Episode 168 | Feb 19, 2026

A New Functional Framework for Thyroid Care, With Ginny Mahar

Why do so many people with thyroid conditions continue to struggle even when their lab results are “normal”? This week on Health Coach Talk, Dr. Sandi sits down with Le Cordon Bleu–trained chef, FMCA graduate, and functional medicine health coach Ginny Mahar to explore a new functional framework for thyroid care rooted in personalization, anti-inflammatory nutrition, and sustainable lifestyle change. Drawing from her own experience with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s, Ginny explains how moving beyond lab-based management toward a structured, whole-person approach can help individuals reclaim their energy, clarity, and long-term vitality.

“With thyroid, even with food, there’s no one size fits all. It’s personalized. There’s this process that we have to go through to understand what foods does my body thrive on, what lifestyle choices does my body thrive on. And once we understand that, those healthy choices get a lot easier to make.”

Ginny Mahar, FMCHC

After years of feeling dismissed, exhausted, and unlike herself, Ginny discovered that anti-inflammatory nutrition and lifestyle strategies were the missing pieces in her care. That turning point inspired her to create the Thyroid 30 system, built around Eight Daily Rituals that include medication consistency, nutrient-dense whole foods, movement, gut support, stress resilience, toxin reduction, community connection, and restorative sleep. In this episode, she shares how her cookbook translates those principles into colorful, satisfying meals that are family-friendly and rooted in real ingredients. Her approach reframes thyroid support as a sustainable way of life rather than a restrictive diet, and as one that restores both health and joy in the kitchen.

For health coaches, Ginny’s framework offers a powerful example of how functional medicine principles can be translated into clear, repeatable daily practices that build awareness and personalization over time. Her emphasis on community, celebration of small wins, and flavor-forward whole foods mirrors what coaches see in practice: sustainable change happens when clients feel empowered, supported, and nourished rather than deprived. The conversation speaks to the heart of health coaching: helping clients create a way of living that truly supports them and that they can love long term.

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Transcript

Dr. Sandi: How many of you, like me, love opening a new cookbook? I am a cookbook collector, and I have such a big array of cookbooks over the years that I have gathered. And this one that we’re going to talk about today has special meaning. Why? Because it is for people with thyroid issues, but not just thyroid. You can use this for overall health and wellness. But I’ve had thyroid issues, hypothyroidism, for many years since my 30s. And this book is written by a graduate of FMCA. So, it’s a true labor of love for her. And she is on a mission to help people who are needlessly suffering. So, we get into her journey today. We talk about her background as a trained chef. We talk about the process of writing a cookbook, and share some of the ideas that she has for making food not just healthy, but also beautiful, beautifully prepared, and delicious.

So, here is some information about my guest today, Ginny Mahar. She is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef, a functional medicine certified health coach, and the creator of the Hypothyroid Chef, which is a popular online hub for thyroid-friendly recipes and lifestyle support. She was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2011, and later Hashimoto’s. She turned her personal health challenges into a mission to empower others with the tools, recipes, and strategies that help her to restore her own health. She’s had more than two decades of experience as a chef, as a food writer, and a cooking instructor. So, she brings a flavor-first approach to healing that has resonated with thousands of her Thyroid Thrivers community worldwide.

In addition to her functional medicine coach training, she is also a certified culinary medicine chef through the Harvard Chef Coaching Program. And she has a cookbook that we’re going to talk about today, which is “The THYROID30 Cookbook.” So, I know you will enjoy my interview with Ginny.

Welcome to “Health Coach Talk,” Ginny.

Ginny: Thanks, Dr. Sandi. I’m so happy to be here.

Dr. Sandi: You have an amazing journey, which you describe it in this book because you are a professionally trained chef at Le Cordon Bleu. And tell us about how…because you have been dealing with hypothyroidism and have built up a community of people who have similar issues and then decided to write this cookbook. And so, you know, our audience is really anxious to hear all about how that came about.

