A bit over six weeks ago I had a vet out to check him over and draw blood for a thyroid check. A new vet, fairly fresh out of vet school. Smart, and eager. Skeeter seemed “off”, not right. I couldn’t put my finger on it. But I wondered if his thyroid was acting up. Maybe he needed more medication. I had earlier been told that these things happen as we get older. And Skeeter is now approaching 29. His thyroid was last checked in February and I was told by someone in the vet’s office that he was at the high end of normal so I should keep doing what I was doing. His number was 3.9. I remember asking what the “normal” range was and was told someone would get back to me. I never heard back and Skeeter seemed like he was doing fine so I forgot about it.
When Dr. Drew arrived I told him Skeeter’s February number and he said that was high. “Really,” says I. “I was told it’s the high end of normal.”
“No that’s definitely high,” he said confidently. “The normal range is from 1.0 to 2.5.”
“Oh wow.”
He called a couple of hours later and said it was now up to 5.8. And he should come off the medication immediately. “We’ll wait six weeks and check him again.”
I was befuddled. If five years ago the thyroid was not working properly, was too low, then how the devil did it start working again? I could almost hear the Doc shake his head over the phone line. He was befuddled too. The best he could come up with was that as we age things change. Sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.
But Dr. Drew didn’t know about the supplement change. I did, but for some really bizarre reason it didn’t bubble up until Kathleen mentioned it that evening. “Could it be the California Trace?”
Whap!! Like a slap in the face with a wet rag. Of course!! How could I have not seen it?
“What a dummy!” I screeched!
“I hope you’re referring to yourself.”
“Indeed.”
For several months now we’ve been on a program founded on 40 years of research by Dr. Joel Wallach, first as a vet then as a physician, which was originally motivated by this statement from two-time Nobel Prize winning scientist Linus Pauling: “Every illness, every ailment, every disease can be traced to a mineral deficiency.”
After four months on this program both my extremely arthritic and painful knees were pain free, my two shoulder rotator cuff tears were pain free, and I felt better than I have in years. But I hadn’t made the connection.
The new supplement the horses were on, California Trace, was recommended by Pete Ramey because our soil, (in fact most soil in this country) is woefully low in the minerals: zinc, copper, and selenium. And California Trace is very high in all three.
Kathleen whipped out her iPhone and Googled “minerals and thyroid”. She read me what came up. The three most important minerals to the thyroid are selenium, copper, and zinc.
“Oh wow.” I said. “Skeeter’s had five years of daily pharmaceuticals he didn’t need to have for what appears to be a simple mineral deficiency.” If this is true, it’s very validating because Dr. Wallach’s mantra is: Give your body the minerals and nutrients it is genetically designed to have and it can do amazing things.
A few days ago Dr. Drew was out again to draw Skeeter’s blood for the thyroid re-check. Remember, the good range, the “normal” range is 1.0 to 2.5.
Skeeter’s 28-year old thyroid was at: 1.9.
With no medication. Just a mineral supplement.
I plan to keep a good eye on this whenever anything new comes up. I suspect there are a lot of problems in the horse (and human) world that originate in this concept of mineral deficiency. But doctors and vets all too often are not trained in preventive nutrition and leap immediately to pharmaceuticals.
WoooHooo! Way to go Skeeter boy!!
Joe
If you’d like to know more about California Trace, here’s the website: http://www.californiatrace.com/
If you’d like to know more about the program Kathleen and I are on, here’s the link: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/on-changing-the-world/
Everybody on the planet needs these 90 minerals and nutrients every day. We’re genetically programmed to get them. But we don’t get any of them anymore because of modern agricultural and food processing techniques. They have to be supplemented every day. Give your body what it needs and it will do amazing things. It can heal itself. Like Skeeeter’s did. I’d love to talk to you about it. Just listen to this short talk by Dr. Joel Wallach, founder of Youngevity – 90 For Life, then drop me a note and I’ll give you a call. Dr. Wallach’s talk on the 90 minerals and nutrients.