ovaries right. And so they're, they're going to develop the, the condition, so I like to talk to my clients about well first of all, we start by running some tests to find out, you know, what what their root causes are. And then we're gonna really go deep with, you know, working on the blood sugar issues with the inflammation, real food strategies lifestyle interventions, things like that.
Michelle: One of the things that I find is pretty common just in my own practice, is that.
Michelle: there's a huge link of gut [00:14:00] imbalance
Michelle: or, you know, gut microbiome
Michelle: imbalance and inflammation, you know, that is part of the contributor to the inflammation and can really impact PCOS conditions.
Hannah: Yeah. Because you know, if we, if that inflammation in the gut is going unchecked you know, that's also gonna drive that insulin resistance even more.
Michelle: Yeah.
Michelle: what are some of the tests that you do for PCOS? Functional
Hannah: Well, yeah. Well, first of all, I, I like to start with a Dutch test. It's a, have you heard of Dutch? The Uhhuh? Yeah. Oh, you do? Okay. Yeah. So I would run a Dutch you know, so that we,
Michelle: out just for people
Hannah: yeah. Yes,
Michelle: I've never heard of it before. So it's dried urine testing for comprehensive, or I forget
Hannah: it's a Dr. It's a. Yeah, yeah. Dried urine test for comprehensive hormones. I know I used to think, oh, it's [00:15:00] of Dutch, like it's from the Dutch, like, you know, but it's just an abbreviation.
Michelle: right, right.
Hannah: But yes, it's a very unique way to look at hormones. 'cause traditionally before this test was available, you would have to rely on blood work for hormones.
Hannah: And, you know, saliva for cortisol, which is okay, but it's just not great. So this test really helps us get a lot more specific, a lot more personalized, and helps us get some answers that would probably. Be left unanswered if we were just, you know, looking at, at blood work alone. So, you know, it's gonna tell us, you know, give us a snapshot of all three sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone.
Hannah: It's gonna show us how they're being metabolized in the liver. And then what I really like is it looks at your cortisol awakening response. So someone is struggling with sleep, mood, energy levels. Things like that that could also be driving your symptoms and, and your inflammation as well. So I, mm-hmm.
Michelle: cortisol is your friend in the morning. [00:16:00]
Hannah: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And then I like that it also has that organic acid test at the end there, which some of those other markers are gonna be important for looking at, for hormone production. So it's nice if they include that. So I, I like to do a Dutch, I also like to do HTMA testing, which stands for hair tissue mineral analysis.
Hannah: Because, you know, you know, when we're looking at hormones it's, you know, we, we also wanna be, look thinking about minerals too because and not just like, our minerals through blood work, but more on a cellular level. Like what is the body doing with those minerals? And how is your body utilizing them?
Hannah: Are they even getting up into the cell? So, and we can, you know, you know, minerals, they impact hormones, which means they're gonna impact PCOS. So I like that one too. And it's like a little, it's a, it's a nice way to, I like it 'cause it's, it shows your body's like, it's like a blueprint. It [00:17:00] shows you your stress pattern.
Hannah: know how your body is using minerals after you've maybe gone through a season of. Really high stress and you know, the fertility journey too is so stressful on its own that I'm like, yeah, let's look at what your body does with all this stress and how we can really like, you know, deeply nourish your body and, you know, make it feel safe for ovulation.
Michelle: Yeah, I know that there's a lot of minerals that you can't really test in blood and for example, magnesium. That's a
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: one to test for. So does this test for magnesium as well, like all minerals or,
Hannah: yeah, yeah. It looks at all of the minerals. Specifically the ones that I'm gonna be focusing on. The minerals that impact PCS would be magnesium, zinc, calcium, iron selenium iodine. So, you know, and in a nutshell, you know, these, these minerals. they can exacerbate insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, oxidative stress, which is [00:18:00] important for like egg quality, sperm quality, things like that.
Hannah: So women, get your men to your partner.
Michelle: Yes.
Michelle: So, so this is a hair test.
Hannah: yeah, it's a hair. They're using just like a teaspoon amount of your hair to analyze the mineral content in your tissues.
Michelle: Fascinating. I know they've done those for like heavy metals and, and just testing the
Hannah: Yeah, yeah,
Michelle: I haven't heard of the mineral testing yet.
Hannah: yeah. And this, yeah. And this test does include heavy metals and we look at, mm-hmm.
Michelle: heavy metals. Oh, okay.
