Hashimoto’s, Hormones, and Hope: What Every Woman Should Know with Dr. Kevin Smith

Ever wonder why your labs look “normal” but you still don’t feel well? Dr. Kevin Smith breaks down how functional medicine gets to the root cause of fatigue, thyroid issues, and autoimmune conditions—helping you finally understand what your body’s been trying to say.

If you’ve ever been told “everything looks fine,” but you know something isn’t, this episode is for you.

Dr. Kevin Smith, board-certified clinical nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner, joins me to unpack why so many people stay stuck in a cycle of symptoms—and what it really takes to find lasting answers.

We discuss why modern healthcare often treats symptoms instead of causes, how autoimmune and thyroid conditions are commonly misunderstood, and the role your lifestyle, nutrition, and even stress play in shaping your genetic expression.

Dr. Smith also explains why you can’t “cure” autoimmune disease—but you can calm it down, bring it into remission, and start living again.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER:

• The biggest difference between functional and conventional medicine
• Why thyroid and autoimmune conditions are so often mismanaged
• How your environment, nutrition, and sleep impact your genes
• What “root cause care” looks like in real life

CONNECT WITH DR. KEVIN SMITH

 Special Message from Dr. Tamar Lawful: Discover the InHer Glow® Concierge Wellness Experience , a precision health program designed exclusively for high-achieving women ready to lose weight, boost energy, and reduce medications without guesswork. Spots are limited! Apply today at thelyfebalance.com/concierge

Chapters

• 0:00 Rethinking Pills And Personalizing Care
• 3:41 Tribute To Chris And Transition
• 4:18 The Thyroid’s Real Role Explained
• 4:44 Meet Dr. Smith And His Path
• 7:20 Functional Medicine Versus Symptom Management
• 10:33 Why Drug-First Culture Took Hold
• 12:38 Thyroid 101 And Bodywide Effects
• 14:18 Hashimoto’s, Autoimmunity, And Missed Causes
• 17:53 Remission Over Cure: Setting Expectations
• 19:04 Epigenetics, Lifestyle, And Gene Expression
• 21:21 Testing, Planning, And Measuring Progress
• 23:09 Motivation, Fundamentals, And Daily Habits
• 25:15 Changing Beliefs And Proactive Care
• 28:08 What’s Next And Free Discovery Call
• 30:13 Host Reflections And Resource Guide

Transcript

Speaker 2: 1:00

Medications certainly have their place, but what if there was a way to support your body naturally by working with your genetics?

Speaker 1: 1:08

We are a pill for an ill society. We take 18 pills per person per American per day.

Speaker 2: 1:15

It was so hard to find somebody who took my insurance. And for me to get well, it took thousands of dollars. And I thought, though what do regular people do? This is not right.

Speaker 3: 1:23

Despite my best efforts, I wasn't actually reversing disease and helping people to heal in the way that I thought I would.

