If you stumbled upon this website, you likely have some sort of thyroid problem – most likely hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
You’re not alone.
The American Thyroid Association estimates that “20 million people have some form of thyroid disease.”
But you probably already knew that.
We don’t need to tell you the effects of thyroid problems, how they make you feel, and the frustration in trying to solve it and feel better.
Given the low share of doctors with specialized experience in the adrenal and endocrinology fields, your average doctor will likely just prescribe you the regular thyroid drugs, such as Synthroid or Tirosint, and hope that it solves your problems.
This can result in a considerable number of people who are unsuccessful in solving their thyroid problems and want to try something new.
It seems like everyone and their grandmothers knows about this frustration.
Interestingly enough, they are also offering hope of relief in the form of online coaching or nutritional advice – for a large fee of course.
After you pay the fee, you’ll get a one size fits all nutrition plan, prerecorded videos, and/or individual email/phone/video calls with a coach that never gets back to you.
No doubt you’ll see reviews for their services – and no doubt some of them are real.
We’ve heard many stories about these online coaches. A few do have positive experiences, but most feel a sense of regret. This is not an article to persuade you against getting an online coach, but rather to make sure you know what you will likely end up getting.
(By the way, this website does not have a dog in this fight. We refuse to offer or endorse any thyroid coaching services. This website does not sell anything. We just provide credible information about thyroid related topics.)
The idea of online coaches does ostensibly seem like a promising idea. They can help guide you towards the right steps.
They already likely know a lot about the topic, so you won’t have to traverse through the medical thyroid studies or other articles on this website. Coaches also have an inherent motivational factor.
If you know someone is keeping track of your progress, you’ll work at least a bit harder to achieve that goal compared to if no one
On the other hand, your coach needs to be credible and reputable. You don’t want to follow information that can potentially harm you or make you feel even worse.
And you especially don’t want to pay money to aggravate your thyroid problems!
Thyroid coaches with reputable certifications in nutrition or even better, actual degrees (Masters or Doctorates), give credibility to their plans and advice instead of relying on anecdotal tales or just giving you something that worked for a few people.
Unfortunately, it seems a lot easier these days to fall for the great marketing techniques companies/people come up with.
Post a couple rhetorical questions (Yes, I do want to feel better!), some before/after pictures, and outstanding reviews from people who have supposedly had the coaching.
The idea that the mind believes what it wants to seems to fit well here.
The hope that these services give – to get rid of all the years of frustration you had in a short amount of time – is certainly attractive, even to the most cynical of people, including us.
We wish there was some standard list of red flags you could use to spot out the inferior coaches, but unfortunately there does not seem any default pattern to these thyroid coaches.
This relies upon you and your judgement.
Thyroid coaching is not an inherently bad service – and it should not be something that is dismissed right away – but it does need the potential customer to be wary.
At the very least ask questions to both the coaches and maybe even ask for references for past clients.
Perhaps thyroid coaching is the right step for you. But then again, it might not be. Let us know what you think.
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