Hannah: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Michelle: it's really high. Just like for people that don't have symptoms sometimes I almost feel like it's like high for everybody.
Hannah: The heavy metals. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and
Michelle: somebody who's not, who doesn't have like,
Hannah: yeah, and I mean, we we're exposed to heavy metals all of the time. It's, you know, it's, there's, it's kind of impossible [00:19:00] to get around it, you know? It's in our food, our water, the soil, you know. And so my approach is, you know, we might see like an acute.
Hannah: Exposure to the heavy metals. But what we wanna see is that you, you're able to detox and excrete those heavy metals safely. You know, that's why, you know, we have our detox organs, our liver, right? And so if I ever see those metals like pushing into the tissues, it's just a really good indication that, hey, your liver needs some.
Hannah: Some attention, like we need to work on supporting that. And also working on not just our detoxification organs, but our drainage pathways. So like our lymphatic system you know, making sure we're having daily bowel movements that we're sweating all of that. All of that stuff. Yeah.
Michelle: Yeah.
Michelle: for sure. I think that that's key is really detoxifying, and I think that it, you had a good point. You mentioned the word safely because
Michelle: that can be an issue, like if you detoxify too [00:20:00] harshly. I'm really big on that, especially when you're trying to conceive and you're actively trying, you definitely don't wanna do something that's so strong that it actually circulates more toxins in your bloodstream.
Hannah: That's right. Yeah.
Michelle: So they have like binders, right? Or things
Hannah: Yeah, That is one approach for me. I rarely will do like a heavy metal detox with somebody. I will just wanna work with them on, you know, first the foundational things of, are we optimizing the gut health, the, you know, the liver function are we getting those drainage pathways open?
Hannah: Because your body should be able to do all that on its own if it's, you know, optimal. but I mean, if someone's already doing like a gut protocol or something with me, then yeah, they, they'll be taking like those types of supplements and then it'll, it'll still act on the heavy metals and things like that, as.
Michelle: Interesting. So, what are some of the nutrient and lifestyle interventions specifically that you would do for PCOS? Or have you seen, because I, [00:21:00] I do know that
Hannah: yeah.
Michelle: different types, so that could
Hannah: Yes.
Michelle: the type,
Hannah: Yes. Yeah.
Michelle: the things that people should kind of like look out for, think about?
Hannah: Yeah. Yeah. So the first step is, is gonna be improving the quality of your food choices. So, you know, removing inflammatory oils, added sugars a lot of like processed, like ultra processed carbohydrates and, you know, with chemical and artificial additives. Things like that, you wanna replace them with whole real foods.
Hannah: It's really that simple.
Michelle: Yeah. I know,
Hannah: Yeah. Yeah. And then also, you know, the goal is to eat a sufficient amount of carbohydrates to promote ovulation, but while still focusing on those whole real. Food sources, like starchy veggies fruits and then unprocessed whole grains and legumes.
Michelle: So really from natural sources, [00:22:00]
Michelle: complex car carbs. So it's not like simple carbs, not white, you know, avoid those like.
Hannah: Yeah. Right. So you, and you would want to make sure you're getting adequate amount of carbohydrates, but you know, if we're also dealing with insulin resistance, then we also need to be talking about you know, maintaining adequate calorie intake and just aiming for. Balance across all the macronutrients.
Hannah: So, you know, we're pairing those carbohydrates with good quality sources of protein and healthy fats. And, if you're eating a more whole food carbs diet like. Your carbs are coming from fruits like, and like root vegetables and things like that, then those foods are naturally gonna have more fiber in them, which is also gonna help with things like insulin resistance.
Hannah: And then I would also be focusing on gut nourishing foods, like, bone broth probiotics from fermented foods, cultured. Products. And then lots of prebiotic fibers. So it also just making sure you're eating a [00:23:00] wide range of, plant fibers. Like we're not just eating the same, spinach every day.
Hannah: You know, let's really mix that up. Maybe like arugula, kale, you know. So that would be the where, where I would start with foods strategies. And then for lifestyle I would be really focusing on exercise. This is a really crucial tool in repairing insulin sensitivity and managing blood sugar levels.
Hannah: So first I would just focus on increasing your daily movement. So, you know, maybe try tracking your steps. And then maybe you would wanna consider adding in some resistance training and some short hit style workouts. Since those really show the most metabolic improvements. In general I would avoid, I would avoid like, really long duration cardio on a regular baseball basis, since that's like very stressful on the body.