Ginny: My thyroid story isn’t super unique because, as you probably know, this community can go through frustration and being unguided, underserved in their treatment, not getting much guidance on things like food and lifestyle, and often just told, well, your TSH is normal and you’re on…you’re properly medicated. So, anything else is all in your head. And for me, and like so many others, that meant that my first four years after I was diagnosed, I was really just not doing well. I was sick and tired all the time. I had debilitating brain fog. I couldn’t fight any virus. I knew something was off, and it was…I just felt like not myself, like my light was going out. I always say it was like somebody had flipped the light switch off inside me. And I would wait for these appointments and say, I just don’t feel like myself. What can we do? What else can I do? And would just be told the standard of, well, your TSH is normal, and you’re on your thyroid medication. So, you know, it’s just…you’re just getting older. We’d get a lot of different answers in that sort of realm of, well, you just get dismissed.

And I eventually, after four years of that, just slowly watching my health and my life really fall apart. I hit rock bottom with that and went looking for better answers, better medical care. I found a holistic practitioner, and found out I didn’t just have hypothyroidism, like most people with hypothyroidism in the U.S. I actually have Hashimoto’s, which is an autoimmune disease. And one of the things she started counseling me on, in addition to looking at root cause factors and optimizing my medication, all the things that a holistic or functional doctor will go through with a patient, was also food and lifestyle, and especially anti-inflammatory food and lifestyle. And so, that was a real turning point for me. And within just a few months, I had my energy back. I had my life back. That light switch inside me got flicked back on, and it was life changing. And so, I was really called to share this with people.

And while my story isn’t unique, what is unique about what I bring to the table is my background in food. I’ve been cooking since I was tall enough to reach the stove. I’ve been cooking professionally since I was 18. So, it’s my primary creative outlet, my passion. It’s what I love. And I have a lot of background and skill in that. And I thought, I’m already on this journey. I love to write, too. So, why don’t I start sharing this? And I can share some of the recipes that I’m creating in this anti-inflammatory realm and what I’m learning about thyroid-friendly eating. And maybe I have something to offer here as a chef because I know I was looking for those resources, like thyroid-friendly recipes and more guidance on, like, supportive lifestyle changes and things like that. And I wasn’t finding them. So, I thought, well, I guess I’ll do this.

And that’s why I started Hypothyroid Chef back in 2015. It really started as a lot of developing and sharing recipes, and then eventually turned into the creation of THYROID30, which is, like, the system that I use to help other Thyroid Thrivers find that sustainable path to feeling their best. And then eventually became a functional medicine health coach, which just enabled me to serve this community in just such a more broad and a more full way. So, I’m just…really, the journey has been a long one and a full one. And I love what I do. I love serving this community, and it allows me to take all those different hats that I wear as a thyroid patient myself, as a busy working mom with Hashimoto’s, who knows this needs to be doable, and also as a health coach who wants to really help people get empowered, get the skills that they need, get educated, get their tools and resources they need to make this doable, easy, and fun. So, I get to wear all those hats, and bring a lot of different skills to the table. So, I really enjoy that.

Dr. Sandi: What a powerful and inspiring story. And you said something before we started the podcast about your experience at FMCA, which I was thrilled to hear that this was just so life-changing for you.

Ginny: Yes. Oh, my gosh. And Dr. Sandi, thank you for what you’ve done in this realm to create this program and this opportunity for people like me. One of the things that I loved so much about going through my FMCA training…I’m alumni from 2022. But I had… I created THYROID30 in 2017 as this whole food, whole health system to help people based on what I call the eight daily rituals of thyroid healthy living. And of course, creating these anti-inflammatory, colorful, nutrient-dense recipes. Right?

And so, when I went through the FMCA program, it was so just fascinating for me as someone who loves to learn a lot more of the science behind these things, why there’s so much evidence behind them, what that evidence is. And also, it was so validating of, like, this thing that I created, and the thing that helped me get my life back, and the thing that I’ve been helping others with, coaching them on. It’s really based on the principles of functional nutrition, functional food and lifestyle. And it was so validating to go through that functional medicine coaching training and learn that, and just feel like this is it.

And it isn’t just thyroid-friendly. This is also about how we prevent and manage chronic illness. And that’s so many people in the thyroid community. We are living, many or most of us, with a chronic illness, in many cases, an autoimmune illness. And we need support and tools. We need to find our pathway to implementing a lot of those functional principles on a consistent basis, and on a…in a sustainable way, in a way that we love and enjoy, so that it just becomes our new normal. It’s not like, this is a diet you do for 30 days. It’s like, I need a way of life that supports me, that I love, that loves me back.

