What is a Natural Diet for Hashimoto's Disease

I am trying to find a good every day diet for me. I know gluten and soy are bad- they slow the thyroid. I am not taking meds. I have been to an auto.MD. she has me coming every 6 months to just test my TSH's. My vitamin D is good.  Some webs say beans are good other web beans are no good. Most people who have low thyroid also have high cholesterol too. Other webs say do not eat anything vegetable that has seeds like cucumbers and tomatoes etc. Paleolithic diet is suggested. It is very confusing to say the least. I would like to hear from others and there natural alternatives for this disease that helps them. I asked my thyroid doctor she said do not eat soy products or flex products.
Email is  ***@****  USA.NY   Jane

[Cherrypink]

Natural way is regular exercise and eat plenty kelp and greens .sweat it out helps slot .severe cases hormone replacement is the best but get a doctor to certify and permit you the correct hormone replacement .the other thing is do not get stress pile up just take it easy

[LazyMoose]

There really is no specific 'diet' for someone with Hashimoto. Proper food alone will not replace low thyroid hormones. Testing TSH is not enough. You need free T4 and Free T3 tested. Some avoid Soy, some avoid sea food as they are sensitive to the iodine in it. And some do not tolerate gluten or lactose very well. Exercise is obviously important, but do not over do it if your Free T3 ,T4 are low as it delays muscle recovery.

[Red_Star]

Try to limit or avoid thyroid inhibiting foods known as goitrogens.

Examples of goitrogens:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Mustard greens
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Soy based foods
• Peanuts

I personally ate far too many peanuts (4 days binge of chocolate peanuts) lol and i felt so bad! I had no idea why until i read peanuts are a goitrogen!

Also, my TPO antibodies have lowered eating around 4 brazil nuts daily (full of selenium). I noticed my hair isn't falling out as much since lowering my antibodies.  There are a number of clinical trials published in medical journals that show 200mcg daily of selenium daily lowers TPO antibodies.

Drink spring or filtered water only. Fluoride and chlorine block the absorption of iodine and therefore decrease thyroid hormone production.

For some people, iodine or iodine containing products worsens autoimmune thyroid problems (Hashimoto's and Graves' disease) and causes enlargement of the thyroid (goiter). Iodine is essential for a healthy thyroid but moderation is key.

[goolarra]

Goitrogens are only an issue if raw.  Cooking kills them.  So, enjoy your broccoli - it's good for you!

[danie17075rm]

I have a question about goitrogens.  Once you have your thyroid removed, is this still a problem?  I've been eating radishes so I wonder if its doing anything.

[sissaphus]

I was also eating Brazil nuts for the selenium.  I think that if you are going to supplement then it's better to do so with foods whenever possible or from sunshine in the case of vitamin D.

Here are my lab results from that time. The excess selenium didn't seem to have helped me (personally).

March 24, 2010

Test Name                         Flag          Result         Normal

TSH                                                    1.14            0.40-4.00
Thyroid Perox (TPO) AB   H               >1000         Less than 35
Free T3                                               228             210-440
T3 Total (RIA)                                     102             76-181
Anti-thyroglobulin AB         H              111              less than 20

Selenium                           H               251             63-160

[Barb135]

Selenium can be toxic if levels get too high; maybe that's why you didn't notice a difference.  I think it only helps if you are deficient.  I supplement with selenium, also, and it hasn't lowered my antibody count either; however, studies have shown that it can help with the conversion of FT4 to FT3 and I notice when I'm taking it consistently, my FT3 is usually higher.

[sissaphus]

My (former) doctor told me the same thing about selenium being toxic. He also told me to stop whatever I was doing to increase my selenium - in my case eating less than four Brazil Nuts a day as Red_Star advised above.

[LazyMoose]

I have found eliminating goitrogens did nothing. I think you might possibly have to eat these veggies by the bushel load to have any negative effect on the thyroid.

Selenium is extremely hard to reach toxic levels. Virtually impossible from supplementation. You would have to digest half a cup a day of the organic element itself for it to even show up beyond normal levels.  I've worked in an industry that uses this stuff, people got tested for it and were never above average levels. The body seems to rid excess.

