Lindsey Parsons, founder of High Desert Health, embarked on a personal health journey marked by years of unexplained digestive issues, autoimmune conditions, and a quest for solutions that traditional medicine couldn’t provide. Struggling with multiple health challenges, including Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, ITP, and B12 anemia, Lindsey became determined to reclaim her health. Through extensive self-experimentation and a functional medicine approach, she successfully reversed her thyroid antibodies, improved platelet counts, and identified the root cause of her digestive woes (SIBO). Her transformative experience inspired her to advocate for change and delve into health coaching. Lindsey’s mission is to guide individuals grappling with weight gain or seemingly unsolvable health issues, offering a supportive approach that focuses on real, whole foods and sustainable lifestyle changes to break cycles of health challenges and weight management. MysticMag has the opportunity to chat with Lindsey.
Lindsey, your journey involved overcoming various health challenges and uncovering solutions on your own. What was the pivotal moment that led you to shift from just managing symptoms to seeking deeper solutions for your health problems?
I think the pivotal moment for me was going to see an endocrinologist about my diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (autoimmune hypothyroid disease). I asked her what caused this and what I could do about it. I can’t recall what she said about causes, but she told me I would just keep testing my thyroid until my numbers were out of range, then I’d go on thyroid hormone until the Hashimoto’s destroyed my thyroid, then at some point I might need to have it removed. And I just thought, “that’s the stupidist thing I’ve ever heard, just sit and wait while my body destroys my thyroid gland?” It was then that I knew I would find the root cause and address it.
In your experience, how crucial is the link between gut health and autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s? Could you elaborate on how improving gut health positively impacted these conditions for you?
Research has shown that intestinal hyperpermeability or a leaky gut, is a necessary precondition to autoimmune disease. There are three components, a genetic predisposition for certain autoimmune diseases, a leaky gut, and an antigen, such as a toxin, like heavy metals or pesticides, partially digested food proteins, like gluten, or a microbe or portion of one, like LPS or lipopolysaccharide, a component of the cell wall of gram negative bacteria. This was from the research of Alessio Fasano, MD. So a leaky gut is the precondition for the antigen entering the bloodstream and eliciting the autoimmune response from the body. So, for example, with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, gluten is believed to be a trigger, because not only does it cause an opening of the tight junctions in the intestines, but it is a large, hard-to-digest protein that resembles the thyroid gland, so the immune system starts attacking gliadin (one of the gluten proteins) and then thyroid cells because they look similar. Healing my SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) was an essential component to reversing my autoimmunity.
What can you tell us about the treatment of thyroid antibodies?
So you can’t treat thyroid antibodies, per se. Rather, you can change your diet by removing proteins that resemble the thyroid tissue, which is gluten and dairy and for some people, soy. Then you can work with a functional medicine practitioner to test your stool and/or Organic Acids and determine whether you have gut health issues (which are often betrayed by constipation, loose stool, gas, bloating, nausea, excessive burping, pain or other GI symptoms, or often other symptoms like skin issues, brain fog, autoimmune disease, mental health issues or fatigue). If any issues are found, your practitioner can guide you in healing your gut through diet changes, supplements and lifestyle interventions.
You mentioned the vital role of sugar in numerous health conditions. How did giving up added sugars affect your health, especially concerning your thyroid issues and weight loss journey?
While I never had a serious weight issue, ever since I gave birth to my child, I had a baby belly, which was annoying to me, as I hadn’t had it before pregnancy. I tried different types of diets and could lose weight but gained it back at warp speed and sometimes a little more each time I dieted. So when I finally gave up sugar and started finding much better sugar alternatives like Stevia, monk fruit, xylitol, allulose and erythritol (because I confess I’m still addicted to sweet tastes), my baby belly finally went away. Sugar is also very inflammatory, so its elimination was also part of my autoimmune healing journey, as inflammation (which is just an activation of your immune system) is part of autoimmunity.
Your work emphasizes empowering individuals with knowledge and support to address their health issues. How does your coaching approach differ from traditional medical methods, and what unique benefits does it offer to individuals struggling with gut health, autoimmune diseases, or weight management?
Most conventional medical doctors are trained in symptom management through the use of pharmaceutical drugs, most of which you stay on for life. And in my experience, the doctor does little consultation with patients in the decision making around treatment. In my work, I help people to understand their testing options and what information we might garner from various tests and why I suspect certain tests might be the most useful. Then we decide together which tests to run.
These tests include stool tests to look at the composition of the microbiome as well as markers of intestinal and digestive health, such as your level of pancreatic enzymes, fat in the stool, or intestinal inflammation markers that discern between inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s and colitis) versus irritable bowel syndrome; Organic Acids tests to look at metabolites in urine of digestion, bacterial and fungal overgrowths, detoxification functions, neurotransmitters and certain nutrients; and other nutritional tests such as amino acids, fatty acids, vitamin and mineral levels; as well as tests that look for mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides and specific viral/bacteria pathogens. I then spend a considerable amount of time explaining the test results to clients, then educating them on how practitioners address the things revealed on their tests through diet, supplementation and lifestyle. At the core, I try to help clients find the root cause of their suffering and work with them to develop a plan to alleviate it, spending an hour at a time with clients and 1-2 hours in preparation and follow-up for every appointment. It’s a very time intensive way of practicing, but people who’ve been suffering for years without solutions usually need this kind of hand holding to get to a better place. For weight management, I do more traditional health coaching on a weekly basis to address both the mental and physical causes of weight gain, as well as incorporating testing and interventions, when appropriate, for suspected nutrient-related issues that may be impacting weight gain.
If you would like to find out more about Lindsey Parsons, please visit https://highdeserthealthcoaching.com/