Hannah: So exercise is number one. Stress management is key. I know we've already kind of touched on that a little bit. [00:24:00] You know, that's a big piece of hormonal. Balance balance since the, your adrenal health, you know, has the ability to impact the function of your sex hormones. I would just evaluate the sources of your stress.
Hannah: You know, I like to think of it like a bucket, like a stress bucket, and we have all these different inputs pouring in. Some of those things we can't really remove, but some things we can, you can control your nutrition and your sleep quality. You know, you can maybe work on energetic boundaries, right?
Hannah: Maybe you wanna include things like meditation or journaling, acupuncture, right? Those are all really nice ways to support yourself. And then sleep. Sleep is also like so major. That's when you know when you're, you can get good quality sleep at night. That's when your, your body's repairing tissue.
Hannah: And it, it has a lot to do with your hormones, like in like your like your hunger hormones, those ones and then also like [00:25:00] cortisol, melatonin, things like that. Everything that just keeps all of the systems working together smoothly. So, yep. Do you.
Michelle: of sleep. There's a, there like a lot of times we'll increase sugar cravings 'cause you want that quick energy. So
Hannah: Yes,
Michelle: that's one example of how that can impact
Hannah: exactly. Yeah. Yeah. If you have like one poor night of sleep, it increases your hunger hormone levels pretty significantly. So we'll see that that issue popping up time and time again. Yeah, so.
Michelle: yeah. And I also have heard, in some
Michelle: of like go, literally pivot into autoimmune and how [00:26:00] you can address that in the case of Hashimoto's?
Michelle: 'cause it is so prevalent and a lot of people have it. The first thing that I say is, cut out gluten, corn, and dairy and soy if you can. Now, I always say if you can't do all of them, at least cut out the gluten entirely and talk to us about like what you've done and what you've found to be helpful.
Michelle: 'cause it is something that if you catch early, you really can sh shift a lot just from diet alone.
Hannah: Oh, yes. Yeah, and I've helped. Hundreds of women with that. Exactly. Just you know, we see, I've seen different stages of, Hashimoto's. You know, so if it's like, you know, stage one where we're seeing the presence of antibodies and maybe they have symptoms, maybe they don't. A lot of those women typically will present with like subclinical hypothyroidism.
Hannah: So like their thyroid labs look fine. But they're like, I, feel tired all the time. I'm constipated. [00:27:00] I can't lose weight, you know? So the first thing I would start with is kinda getting ahead of things with, 'cause the majority of your immune system is in your gut. So I would be doing a GI would run a stool sample, a GI map and see what's going on there.
Hannah: Because there's different things that could be driving. That immune response. Yeah. It could be coming from things in the diet like gluten. And that test certainly will show us if you're having an immune response to gluten. So in those cases, I would have those clients cut, cut that out. And some people they, they don't, they don't run the test and they cut out gluten, but they just feel better without it.
Michelle: See that a lot.
Hannah: mm-hmm. I do too. Just kind of anecdotally. I was just gonna say that I think it is because of like, what, what they're spraying on our crops.
Michelle: Yeah,
Hannah: Yep. know that it can impact hormones like big time, that's
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: one for sure.
Hannah: Yeah. So, and then, you know, obviously if there's [00:28:00] a inflammation or like leaky gut.
Hannah: You know, we're gonna wanna address that anyway because that could be driving that immune response and making your symptoms worse, making the antibodies levels worse, right? So I really wanna just get ahead of it with the gut number one.
Hannah: And then I like to do mineral testing as well, since so many minerals, not only impact PCOS, but they impact your thyroid.
Michelle: That's a huge
Hannah: Yes, selenium. This is a common thing that I see. I'll see really high amounts of calcium in the tissues. And that's gonna block your thyroid hormone from getting up into the cell.
Hannah: So like maybe their thyroid panel looks great, but that, or they're already taking a thyroid medication, but they're, they feel like it's not doing anything for them. I'm like, look, you have a lot of calcium in your tissues. And so like, that's your thyroid hormone's not even getting up into the cell. So of course you wouldn't feel an impact [00:29:00] there.
Hannah: And that also is.
Michelle: actually? What causes that? Calcification?
Hannah: So, I typically see that from over supplementing with vitamin D. So, that will pull the calcium out of the bone and teeth. And put it into the tissues. Yeah. A lot of people get put on vitamin D by their doctor, like maybe they had low levels at one point, and then their doctor never talked to them about weaning off of the vitamin D.