It really comes down to eating healthy, which for some people is a challenge. But for those that already eat healthy it no big deal. Example: my idea of healthier (vs my past) mean pizza only once or twice a month. I know people that have pizza 3 times a week - not exactly healthy, but normal for many people..

Many with Hashimoto may never feel 100% even on the right brand of thyroid hormone their body seems so like best. So trying to eat healthier than average might just make you feel a little better.

[goolarra]

Danie, goitrogens interfere with the uptake of iodine in the thyroid and can cause inflamation (inflammation) (goiter), so, no, I don't believe it's an issue for you any more.

Sissaphus, your FT3 is still quite low.  They didn't test FT4?  I've supplemented selenium as well with no change in antibodies.  I agree with you that it's always best to get what you need from foods rather than supplements if at all possible.  Nutrition is complex biochemistry and we don't even begin to understand the interactions of the different substances in our foods.

I agree with Moose...a healthy diet will make you feel better no matter what ails you.  Improving diet and/or supplementing help most when there is the most to correct...really bad eating habits or a deficiency.

[sissaphus]

Those labs are from March 2010, but yes my FT3 was low and has been low every time it was tested. My former doctor didn't address it. I didn't know then that it should be in the upper range, but my new doctor has added Cytomel and I'm due for labs in a month. He wanted to add it back in February, but my former doctor told me not to take it so I didn't - sadly.

I have a lot of questions about supplementing deficiencies that perhaps I can ask you about in another post.

[goolarra]

I'm very much into eating a healhy diet and keeping it simple.  I think, and my nutritionist sister-in-law concurs, that nutrition chemistry is in it's infancy.  We simply don't know enough about how substances in our foods interact to micromanage micronutrients with any success.  

I totally agree with Michael Pollen:  Eat a variety of foods, mostly plants, and don't eat anything your great-grandmother (or someone's great-grandmother, somewhere in the world) wouldn't recognize as food.

So, I may not be the best person to ask about supplements!  LOL

[Red_Star]

Good point about the cooking..however i hate brocolli so i'll just avoid it lol!
Not everyone will lower their antibody levels with selenium as found in one study but overall positive results. There may be varying factors that are not yet known. Having had so many deficiency states it's becoming pathetic lol, i can give some good info on supplements.

[sissaphus]

I'm an ovo lacto vegetarian and eat mostly plant food. I don't eat many processed foods outside of what goes into home baking. I'm currently deficient in D and Copper. I was hesitant about supplementing with Copper because I wasn't told how. Don't think I'll get enough from supplementing with foods since I eat quite a few things that are high in copper, but I'm still deficient. I don't want to negatively affect Zinc or Iron either. Isuspect that my Iron/Ferratin is also low, but wasn't told to supplement that. What nutrients should I be screen for as someone with Hypothyroidism?

As soon as Brazil Nuts in Shells I'll be at it again.

[sissaphus]

I meant vegetables NOT plant food e.g. miracle grow and manure. Brain fog.

[Red_Star]

If you take a copper supplement you should also take a zinc supplement (8 - 15 mg of zinc for every 1 mg of copper). Copper is needed to absorb iron from the gut so copper deficiency is a cause of iron deficiency.

From one thyroid website on recommended lab work (besides actual thyroid lab tests) -

Iron labs - Ferritin, % Saturation, TIBC and serum iron

Adrenal Cortisol levels (recommend saliva tests)

Vitamin B12 and Folate

RBC Magnesium and Potassium (rather than serum)

Calcium, Sodium, Glucose

Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D lab test)

[sissaphus]

Thanks for this Red_Star. I'm going to look at past labs and see what I haven't been tested for. These are from my most recent ones.

May 7, 2011

Vitamin D         30  30-80
Copper             71  80-155


I'm taking 22mg Copper (%150 RDA) and 10,000 D3 five days a week.

I don't want to supplement with Zinc until it's tested since I've read that too much Zinc can cause a Copper deficiency. So I'm holding off for now just in case that's been the cause. Hopefully supplementing with copper will also help my Iron levels which I think has been low in the past, but I wasn't told to supplement.

I'll start another post once I get my labs in one place and see what's missing.

Thanks again