Speaker 2: 1:30

We want to empower yourselves to take care of this root called. We don't just want to cover it up. If you're ready to break free from outdated, one-size-fits-all health care, you're in the right place. Welcome to Raise the Script with Nutrigenomics, brought to you by InHer Glow® by LYFE Balance. Here's a literature from we're all unique right down to our DNA. So it's no wonder we respond differently to the same medications, food, and environment. How do you discover what your body needs? Which medications, foods, supplements, or exercises are right for you? How can you manage chronic conditions without piling on more prescriptions? That's what we're here to explore. I'm your host, Dr. Tamar Lawful, Dr. Pharmacy, Nutrigenomics Specialist, and your partner in reimagining how we personalize care for better outcomes. Whether you're a patient or a practitioner, let's raise the script and bring healthcare to higher levels together. Because the future of health is personal. Before we begin today's episode, I want to share something personal. This week I learned that my podcast editor, Chris, passed away unexpectedly. Chris was part of this show from the very beginning. And although he did not work on this particular episode, his care and craftsmanship helped shape the sound of Razor's script over the years. I'm deeply grateful for the role he played behind the scenes and for the heart he brought to this work. Chris, thank you for your dedication and your kindness. And to listening, thank you for holding this space with me. Now let's transition into today's episode. You ever notice how two people can eat the same meal, follow the same plan, and only one of them sees results? For many women, the reason isn't willpower or discipline. It's the thyroid. That tiny butterfly-shaped gladden in your neck does far more than regulate metabolism. It influences your mood, your focus, your energy, and even how your body responds to stress. And yet it's one of the most misunderstood organs in modern medicine. In today's episode, Dr. Kevin Smith, a board-certified clinical nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner, joins me to unpack what's really behind thyroid and autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's. We'll talk about the difference between managing disease and restoring function, how genetics and lifestyle interact to shape thyroid health, and what it really takes to bring your body back into alignment. Because real transformation isn't about treating symptoms, it's about understanding the systems behind them. Hey friend, I'm Dr. Tamar Lawful, Doctor of Pharmacy, Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist. Welcome back to Raise the Script with Nutrigenomics, the show where we decode your DNA so you can live and lead with energy, confidence, and longevity. Listen in. Dr. Smith, thank you so much for joining us on Raise the Script with Nutrigenomics. Now, before we dive into functional medicine, I'd love for our listeners to get to know you a little better. So can you share what originally drew you into functional medicine?

Speaker: 4:44

Sure. Um, my base degree is I'm a doctor of chiropractic. And uh 19 or 2001, I graduated from chiropractic school from Davenport, Iowa. And I was uh hung a shingle and I started to help people. And I was just using the type of uh tools that I was given during chiropractic school. And I was, you know, helping people with back pain, neck pain, headaches, and migraines, the typical kind of stuff that you'd normally associate with chiropractors. And every once in a while, people would come in with some weird, mysterious problem that I couldn't fix. And I it bothered me. And so I started to do some exploration. I started to read books and attend seminars, and that just kept going and going and going and going and going until now I'm a board-certified clinical nutritionist and a functional medicine practitioner. And that is really the main thing that I do now is help people with low thyroid and autoimmune disease and type 2 diabetes and things like that.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Thank you for sharing that. I love that you mentioned that you are a board-certified clinical nutritionist, uh, because many of us don't really realize the importance of nutrition when it comes to our health and how it can actually help us get back on the right track to the extent that it can do so. And in essence, helping us get to the root as well, especially with functional medicine, that combination. Uh, so for those who are actually new to the term, how would you describe functional medicine in everyday language?

Speaker: 6:32

So there's two broad categories of health care that exists in this country. There's allopathic health care, which is what most medical doctors do, and there is functional medicine, which is really what I do. Now, the difference is that um the allopathic health care is more about focusing on helping people with symptoms, usually with a chemical like a drug. As a pharmacologist, you know all about that. And functional medicine, we ask the question, why do you have this? So it's a very patient-centered, personalized approach to health care. So we don't we don't work on symptoms, we work on the person. So um usually it's through diet, lifestyle modification, supplementation, things like that. And you know, it's it's I'm not anti-drug, I'm not anti-physician. I believe that there's a time and a place for all healing. And usually what happens with me is that people that have already been to see the primary care physician and they've already been to see a couple of specialists, they've already tried pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medications, uh, topicals, supplements, and they can't really get satisfaction. And so they come see me. They want to try something different.

Speaker 2: 7:59

Yeah, thank you for explaining how your approach is and how it's different from what we're the allopathic means, what we're used to, many of us are used to seeing and presenting with. Uh, so pretty much instead of managing symptoms, you're really helping people uncover the why behind their condition. And I'm 100% with you on board with not anti-medicine and not anti-doctors, anti-physician, but we can definitely all work together when it comes to the health of patients.

Speaker: 8:30

So, what I find, what I find is that um a lot of people, when they go see their primary care physician, they are given a very superficial glossy overview of the problem. And usually when they give them like um, if they're having GI issues, if they give them a proton pump inhibitor, or they give them uh uh imodium or something like that, they're not really not really digging into what is driving their problem, whether it's uh a hyalhernia or it's some kind of a maybe uh problem with not producing quite enough stomach acid, problem called hypochlorhedria. And what is the cause of that? So my my approach is to dig a little bit deeper, put on my detective hat and try to figure out what is the root cause of what's driving the problem, not just to manage the symptoms or the disease process.

