43. What 10 Years of Keto Did to My Thyroid, Gut & Metabolism with Dr. Rachel Brown

About this episode

Dr. Rachel Brown shares her experience with long-term ketogenic eating and its effects on her thyroid, gut, and metabolism.

Low-carb, ketogenic, and carnivore diets have helped a lot of people — myself included — at different stages of their health journey. But what happens when a strategy meant to heal is followed too long without reassessment? In this episode of Healthy AF, I sit down with Dr. Rachel Brown, a psychiatrist and functional medicine practitioner who shares her deeply personal experience after 10 years of ketogenic eating — six of those strictly carnivore. Dr. Brown opens up about the symptoms she believes were connected to long-term carbohydrate restriction, with gut dysbiosis and thyroid dysfunction becoming the most prominent issues. Coming from both a psychiatric and functional medicine background, she brings a rare perspective — one that bridges mental health, metabolism, and digestive health. We explore how restrictive diets can alter the gut microbiome over time, why a lack of fermentable carbohydrates may compromise microbial diversity, and how chronic stress physiology can quietly impact thyroid signaling. Dr. Brown also explains how symptoms can be missed or rationalized in high-discipline health communities, where feeling unwell is often reframed as "adaptation." This is not…

People in this episode

Host: Zane Griggs

Guest: Dr. Rachel Brown

Topics covered

• keto diet
• thyroid health
• gut health
• metabolism
• restrictive diets
• mental health

Keywords

• keto
• carnivore diet
• gut dysbiosis
• thyroid dysfunction
• metabolic flexibility
• self-assessment
• health journey

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