Rachel Sandoval Nutrition

Most people are low in several of these thyroid nutrients…

Try eating more of these foods to give your thyroid a little love & boost your metabolism:
✅ Selenium - 2-3 Brazil nuts per day + fish
✅ Iodine - fish + a pinch of kelp flakes (DM for my fave product!)
✅ Zinc - meat, pumpkin seeds, beans/lentils, oysters
✅ Magnesium - dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, quinoa, beans
✅ Potassium - dark leafy greens, potatoes (reg & sweet), banana, cantaloupe, asparagus, tomato, lots of fruits & veggies, homemade mineral/electrolyte drinks
✅ Copper - liver, oysters, citrus, chocolate, cooked shiitake mushrooms
✅ Vitamin A - liver, egg yolks, dairy
✅ B vitamins - meat, fish, liver, eggs
✅ Eating enough food! - you can’t have a healthy thyroid if you’re in long-term starvation mode. Eating enough food & regular meals is crucial!

Share your fave ways to get in these thyroid-boosting foods👇

Rachel Sandoval Nutrition added a button to help you learn more about them.

PSA: your thyroid isn’t the root cause of your health problems. Even though your thyroid runs the show, there’s probably something deeper going on.

Here are just a few things that could be f***ing with your thyroid (and your metabolism):
✖️Dieting and under-eating
✖️Not eating enough carbs
✖️Nutrient deficiencies (iodine, vitamin A, selenium, zinc, iron, tyrosine)
✖️High stress
✖️Excessive exercise
✖️Inflammation
✖️Autoimmune disease
✖️Hidden infections
✖️Toxins

What do all of these have in common? They send danger signals to your brain. Your thyroid, smart cookie that it is, sees the danger and slows eeeeverything down to help you survive.

The good news? You can repair your metabolism by telling your brain that you’re safe… rest, eat carbs, eat breakfast, get enough sleep, and work on your stress management. Your thyroid will love you for it.

Drop a 🙋‍♀️ below if you’ve ever given your brain those unintentional danger signals.

Your thyroid is THE control center for your metabolism. Nearly every cell in your body has thyroid hormone receptors, and a sluggish thyroid can slow eeeevvverything down.

Signs your thyroid might be sluggish:
☑️Fatigue
☑️Brain fog
☑️Unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight
☑️Constipation
☑️Feeling cold all the time, cold hands and feet
☑️Brittle nails and dry skin
☑️Slow wound healing
☑️Hair loss, especially at the edges of your eyebrows
☑️High cholesterol
☑️Depression
☑️Period problems

What’s crazy is that many of these symptoms can show up even when your labs look normal 🤯. This is because even with normal thyroid levels, your thyroid hormone might not be working well in your cells (more on this later!).

Have you ever wondered if you might have a sneaky thyroid problem? Comment below with your questions!

8 easy ways to recharge your adrenals without spending a dime:

Daytime:
☀️Bright natural light as soon as you wake up! In the summer, go outside! In the winter, use a full spectrum light box. Get more natural light when you can throughout the day.

🍳High protein breakfast (and don’t forget the fats and carbs) within 30 minutes of waking, and balanced meals throughout the day. No skipping meals! This is not the time for fasting.

🍌Make sure you’re getting enough minerals, like sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
Move your body in the morning, and take movement breaks throughout the day.

🚫No naked caffeine! Make sure you’ve got food in your belly before you start on that coffee. And stop drinking coffee by 2pm (or earlier if you think it’s keeping you up at night).

Nighttime:
📱Minimize blue/green light (e.g. screens, bright indoor lighting)

🌙Keep a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine

🚫No heavy meals right before bed, but eat a light snack if needed

Yes, supplements like adaptogens can be helpful, but they’re not the first step. First, you need to convince your brain that you’re safe, give your body plenty of fuel, regulate that sleep-wake cycle, and get plenty of rest. If those don’t work, we can dig deeper by testing your adrenals.

Which one of these is hardest for you? Let me know in the comments!

Got stress? Keep reading for signs your cortisol needs attention.

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone that gets out of whack with chronic stress. It’s also a crucial part of our sleep/wake cycle (circadian rhythm) and helps us wake up in the morning.

Long term stressors like emotional stress, poor sleep, infection, over-exercise, blood sugar issues, inflammation, and undereating can all contribute to low or high cortisol.

Signs of both low and high cortisol:
🚨Sleep issues
🚨Sick all the time
🚨Period, hormone, and fertility issues
🚨Blood sugar issues
🚨Waking at night to p*e

Signs of LOW cortisol:
🚨Fatigue
🚨Lack of focus
🚨Poor exercise performance and post work-out exhaustion
🚨Low blood pressure
🚨Emotionally fragile
🚨Craving salt or spice

Signs of HIGH cortisol:
🚨Wired but tired
🚨Anxious and can’t wind down
🚨Pain
🚨High blood pressure
🚨Sugar/carb cravings
🚨Growing waistline

Note: we are talking optimal vs. suboptimal levels here. Very low or very high cortisol are serious medical conditions. Get assessed by a pro who is familiar with functional medicine and adrenal support (like me).