Dr. Sandi: Absolutely. Your book is called “The THYROID30 Cookbook.” But it is…as you point out, it is not just for people who have thyroid issues. And often the thyroid issues are, as we learn in functional medicine, based on systems biology, that everything is interconnected. And every system talks to every other system in the body and communicates. And so, when you, for example, address inflammation, that’s often the cause, and do that through diet and lifestyle change. And you talked about those eight Rs, the eight rituals, and you outlined them in the book. Can you share a little bit about that?

Ginny: Yes, absolutely. So, the eight daily rituals, it’s my whole health system for helping thyroid patients and other people like me apply these things in that consistent way. So, it’s really…with thyroid, even with food, right, there’s no one size fits all. It’s personalized. And so, there’s also this process that we have to go through to get to that point where we really understand what foods does my body thrive on? What lifestyle choices does my body thrive on? And once we understand that, those healthy choices get a lot easier to make.

So, what the eight daily rituals do is it gives people, like, guideposts. It gives them a framework to go through that process of building self-awareness, building an understanding about what do I thrive on, and what’s the opposite of that so that I can make those choices in a way that’s personalized to me? Should I do a quick walkthrough of the eight Rs?

Dr. Sandi: I’m sure that would…everybody in the audience would love to hear those…what those Rs are.

Ginny: Okay. So, first is remember. So, this is just basic. Remembering to take your daily medications and supplements. For a lot of people, it might be a gimme, a no-brainer. For other people, it really is…can be a hurdle. And thyroid medication in particular has to be taken a certain way, separate from food, usually 30 to 60 minutes before food, away from certain supplements. Different people take it differently, but we have to be consistent with our medication and any targeted supplements we may be on.

Two of the eight Rs is refuel. So, this is about food, the food and drink that your body thrives on, and trying to make those choices. So, there’s 10 points per day of…there’s 8 Rs, but there’s 10 points per day with THYROID30. So, the refuel is the most heavily weighted. That’s three points. You have some flexibility in terms of I don’t have to be perfect every day. But am I generally staying on track with what I know my body needs?

Three is reactivate. So, this is about moving your body regularly. Very important for anyone, especially for Thyroid Thrivers. Four is repair. So, this is about doing one small thing daily to nurture and nourish your gut health. A lot of us are dealing with gut health issues. And as thyroid patients, we’re really significantly more prone to gut health issues, gut flora imbalances, things like SIBO, things like intestinal permeability. So, really thinking about our gut health on a daily basis is built into that repair ritual.

Number five is rejuvenate. So, this is about daily self-care and stress management. And it’s, like, 10 minutes a day. It doesn’t have to be complicated. There is a rule around that. It’s just does this effectively help you cope with and manage stress? And is it something that you’ll do on a regular basis? So, it gives us an opportunity to find those things that we love that keep us balanced and keep our cup full, so to speak.

Then reduce is about avoiding exposure to environmental toxins. These can have a real impact on the thyroid. It’s not a detox in any way. It’s really just about learning about and thinking about maybe foods that support our body’s built-in detox pathways, things like incorporating a lot more colorful plant foods, things like beets or artichokes, lots of different foods, blueberries that can just help support, help our bodies cope with the environmental toxins we’re exposed to, and also just learning about what are those environmental toxins? What can I do to avoid those? What’s some low-hanging fruit, like maybe filtering our water or thinking about what kind of cookware we’re using? So, that’s the reduce ritual.

Number seven is relish. This is one of my personal favorites. It’s about relishing the journey, celebrating your wins, and connecting with your support system. So, really bringing that positive psychology piece into it that we learn so much about in the FMCA program. That support piece is…I find such a missing puzzle piece for people. And I hear it all the time from my community. I have a private community called the Thrivers Club. And all the time, people say, I had no idea how meaningful it is to be in support in a community with other people who understand what I’m going through, and who have this shared mission to feel our best. It’s incredibly inspiring to be in that group setting, and then also just celebrating our wins so we can help rewire the brain for those healthy choices.