Speaker 2: 9:28

Right, right. And uh I have a question for you along the lines of using medications. Um, it's probably an obvious answer, but I I asked um several of my guests that come with have a functional medicine background, because I'm curious to know what their perspective is. Uh, but when it comes to that drug culture, uh, why do you think it the healthcare system has become so dependent on medications first?

Speaker: 9:55

Well, I think that um are you talking about today, or are you talking about back in the days of John Rockefeller when he was uh launching the petroleum-based pharmacy stuff back in the early 1900s? Today it's mostly about the drug ads and it's about the lobbies and lobbyists and the the money of the with the with the pharmaceutical companies. We live in a drug culture, and so naturally people are conditioned to reaching for the medicine cabinet. I grew up like that. So whenever something happened in my household when I was a little a child, um, mom would reach for the medicine cabinet. And if that did not fix the problem, if it didn't remedy it, then she would take us to the pediatrician for something a little bit stronger. And um, people are conditioned to thinking that if you have some kind of a symptom, then you need to see a doctor. And if you don't have any symptoms, you're perfectly fine. We know that that's not necessarily true. So, for example, you can't feel cancer cells forming in your body, you can't feel your vessels filling up with plaque, you can't feel tooth decay until you develop a cavity and it reaches a nerve of pain. So, a lot of times by the time a symptom develops, it's too late to fix the problem. And so they just want to try to manage it as opposed to going after the root hidden cause of what's driving the problem in the first place. My job is to figure out what's causing it and help the person to come up with a plan of action so that they can get better.

Speaker 2: 11:36

Thanks for explaining that and giving us that history as well. Now, what are some conditions that you find commonly in your practice that would respond well to a functional medicine approach?

Speaker: 11:51

Well, my clinical niche is autoimmune hypothyroidism. And the thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland in the base of the neck, and it controls the metabolic response. In other words, all it controls how much energy that you're going to use while at rest. And every single of your 70 trillion cells in your body has a receptor site on the cell wall for thyroid hormone. So it can influence the function of every single cell in the body. So it depends on what that cell is and what its job is, what its function is. If it's a neuron in the brain and you have hypothyroidism, you can maybe have brain fog, or you could have depression or anxiety or nervousness or irritability, some kind of a mental problem with cognition or memory. Maybe it's affecting your gut. So it affects if it affects the gut, some of the common symptoms are diarrhea or constipation or both. Uh, it can affect absorption, it can affect the microbiome, which is the ecology of bacteria that lives in your gut. So every single cell in your body can be affected by your thyroid gland.

Speaker 2: 13:08

So when it comes to our thyroids and autoimmune disease, then Dr. Smith, um definitely these are two conditions that are frequently under misunderstood. What's being overlooked in their treatments traditionally?

Speaker: 13:24

So, according to the Academy of Endocrinology, um, 90% of everybody that has hypothyroidism has a condition called Hashimoto's disease. Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune problem. So, what autoimmune means is that the defense system of the body, the immune system, that's supposed to be protecting you from bacteria, bacterial infections, viral loads, a parasite, what happens is it mistakenly attacks and destroys your own body. So it depends on what body part is being affected. If it's affect if the thyroid is being affected, that's called Hashimoto's disease. If it's the lung fields, that's called sarcoidosis. If it's the brain that's multiple sclerosis, if it's the skin, if it's if it's the skin that's psoriasis, if it's the um the joints and the hand or the spine that's rheumatoid arthritis. So researchers have uh identified over a hundred different autoimmune diseases, and it's categorized primarily based on what's involved. With people that have autoimmune disease, uh a medication like synthroid or levathyroxin is not going to be effective because it's not an immune system, it's not an endocrine problem, it's an immune system issue. So, what happens is that the immune system, the white blood cells, are attacking and destroying the follicles of the thyrogland, disrupting the function of that gland, and in turn causing all the different symptoms that are affecting people with low thyroid, such as weight gain or low energy, or the hair falling out in clumps or cracked or weak fingernail beds or toenail beds, poor libido, bowel problems, sleep problems, all kinds of things. And so it affects women eight times more than men. About 30 million people in this country are being affected by this. And about 17% will be helped by synthetoid. The other 83% are not going to be helped with uh drug therapy whatsoever. There's some kind of a peripheral thing at play. You got to dig down and figure out what that is.