Meet your adrenals: the 21st century’s most abused glands.

Your adrenals are teensy little glands that sit right on top of your kidneys. They make your stress hormones, which is why we talk about them so much (hi, 2020 + war + inflation + 21st century life).

Any time your brain senses stress, it tells your adrenals to make stress hormones like cortisol (via your pituitary gland - this is called the HPA axis). Short term, high cortisol helps us survive by increasing blood sugar and energy storage, reducing inflammation, and making us feel great so we can deal with our stressors.

Long term, high cortisol increases inflammation, body fat storage, hormone problems, gut issues, muscle breakdown, thyroid problems, poor immune function. Bleh.

Eventually, your brain says enough is enough! You develop LOW cortisol levels instead, making you feel like 💩.

But the issue isn’t your adrenals. It’s your brain. If your spidey-senses think there is stress alllll the time, your brain will send those alarm messages to your adrenals day in and day out.

More on symptoms of adrenal issues and what to do about it in upcoming posts. Comment below and let me know what you’d like to learn about your adrenals!

Oh hey there 👋. Let’s start the weekend off with an intro + a lil secret!

I’m Rachel. Functional medicine dietitian, aka nutrition supernerd, here to help you boost energy, clear brain fog, & fix gut issues.

12 yrs ago I was a hot mess - barely making it through a 4 hr shift, exhausted, anxious, headachey, tonnns of stomach pain, hanging on by a thread. Today, I’m thriving & helping you do the same.

I got all the nutrition creds + training & ate ultra healthy, but here’s the thing… I didn’t get the real, juicy results until I slowed.the.F.down.

That’s why I’m here to help you balance kick a$$ nutrition with real life. I’m alllll about taking a holistic approach that doesn’t require perfection to be successful. We don’t do diets around here. We eat real, whole foods. And ice cream and pizza.

A few fun facts about me:

- I live in the KC burbs with my husband Josh, baby boy Everest, & dog Mochi.

- The beach is my happy place 🏝️

- I’m a total introvert & adore the WFH life

- I ♥️ nerding out over nutrition & health science & spend WAY too much time researching all the deets.

Double tap if you’re done hustling for your health and ready to work smarter not harder 😘

⚡️Basic energy check-up labs⚡️ Save this list for your next doc appointment!

Specialty labs are great, but they’re rarely covered by insurance. So, anytime I can get my questions answered through regular labs at my doctor’s office, that’s the first thing to try.⁠
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If your doctor is open to it and your insurance will cover it, here are some standard labs that can be really useful in guiding a nutrition plan:⁠
✅ Vitamin D⁠
✅ B12⁠
✅ Iron and ferritin⁠
✅ Thyroid panel⁠
✅ Lipid panel⁠
✅ CBC⁠
✅ CMP⁠
✅ A1c⁠
✅ Fasting insulin⁠
✅ hs-CRP (inflammation)⁠
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Remember, just because your labs are in the “normal” range doesn’t mean they’re in the optimal range for you to feel your best. I help my clients get their nutrient lab levels exactly where we want them. We use standard labs like the ones above + even more nutrient testing and gut health checks to get you feeling amazing.
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❓ Do you have questions about labs? Drop them in the comments below!⁠
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Time to score some vitamin D, because it FINALLY stopped raining where I live, and it feels like summer!

Did you know that 35% of American adults are deficient in vitamin D? And even more than that have suboptimal levels. That’s why I like every single one of my clients to get their levels tested.

Some people can generate enough vitamin D from their skin during the summer, but some people can’t. Factors like where you live, the weather, how much time you spend outside, skin tone, genetics, and sunscreen use can all affect how much D your skin creates. Many Americans need vitamin D supplements during the winter and sometimes throughout the summer, but you won’t know unless you test!

Here’s why testing vitamin D is so important:⁠
☀️ It’s crucial for your immune system, whether it’s regulating an autoimmune disease or fighting off infections, vitamin D is v. important.⁠
☀️ It builds strong bones.⁠
☀️ It helps manage your metabolism and blood sugar.⁠
☀️ It keeps your nervous system healthy.⁠
☀️ Too little can contribute to autoimmune disease, headaches, fatigue, metabolism issues, osteoporosis, getting sick all the time, and much more.⁠
☀️ Too much is very very bad.⁠⁠
Vitamin D testing is included in my Nutrient Booster mini package, along with tests for 39 other nutrients 🤯.⁠⁠
Want quick answers about your nutrients so you can find out if low levels are making you feel like s**t? I thought so 😉. Schedule a free 30-minute Solve Your Symptoms call with me so that we can see if the Nutrient Booster mini-package is a good fit for you. Link in bio! 🎉⁠⁠
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Tired AF all the time? You might have nutrient deficiencies.⁠⁠
Truth is... there are dozens of things that could be zapping your energy, but low nutrient levels are at the top of the list. Here are a few nutrients that my clients are deficient in all👏the👏time👏. ⁠⁠
Vitamin D⁠
B12⁠
CoQ10⁠
Iron⁠
Food - yep. It’s shockingly common for women to under-eat, and low food = low fuel! Eat balanced meals with protein + carbs + fat.⁠⁠
Eating balanced meals and still tired? Let’s test those nutrients! Been under-eating or had a restricted diet for years? Also a great idea to test. Click the link in my bio to schedule a free 30-minute call ☎️, and we can chat about comprehensive nutrient testing and whether it might be a good fit for you!⁠⁠

It’s not all about probiotics… Don’t get me wrong, probiotics are super helpful. I use them with my clients all the time, but there is so much more to supporting healthy gut bugs than a little pill.