Hannah: They just kept taking it.
Michelle: too high. Yeah.
Hannah: Yeah. Or they'll start them off like a really high dose, like I've seen like 50,000 units of, of vitamin. Yeah. And they, and they just keep taking it like, then they're never told like, Hey, you're actually supposed to tapered off of that after a couple months. I've also seen an influx of people on vitamin D, zinc you know, ever since the pandemic.
Hannah: So they just kept taking it and they don't know how that's impacted their. Mine. So, so yeah, that's one culprit. I, I'll see. The other thing that I notice, and this [00:30:00] is pretty prevalent in the autoimmune community is, and I don't think it's talked about a lot, is significant trauma and certain types of trauma.
Hannah: It, it's like we call when we see this pattern on an htm. It, we call it a calcium shell where the calcium and the magnesium levels are really high in the tissues. And then we are like really depleted in things like potassium and sodium and other secondary minerals. And it's kind of like the body's way of shielding itself from feeling big, like feeling really big emotions.
Hannah: So like a lot of these clients, I, I'll talk to them about this and they have such a flat effect, like with the then we start moving the calcium out of the tissues and then they become, they're, it's like they really need more emotional support throughout that process. It's very interesting. [00:31:00] I'm about to actually do an HTMA on myself.
Hannah: It's been a couple of years, but I've just gone, I'm grieving my mom right now and I, yeah, and it's just been a really rough couple of months. I've just been just going through the motions and kind of in that, like taking care of her, taking care of my girls. Like just everything that we've gone through leading up to this point.
Hannah: And I'm like, I am so curious to know what's going on with my minerals right now. I would not be surprised if I was having calcium going into my tissues. 'cause I believe that's what was my pattern last time I ran the test a few years ago. So.
Michelle: Oh, that's interesting.
Hannah: It's like, yeah, this is my, my unique pattern, you know, so I see that a lot with Hashimoto's and yeah, and, and it's interesting because that pattern, like the high calcium in the tissues and the low potassium, that's really really common with like thyroid stuff in general because, you know, first of all, that [00:32:00] calcium's blocking the thyroid.
Hannah: Hormone from getting up into the cell. It's also gonna be blocking insulin signaling. So there is gonna be a lot of blood sugar swings, and that's gonna be driving the inflammation, making that worse. And then the low potassium, well, you know, potassium is needed for thyroid function as well. So, I see that pattern a lot with that population and it's so fascinating.
Hannah: And I would just say like, I wouldn't say it's like. It's more like anecdotal, right? Like and you probably see that too in your practice. Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle: For different things, not this specifically, but Yeah.
Michelle: I mean, you see a lot of that and that's, that matters just because studies are very expensive to have and you can't
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: rely just on studies. You have to really rely on data in general, like your own experience
Hannah: Oh, absolutely.
Michelle: there's so much information that you can get just from that. And then, couple of things. One of the things is, I know that Zyme has been shown to really [00:33:00] help, it's an enzyme, it's a pro oleic enzymes that break apart, like fibrous tissue. So I'm curious to
Hannah: Oh
Michelle: if it would help with excess calcium or, you know, deposits because it, it works to break down
Hannah: yeah,
Michelle: really needed in the body.
Hannah: yeah. Yeah.
Michelle: up.
Hannah: Yeah. That is interesting. Yeah, because when we see, usually the calcium in the tissues is also associated with things like restless leg syndrome, kidney stones, gallstones, all that stuff, you know, because it's just calcification of the tissues. Right. What I do is I'll get, if that person is, has actually been on vitamin D what I'll do is I'll say, okay, let's just pause on the vitamin D and then I'll get them on, a form of vitamin K two that will target that calcium in the tissues and, and bring it, redirect it back to the bones. So we'll do that for several months. And if that person's still concerned about their, their vitamin D [00:34:00] levels and say, let's just get that checked, you know, and depending on where you're at with that, you, you either, you know, probably need supplementation time from time to time, or maybe just during the winter, right?
Hannah: But it's not a long term. You know, supplement for you because of this pattern, this pattern that you typically have.
Michelle: Another thing that I was gonna mention is, we were talking about like, antibodies.
Michelle: I remember, One of my patients mentioning she had like a, 'cause I was talking to an REI and I was gonna have him, I had him on the podcast and so she had some questions and she had a very low amount of antibodies that are considered normal. And he said no, because the presence of any antibody, and that's what's crazy to me.