Speaker 2: 15:46

That's a huge disparity. 83%, 17%. So showing that it's not, it's not an endocrine issue, definitely.

Speaker: 15:55

It's more of a that it's it's it's very rarely the thyroid gland that's at fault. It's usually some kind of a other issue like anemia or blood sugar dysregulation or cortisol issues, sex hormones like test uh testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, um, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, GI problems, food sensitivities, chemical sensitivities, stealth infections, all of those problems have the potential of causing a disruption with the thyroid gland. And so the functional medicine approach takes all of that into consideration and systematically tests the person for issues to see if they're one of those, one of those triggers could be at play, could be at fault.

Speaker 2: 16:46

Right. Really, really trying to get to that root cause. Now, when your patients ask, can autoimmune disease be cured? How do you respond to that?

Speaker: 16:55

Autoimmune disease cannot be cured. So um anybody that's telling you they can cure an autoimmune disease is lying to you. So you can't flip it off like a switch. It's part of your genetic makeup for the rest of your life. Now, while you can't cure it, you can put it into remission, which means you can dial it down. So just like the just like on a chandelier in your in your dining room, you can turn down the electricity and dim it down. So it's it's no longer loan, no longer causing mischief, no longer causing you know day-to-day problems. And that really is the best, best uh outcome that you can expect if you have an autoimmune disease, no matter what it is.

Speaker 2: 17:39

Yeah, thank you. That's refreshing to um have that realistic take on what's really going on with autoimmune disease and letting people know what you know it's not curable, what's really going on, but we can we can find some ways to manage it and get to the root cause of what's going on. And you mentioned DNA. Um, I know epigen epigenetics is tied into this as well. And I love that because that's a big part of what we explore on this show. How do lifestyle choices like nutrition, sleep, stress uh influence the expression of our genes? Are you able to speak on that at all?

Speaker: 18:19

So everything, uh first of all, uh as far as epigenetics, from my understanding, um everything that your great-great-grandparents have been exposed to during their lifetimes, uh the where they worked, then maybe they worked in a steel mill or a foundry, and they are if they were exposed to benzene or they were exposed to some other type of industrial type of pollutant, it it alters their DNA, their their DNA. And and when they get together to form to make your grand, your great grandparents, that is passed off genetically to their great-grandparents. And then everything that those people have been exposed to, every drug, every vaccine, every industrialized chemical, any kind of pollutant, it it alters their DNA somewhat. And then they get together to make your grandparents, and then those people have a genetic code, and that can get altered based on uh in toxic toxins, the environment, maybe their foods, maybe the the things that they eat, things like that. And then that can be passed off in the DNA to your parents, and when they get together to form you, it passes that stuff that code on to you. So epigenetics could explain a lot of mysterious illnesses that have gone on in the world. And and I think that there's no doubt that your food, your nutrition profile, your exercise habits, your sleep habits, how you manage your stress, that can influence your genetic code. So when you have children, that that genetic code is passed on to your progeny and so on and so forth. So, yes, you can blame your parents for something.

Speaker 2: 20:14

Well, thank you for um explaining that, Dr. Smith. Now, how do you know if treatments are being successful are successful?

Speaker: 20:23

So I want to talk about the my my way of that I'm doing my workups. So the first thing I do is I gather their medical information. I have them fill out some extensive intake forms and questionnaires and explore all the different metabolic or new uh neurological issues that could be related to their to their their their makeup. And then after that, we do a consultation and I ask questions like, what, what is going on? Um, what would make you happy with your care? What can I do for you? What are your goals? Things like that. Then after that, then we move on to either doing an exam or doing some lab testing. Those are objective measurements. So the lab testing, there's no wiggle room with that. Either you're normal or you're out your abnormal and how far out of bounds are you? And that will determine, like we would get an understanding about what the severity level is of the problem. And then we would make some clinical decisions as far as what testing, what additional tests could be required, whether it's blood, urine, stool, or saliva tests. And then we would measure um a bunch of different markers, like we check their their hormone levels, or we would check their blood sugar levels, or we would check their uh inflammatory levels, things like that. And then we would uh come up with a strategy or a plan of action based on the lab testing. And then we what we do is we test, we treat, and then we retest. And then we move see if we've moved the needle or made some improvements.