And finally, last but not least, is recharge. This is the eighth of the eight Rs, and this is all about prioritizing sleep and sleep hygiene, which again, unfortunately, we’re more prone to sleep issues as thyroid patients. And it’s also so foundational to how we feel, and it helps support all those other daily rituals when we get good sleep, when we know what to do to get good sleep, when we prioritize our sleep hygiene, practice things like having a regular bedtime, and understanding our circadian rhythm, and all the good stuff around there that can really empower us and be foundational, too.

So, it’s really about food and lifestyle. And that, I think, surprises people. They’re like, oh, THYROID30. That’s a diet, right? And it really is. It’s that whole health, whole food system is what it is. And it’s repeatable, and we do it, like, almost every month in my community. We do THYROID30, just not…it’s not, like, about perfection or getting perfect points. It’s really just about having that little extra dash of accountability, of support, of inspiration. And especially, it’s about building awareness around what areas am I really strong in, what areas maybe need a little bit more attention and intention. And we just build brick by brick what I call our house of wellness using those eight Rs, getting to that point. And it takes time. Right? But getting to that point where we go, this is how I live now. I know that there is a path to thrive, and I am on it. And it’s in a way that fits me, my life, my circumstances, and what really fuels my body.

Dr. Sandi: So well said. And those eight Rs, what a recipe for wellness. You’ve really covered all bases there. And I’ve got to say, talking about the cookbook, I am a cookbook collector. If you were to come into my house, I have, like, just so many cookbooks for many years. And I just love to read cookbooks, beautifully illustrated, and this one is beautifully illustrated. And I just have to say…and I just got this. So, haven’t had to try any of the recipes.

But you have really done a masterful job of taking your previous skills and knowledge as a chef, and putting them into creating these recipes. So, I’m curious what that was like, the process of creating because you’ve got the whole gamut. You’ve got snacks, you’ve got desserts, the strawberry bonbons. I can’t wait to try those the next time I have company. That sounds so good. Breakfast and you’ve got bowls, you’ve got… But they’re also not bland. You’ve got good array of spices that you incorporate. So, they’re really great company. These are recipes that you can use both on a daily basis as well as for special occasions.

Ginny: That was very intentional for me. And thank you so much for your kind words. I very much share your passion for cookbooks. Would just happily sit down and read through a cookbook. And so, yeah, this does… As you mentioned, it offers a lot of information about the system. What is thyroid-friendly eating? What does that mean? What are the pillars and principles? Why does gut health matter, and all those…helping people put those puzzle pieces together so they have more understanding of the whys behind it, and the what, but then there’s the how. Right? And so, the THYROID30 system, but also the recipes are a big piece of that. How do we do this?

And as a mom, I’m feeding a teenager right now. My husband is not gluten and dairy free. We have various food allergies in our household and things that we’re working around. So, I understand the need for this to be not just doable, but family-friendly. People don’t want to be making two meals. They want food that they would be happy and proud to serve to anyone. And just as a chef and a food lover, I want this to taste amazing. I want healthy food that is celebratory, that’s colorful, that’s a feast for the eyes and the senses, and that makes us feel good. And I don’t believe that those two things have to be mutually exclusive.

So, that’s really, I think, what I…a big part of the value that I can offer to people here with those recipes because we don’t want to feel like this is something that’s just about restriction. We want it to be about life and feeling alive, restoring that zest, finding the foods, and the meals, and the recipes we love that love us back. So, I hope that I’ve been successful in providing that for people, and they had to go through the kid test, the family test. I have good recipe testers and honest. Get a lot of honest feedback at my house.

And I’ve been doing this as Hypothyroid Chefs since 2015. So, it’s taken some practice to…also there’s…in this community, practitioners often might prescribe or recommend a certain therapeutic protocol like the autoimmune protocol or paleo. A lot of us find we feel better without foods like gluten or dairy. So, the recipes also have to cater to those therapeutic dietary templates that so many people in this community use. So, I tried to do that. There’s meal plans for each of those dietary templates, and also information on, like, this is a starting point to help you get to that personalized way of eating.