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: normal in labs
Hannah: Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. The reference ranges for conventional labs or like in more like conventional healthcare settings. They're not, they're designed to show like if you [00:35:00] have a chronic disease or not. Not necessarily if you're optimal. Right. Like thriving, you know?
Michelle: have any, even if it's like minute, it means that there's an autoimmune, like
Hannah: Right. And.
Michelle: your thyroid.
Hannah: Yeah, and I mean, my first thought is like, and just because I've worked in that arena for so long, is I think it's just because they need to have a diagnose, a diagnosis for a chronic disease, number one, so that they can build insurance and blah, blah, blah.
Michelle: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hannah: So they typically can't treat you. They can't, they technically can't treat you.
Hannah: Like they don't really run on a, it's more of like a sick care model. It's not really, they can't really treat you for like prevention. Right. That's not like that that's not how insurance companies work. So, I think that that's, that's my theory on that. But, you know, but to, to answer your question, yes, I, I see, low levels that aren't considered Hashimoto's,
Michelle: Right?
Hannah: but I [00:36:00] would label that early stages or stage one, and I would say, let's work, let's, let's order GI Map.
Hannah: Let's look at what your minerals are doing like that impact your thyroid. Let's just, just start helping you feel better right away so that we can go into remission. I would much rather my client like, just go ahead and work on those things instead of waiting until it's like, you know, now we're seeing tissue damage, you know, and there's a lot of practices.
Hannah: I don't,
Michelle: it if it's early enough, like, but if it's
Hannah: yeah.
Michelle: really like far gone,
Hannah: Yeah. It can, and I don't know if you've run across this a lot in your practice or with your clients, but I've been told a lot of times that they weren't even able to request or see a specialist or an endocrinologist, I guess, until they were able to see tissue damage. And it's like, wouldn't you wanna just prevent the tissue damage?
Michelle: crazy to me. Yeah.
Hannah: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I'm, you know, I just like to get on it like right away, [00:37:00] even if it's like, you know, your antibodies are like five, you know?
Michelle: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Really low, but still,
Hannah: Yeah. Really low. Yeah. It's worth working on. Yeah.
Michelle: I had actually just recently, I had a case where her TSH was like five and she's young, she's in her twenties. And I'm
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: not normal.
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: just a little abnormal.
Michelle: But that's not a little abnormal for try somebody trying to conceive.
Hannah: Yeah.
Michelle: and under. So if you
Hannah: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: the thing. If you go to a general doctor or even an ob, they are a little more general in women's health.
Hannah: Yeah.
Michelle: they're not going to look at it the same way as an REI is gonna look at it, which is a reproductive endocrinologist and they're gonna
Hannah: Right.
Michelle: it a completely different perspective.
Michelle: Yeah, so it's, so those things I think a lot of people just don't realize and they're going in and they get the wrong information or they don't get like the full information and many years go by and it's kind of like, you know, that's why it's so important to really get ahead of it.[00:38:00]
Hannah: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're, you're worthy of feeling better, you know, if, does it have to be something that's chronic or.
Michelle: Right.
Hannah: Like full on disease state before just feeling better.
Michelle: Yeah, for sure. So for people who, you know, are curious and wanna learn more about what you do,
Michelle: um, what are some of the things that you offer online? Where can people find you? I.
Hannah: So for people who are wanting to work one-on-one with me or maybe just start off with a consultation or some have some labs done you can find me at through Pivot Nutrition Coaching. So the website is pivot nutrition coaching com. And then if, for my social media, I'm on Instagram with Hannah.
Michelle: Awesome. I'll have all the notes anyway. If anybody like is curious or wants to know exactly [00:39:00] how it's written out or find the link, you can find those on the episode notes. So Hannah, thank you so much for coming on today. It was a great conversation. I love really digging deep on just what goes on with these conditions that so many people hear about that are trying to conceive, but they don't really understand it.
Michelle: And I think. There's so much power and knowledge and understanding and kind of like going beneath the surface. So I think this is one of the things that I like to do on the show is really to educate people on like really what's going on. So you've really shared some great, valuable information, so thank you so much, Hannah.
Hannah: Thank you so much for having me and I, I think that this is such an important, important conversation to have and a valuable platform, so it's really an honor to be here. And hope we can chat again soon.
Michelle: Thank you.
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