Speaker 2: 22:06

Very thorough, very, very thorough process and also empowering for the patient because you're you're actually asking them what it is that they feel they need, what are their goals, um, and then working with them for that.

Speaker: 22:21

I can I can tell you that most of my patients are very, very frustrated. They come to me and they say, This guy doesn't even listen to me. I told him a million times I've had this issue, and nobody seems to understand me. They think it's all on my head. I think it's a partnership. I think that I have a job to do and the patient has a job to do, and we need to come up with a cooperative agreement so that we both understand this is a team effort.

Speaker 2: 22:49

Yeah, I agree with you. It definitely is a team effort between between you and the patient. Now, how do you help the patient stay consistent and motivated when they're changing, they're making these lifelong habits, right?

Speaker: 23:02

How do you make how do you help them? That's the million-dollar question right there. So um people, when they invest in functional medicine care, you they're pretty serious. They they they're they're up against the wall, nobody else has been able to help them. And so these people are very motivated to make take on a challenge, to take on a change. So with lifestyle modification, you have to teach them how to eat, what foods are good for them, what foods are bad. As a rule of thumb, I just say stay away from sugar, stay away from fast food, stay away from gluten, stay away from uh processed foods. If it's a plant, eat it. If it's made in a plant, don't eat it. So I give them that kind of advice. And so after that, it's just a matter of like focusing on the fundamentals, focusing on things like are you getting eight hours of sleep, restful, replenishing sleep every night? Are you consuming a lot of alcohol? Are you um taking care of your posture and your nervous system? As a chiropractor, I know a thing or two about that. So we talk about that and some strategies that they can do at home to keep their spine in line and and uh for for for better movement and better better function. So I also focus on um are you exercising? Are you moving every day? I want them to walk the dog, I want them to go outside and play like they did when they were little kids. And a lot of people forget about these fundamentals. They think I'm a grown-up, I don't need to pay attention. And so, you know, they eat at McDonald's six days a week and then they want to biggie size their lipitor. So we got to break them of that habit and try to move them in a better direction.

Speaker 2: 25:02

Great advice. I love that. If it's in a if it's from a plant, eat it. If it's made in a plant, stay. Yes. Now, Dr. Smith, you've been in practice for over 20 years. Looking back, what's one belief about health that's changed the most for you?

Speaker: 25:18

Well, I've been in practice for 25 years, and I can tell you it's my hair that's the one that's the uh I used to have a whole full head of hair, but um I think that since I've been in practice, the attitudes and the um the trends from the medical professionals has changed a little bit. I remember when I first went into practice and I told a patient to take some fish oils and they went to their PCP and he told them that it's just quack stuff. Don't take that stuff, it's just junk. And now they're all about that. They want to take credit for inventing it, right? So um I think that that attitudes will change, but it's such a difficult mountain to climb for a lot of people because of the of the insurance-driven, drug-driven uh uh culture that we live in. Um, people they they they feel that they want to they they can eat whatever they want, they can drink whatever they want, and eventually doing that for a few decades, it's gonna come creeping up on you. And then they start to take things very seriously when they can't walk like they used to, or they get winded walking up a flight of stairs, or their pants feel too tight. So um, my question to them is when is the best time to start going to the gym? Is it when you're on your third heart attack and your pants feel too tight, or is it before that? You know, like would you wait until your engine and your car is smoking to change the oil, or do you do that proactively every 5,000 miles?

Speaker 2: 27:03

Right. Right. Great analogy. Sometimes we have to be straightforward with the patients like that, for them to really grasp the importance of taking care of their health now.