✅ Eat a variety of fiber-rich foods like nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains.
✅ Eat a rainbow of color. The colorful polyphenols in fruits and veggies give fuel to your microbiome too!
✅ Eat fermented foods, like raw sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, and kimchi.
✅ Slow down and chew your food to applesauce consistency. Your mouth is the first domino in a long chain of digestive events, so don’t rush it! Your gut will thank you.
✅ Relax before you eat, and don’t multitask. If your food isn’t alllll the way digested, the bad gut bugs get the leftovers. Stress while eating = half-assed digestion, so make calm mealtimes a priority.
✅ Move your body! Gentle movement throughout the day helps keep your bowels moving, which helps keep that microbiome healthy and fresh.

Follow for more tips on gut health, energy, and brain fog.

PSA: Being exhausted every day is not a normal part of adulting 🙅‍♀️. It may be common, but it’s not normal.

Tomorrow, you should be able to:
✅ Wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle your day (no coffee necessary)
✅ Feel energized and focused so that you can get your work done
✅ Come home (or emerge from your home office) ready to enjoy your evening
✅ Fall asleep and stay asleep

Of course, circumstances will affect our energy levels. Keep too much on your plate for too long, and eventually you’ll burn out (Hi, year of global chaos 😷).

But if you feel like your circumstances are relatively normal, and you’re still dragging yourself out of bed after 10 snoozes and longing all day for your nighttime Schitt’s Creek binge, it’s time to look deeper 🧐.

I would love to chat with you about how a functional nutrition approach can help boost your energy levels. You can schedule a free 30-minute clarity call at the link in my bio. Talk soon!

Something I’ve been learning in the past few years that is SO crucial to cultivating energy… mind and body go hand-in-hand. You can eat all the right foods and do all the right things for your body, but if your days are full of chaos, negativity, and beating yourself up, you will never feel energized.

You can cultivate that mental and emotional energy throughout each day by protecting yourself against energy zappers and adding more energy generators. Totally preaching to myself over here… mindset shifts and habit changes don’t happen overnight! It’s all about practice.

Energy zappers:
🔴 Context switching
🔴 Social media and news
🔴 Comparisonitis
🔴 Perfectionism
🔴 Tying your self-worth to your productivity
🔴 Sacrificing sleep to get more done
🔴 Powering through
🔴 Toxic relationships
🔴 Alcohol

Energy generators:
🟢 Finding joy in the little things
🟢 Laughter
🟢 Play
🟢 Gentle movement
🟢 Rest
🟢 Sleep
🟢 Work that lights you up
🟢 Things to look forward to
🟢 Listening to your body and honoring its needs

What are your favorite energy generators?

Ever wonder why your cousin ❤️’s her daily yogurt, but your coworker swears all dairy is “inflammatory”?

Anti-inflammatory eating is not one-size-fits-all. Nightshades, legumes, nuts and seeds, eggs, and fish are all examples of foods that should be really healthy for most people, but for some can trigger all kinds of symptoms. Generalized nutrition advice can be helpful and is a great place to start, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

✨ This is why I am such a strong believer in individualized nutrition and listening to your body ✨. When we come up with your personal nutrition plan, it’s based on a combination of nutrition science, functional nutrition test results, and your unique symptoms and responses to food and supplements.

Curious what your unique plan might look like? Let’s jump on a free Solve Your Symptoms clarity call!

During this free 30-minute call, we’ll:
1. Review your symptom score and brief history
2. Discuss approaches you've tried in the past
3. Identify one step you can take to start your healing journey today
4. Discover if we're a good fit to work together and how I can help you thrive

Ready to chat? Click here to schedule your call! https://p.bttr.to/3bcpfvt
Questions? Send me a DM!

No matter what the root cause of your inflammation is, your food matters.

Whole foods are FULL of nutrients that help our bodies resolve (calm) inflammation. Eating lots of colorful produce helps you make sure your body is accessing the thousands of nutritious compounds found in plant foods (vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients).

🌈 Aim to get red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white produce each week - especially green!

🥚 Omega 3 fats found in fatty fish, flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and egg yolks are also highly anti-inflammatory.

Here are a few of my favorite quick and easy anti-inflammatory foods:
✨ Canned salmon or sardines
✨ Walnuts
✨ Flax & chia seeds
✨ Berries
✨ Finger-food veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers
✨ Dark leafy greens

Level up one of your meals or snacks today with one of these anti-inflammatory foods. Share a pic in your stories and tag me in it!