Dr. Sandi: And you can use these recipes so that you don’t feel deprived. And you mentioned that in the book, as you described your personal journey, and how initially when you were avoiding gluten and dairy, and you would go to these restaurants, pizza, and they’re ordering for your favorite pizzas. And it’s hard not to feel deprived, not to feel like you’re losing out. You look at a menu and…I mean, I do this all the time. I go, there’s nothing I can eat. And how do you deal with that? But you dealt with it proactively by creating a way that people could feel nourished because it’s eating, and food is more than just food is medicine, which absolutely is. But it’s also food is joy, food as eating and community, and the pleasure you get from eating. That’s why I think it’s so critical to have books like this and to be able to share your story to show that it is possible.

Ginny: Well, there’s a grief process, too, when we have very real dietary restrictions. And I get that. I think I can offer a lot of empathy to people around that, as someone who loves food. This didn’t just change the way I eat. It changed my whole livelihood. At the time when I was figuring this out, I was working as a cooking instructor, and I kept having to turn down classes, saying, I haven’t connected the dots yet, but I am not feeling well. And I know that food has something to do with it. And I can’t do these, like, classical French cooking classes anymore. I tell that story at the beginning of the book of how hard it was for me at first. It was like, okay, somebody just turned the light switch back on in your body. And as a chef, as someone whose passion and livelihood centers around food, we’ve just wiped away a bunch of the colors on your artist palette. And now, you have more limitations to work inside.

So, there is a real grief process around that. And well, of course, a lot of the elimination diets and things are…I think it’s important to mention that they’re really meant to be stepping stones to healing. We do want to eventually try to get to a point where we can reintroduce and not be on a super limited diet. But also, it’s also very real and a reality for many of us that we find maybe gluten is just not my friend. How many times do I have to learn, like, I can’t overdo it on dairy or eggs? Like, these are real things that I know I have to work around. So, it takes time and tenderness to go through that. But I knew I had to find a way back to that joyful place with food, the place where, as a chef, I could feel creative again. And I found that. And so, I’m happy to be able to share that with people.

Dr. Sandi: Well, I’m so glad you did because this cookbook is wonderful. It’s whole foods. So, it’s often when there’s a restrictive diet, I have cookbooks where something was taken away, like gluten. But then it was a gluten-free cookbook, but 90% of the recipes were for something else, a substitute for gluten, different type of flour, for example, that was no better, in fact, could have even been worse in terms of blood sugar reaction. And so, you’re not doing any favors by finding that substitute. But so many of the diet cookbooks or health food cookbooks, and again, as a cookbook collector, I’ve got all of them. What they’re substituting is not really good for you. So, your book is really whole foods and real ingredients.

Ginny: And we just have more and more evidence around that, don’t we, with just the ramifications of a diet that’s very high in ultra-processed foods and what the ultra-processed food industry, the toll that it’s taken on our health. People say, well, I want these thyroid-friendly recipes, but what about the rest of my family? And I can very confidently say, this is for anyone who wants to learn how to and embrace whole food cooking. The building blocks of these meals are lots of colorful produce, which comes with so many nutrients, phytonutrients, antioxidants, so many anti-inflammatory and health-promoting properties, adequate high-quality protein, and healthy fats. Those are really the three primary building blocks of the meals. So, this is just how people can get health on that cellular level, too. It comes back to a lot of those functional nutrition principles.

Dr. Sandi: Absolutely. It has been absolutely a delight to have you on the podcast. I’m so excited for the cookbook. First of all, tell us where people can find you and then where they can find the cookbook.

Ginny: Thank you so much. Yeah. So, I’m at hypothyroidchef.com. That’s my website. You can learn more about the cookbook there. I have a podcast, my community, lots of various resources that I can offer to people. And I’m on socials @hypothyroidchef. So, just all one word, no dots or dashes.

Dr. Sandi: Well, be sure to follow her, and be sure to pick up the cookbook. It is really great. I cannot wait to try these recipes, to post on social media about them. And next time I have company, for sure, I am going to have these recipes for my guests. So, thank you so much. Best of luck to you. Really love what you have done. Just so many of our FMCA graduates have gone on to have a strong mission and purpose to really create a healthier, happier population. So, thank you so much for being with us today.

Ginny: Thanks so much for having me, Dr. Sandi. It’s been an absolute pleasure. And enjoy the recipe.