Speaker: 27:16

Yes. Yeah, I I I try to use a lot of analogies with people, and uh people understand like automotive repairs and maintenance and changing oil and uh rotating their tires because they spent a lot of money on their car and they want it to last a long time. Yeah, you know, I tell them that's just a piece of metal that you're gonna throw away in three or five years. Your body is your most precious thing you have. Because if you're dead, you can't enjoy anything. So you why don't you why don't we be a little bit more proactive and take better care of things and um wise up to what is the root cause of these problems and focus on wellness and and prevention? That's really, really important.

Speaker 2: 28:06

Yes, indeed. In addition to not being able to do anything if you're dead, as you age, you want to still be able to be active and enjoy life, right? So take care of yourself now so that as you get older, you can still be independent and still enjoy everything around you.

Speaker: 28:24

Exactly. My mom is 92 years old and she's still feisty. So I hope that I live as long as she did.

Speaker 2: 28:32

Yes. Now look at the head, Dr. Smith. What's next for you?

Speaker: 28:37

Well, I want to continue to try to help as many people as I can through functional medicine and through chiropractic. So I can I have the ability to reach into both worlds, musculoskeletal health as well as metabolic health. Um, I think that my passion is more uh functional medicine and because I just see so many people that have a lot of disease processes and and dysfunctions, and they really do want to get better, but they can't because they're just given the choice of here, take this drug or continue to suffer. And I want to give them another, another option. I want to give them the option of actually tackling the problem head on.

Speaker 2: 29:22

And I think that's a great option. Dr. Smith, this conversation has indeed been a breath of fresh air. And I know our listeners will walk away with new hope and a better understanding of what's possible when we focus on the why behind our our health, looking at that root cause, underlying issues, underlying causes. So thank you for joining us today on Reese's Script with Nuutrigenomics.

Speaker: 29:45

Thank you for having me. And by the way, I just wanted to make a quick uh mention that if anybody likes what is going on in this conversation and they want to learn more, please feel free to visit my website at metabolicsolutions.net. Don't go to dot com, that's somebody else. But go to metabolicsolutions.net and any all of your listeners, I'm gonna send to them a free discovery call. So if you if you want to give me a call from the number on the website, we can set up a free discovery call to figure out what's going on with your health, what kind of challenges that you're up against. It's a it's an informal 10 to 15 minute conversation. And I it's completely free. And um just take me up on that offer.

Speaker 2: 30:32

And I will add the link to in the show notes so that everyone can easily assess it. It's been a pleasure, Dr. Smith. Thank you so much.

Speaker: 30:40

Thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 30:41

What I loved about that conversation with Dr. Smith is how he reminds us that true healing, true wellness isn't about masking symptoms. It's about listening to the quiet clues your body gives you long before things spiral out of balance. I think we often forget that prevention isn't just a medical term. It's a mindset. It's about being proactive rather than reactive. And as Dr. Smith said so perfectly, we maintain our cars and our homes to prevent breakdowns, but somehow we wait until our health is the breakdown before we pay attention. My hope is that this episode inspires you to get curious about your own why, to ask what might be driving your fatigue, your cravings, or those cycles that keep coming back despite your best efforts. Because when you start asking better questions, you start getting better results. If you'd like to learn more about how your DNA, lifestyle, and environment work together to shape your health, you can visit me at thelyfebalance.com. That's where you'll find resources, programs, and conversations like this one to help you design wellness that fits your life, not the other way around. You'll also find your inner CEO Blueprint. It's a free guide that walks you through five DNA-based strategies to boost energy, clarity, and confidence without extremes or burnout. And if you're a healthcare or wellness professional, pharmacist, nurse practitioner, health coach, medical doctor, you'll want to explore the DNA strategy starter kit at the same site. The links are in the show notes. This is a practical roadmap for integrating nutrigenomics into your practice so you can help your patients or clients create precision wellness plans at truly last because health isn't guesswork, it's design. Talk to you next Friday. Until then, always remember to raise the script on health because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.

Speaker 3: 32:35

Raise the script with Nutrigenomics is a production of In Her Glow® by LYFE Balance.