# In the Media

Interviews, podcasts, and more

## Spreading the Word on Metabolic Health

I have had the privilege of sharing my approach to metabolic and hormonal health with audiences around the world — through podcasts, YouTube interviews, and press articles. Each appearance is an opportunity to bring evidence-based, pro-metabolic thinking to more people navigating thyroid disease, hormonal imbalance, and chronic fatigue.

## Podcasts & Interviews

Listen to my conversations on thyroid health, metabolism, and hormonal balance

### [What is the Ray Peat diet](https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/article/what-is-the-ray-peat-diet)

*Article* — Nov. 8, 2023

Benedicte Lerche, MSc, PhD, was interviewed by U.S. News & World Report, resulting in an article on the Ray Peat diet. Although the journalist didn't fully grasp or accurately convey all of Dr. Lerche's points, it's still an interesting read.

### [A Farewell Tribute to Dr. Ray Peat – with Kitty Martone](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tjNsv4eTgOEeeHHEDCMDa)

*Podcast* — December 2022

In a bittersweet tribute to Dr. Ray Peat, Dr. Lerche talks to Kitty Martone about the profound importance of balancing thyroid function and how to heal from metabolic and hormonal imbalances using the techniques she learned from Dr. Ray Peat.

Article: https://biochemnordic.com/blog/thyroid-first-why-your-hormones-start-with-your-thyroid

**Summary:** Dr. Benedicte Lerche talks with Kitty Martone about how mold exposure and repeated infections at 19–20 triggered her low thyroid function, how a phone call to Dr. Ray Peat started years of correspondence, and why thyroid function sits at the top of women's hormonal balance.

**Key points:**
- Thyroid first: thyroid function is so high in the body's control systems that it should be checked before working on other hormonal imbalances.
- T4 vs T3: T4 (levothyroxine, Synthroid) is a storage hormone the liver must convert to active T3. Many women, and anyone with a weak liver, convert it poorly.
- How to take T3: split it into small doses taken with meals through the day, never the whole dose on an empty stomach.
- Diet: replace liquid cooking oils with butter, coconut oil and other saturated fats. Eat fruit, juice (pulp-free) and plenty of milk, which is a near-complete meal.
- Light, vitamin A and vitamin D: orange–red light (600–700 nm), vitamin A from liver, eggs and milk rather than carotene, and enough vitamin D3 and calcium all support hormone production.
- Coffee: take it with milk and sugar or with a meal, not black on an empty stomach.

**Questions this interview answers:**
- **Why doesn't T4 medication work for everyone?** It must be converted to T3 in the liver. Women with estrogen excess, older people and anyone who has been ill for a long time often convert it poorly.
- **Can you improve thyroid function without medication?** To a degree, yes: remove polyunsaturated oils, get enough light, and eat a diet built on fruit, milk and protein.
- **Why can yellow palms be a sign of low thyroid?** People with low thyroid function can't convert carotene to vitamin A, so it builds up in the skin.

### [Understanding Thyroid Health](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dry9tOGZSjQ)

*Podcast* — August 2015

In this interview, Dr. Lerche explains how she overcame hypothyroidism using Dr. Ray Peat’s treatment principles. She describes his thyroid-supportive diet, essential hormonal support compounds, and the role of thyroid replacement therapy.

Article: https://biochemnordic.com/blog/how-i-overcame-low-thyroid-function-with-ray-peats-help

**Summary:** On the Kick It Naturally podcast, Dr. Benedicte Lerche tells how low thyroid function stopped her university studies at 19, and how her correspondence with Dr. Ray Peat helped her recover. She then answers listener questions on testing thyroid function, thyroid medication, iodine, estrogen, diet and sugar.

**Key points:**
- Testing: blood tests (total T4, total T3, TSH) help, but their normal ranges are broad. Resting pulse (around 80–85 beats per minute) and oral temperature (around 98.6°F / 37°C) after breakfast give a useful extra picture, together with symptoms.
- Stress hormones can hide low thyroid: a high pulse that drops sharply after eating points to high adrenaline compensating for low thyroid function.
- Estrogen and thyroid: estrogen inhibits thyroid function, which is why some women feel better during pregnancy, when progesterone is high.
- Medication: pure T4 medication often works poorly, especially for women. Ray Peat came to recommend synthetic T4 and T3, usually in a 4:1 ratio, adjusted individually.
- Diet: replace unsaturated oils with saturated fats such as coconut oil and butter, eat enough protein, get iodine and trace minerals from shellfish rather than supplements, and prefer fruit sugars to large amounts of starch.

**Questions this interview answers:**
- **How do you know if your thyroid is working well?** Combine blood tests with resting pulse, oral temperature after breakfast, and a list of symptoms such as fatigue, cold hands and feet, and blood sugar problems.
- **Is it safe to take thyroid hormone?** While you take it, your own gland rests. If you later reduce the dose slowly, the gland resumes its own production.
- **Should you take extra iodine for your thyroid?** Too much iodine can suppress the thyroid. Eating shellfish about once a week provides iodine and other trace minerals.

### [Hormonal Balance for Women](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWBuUs6XNho&t=1837s)

*Podcast* — September 2021

Dr. Benedicte Lerche joins Jayton Miller for an interview to discuss the Ray Peat diet, effective supplements for thyroid and hormonal health, ways to combat inflammation and address estrogen dominance, and other key health strategies.

**Summary:** Dr. Benedicte Lerche explains how she went from low thyroid function to a master's in biochemistry and a PhD, and what she focuses on with coaching clients: nutrition first, then thyroid function, digestion and key supplements.

**Key points:**
- Normal blood tests can miss low thyroid: look at pulse, temperature and symptoms such as cold hands and feet, fatigue, headaches, digestive and blood sugar problems.
- Low thyroid can cause weight loss too, because digestion slows and food is poorly absorbed.
- Not responding to thyroid hormone can come from years of polyunsaturated fats, too little protein, or low sodium, calcium and magnesium.
- The diet: saturated fats instead of liquid oils, plenty of protein from milk, eggs, meat and shellfish, gelatin as part of the protein, and fibre from raw carrots and bamboo shoots rather than salads and whole grains.
- Supplements she mentions: vitamin D, calcium (including eggshell powder), aspirin, and vitamin B6 for high prolactin.

**Questions this interview answers:**
- **What should you change first for your metabolism?** Your diet, especially removing polyunsaturated oils and getting enough protein.
- **Is non-organic milk OK?** Yes. Milk is a clean product even when it isn't organic.
- **Do you need a magnesium supplement?** Usually not, if you eat fruit, orange juice, well-cooked greens and enough salt and calcium.

Source: https://biochemnordic.com/media