Has anyone read Dr. Fuhrman's books? I'm so confused!

[Sunshine_67]

My doc recommended I read Dr. Fuhrman's book Super Immunity and I'm more confused than ever now. Dr. Fuhrman says that soy is ok as long as it's not a powder, and to eat a lot of raw cruciferous vegetables. Ok, both I've read are bad if you have thyroid issues, but he disagrees. So how do you know who is right?

[FurballsMom]

The thing he said about soy is still incorrect.  It really has nothing to do with thyroid conditions either, because the information Dr. Mercola talks about applies to everyone equally.  Avoid soy like the plague.  Run away from it.  Those soy meat substitutes that vegetarians love?  Run far away from them.  The majority of soy products on the market are GMO, making an already bad for you product even worse.  The studies that were used in the early days to promote soy as "healthy" are slanted.  Soy products that are not traditionally fermented and organic soy product are not good for you or anyone else.  This means tofu, too.  I never disliked tofu, so I'm not being prejudiced about it.  Dr. Mercola explains that soy sauce isn't what it's supposed to be either.  It isn't aged in barrels like the traditional stuff was or for anywhere near long enough.  And, now, of course, wheat is added to the cheap stuff.  I used to wonder why that stuff tasted off to me.  Besides being entirely too salty.  Now, I know why.  He explains that there is only ONE soy product that hasn't been messed with that is still a traditionally fermented food that even he eats.  It is a Japanese food called natto or nattokinese.  One of the ladies who works in the Asian foods section of a local store, who is clearly much younger than me, knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned natto to her.  Most westerners don't really like this sort of food, but to her it's a comfort food and she loves it.  Dr. Mercola explains that natto provides an important vitamin that most of us don't get, K2.  This is not the same vitamin K found in our produce naturally.  The vitamin K we get in our green produce is vitamin K1.  It is important, but so is vitamin K2.  Other fermented foods have this vitamin in them naturally, but it's tricky for some of us to get this because they are generally the foods that trigger migraines in people with migraine disorder.

I personally wouldn't eat cruciferous raw.  The reason concerning thyroid has been explained, but for anyone with digestive issues, raw cruciferous bothers the digestive tract.  What you can do with something like broccoli is to gently steam it just enough so that it is still pretty firm and even still crunchy.  It's not quite raw, but it's also not mushy.  If I'm making a steam/fry vegetable dish with or without meat, I add broccoli near the end, so it isn't mushy.

[goolarra]

You don't...you have to read, read, read.  So much of it is not who is right and who is wrong.  It's a matter of opinion.  I always say one hypo's heaven is another's he//.  

Raw cruciferous veggies contain goitrogens that can cause thyroid inflammation and discomfort.  I, personally, have never had a problem with them.  These veggies are really good for you and low calorie, so maybe we all have to experiment to see how they affect us.  If they don't cause discomfort, perhaps they don't need to be avoided.