Vegetarian, Hypothyroidism and Memory

[JD3P]

I've been a vegetarian for the last five years, almost. There were a few points where I was vegan for months at a time. Right now I do eat eggs and some dairy occasionally but no fish. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about three years ago...but I have reason to believe that I had it long before. I remember how my body felt years ago...so I don't want to blame vegetarianism for my hypothyroidism. Getting to my point- I've had pretty bad memory loss for a few years now as well. I'm not sure if it's related to the vegetarianism though. I personally think it's more associated with the hypothyroidism. I make sure I get b vitamins, calcium, omega fatty acids in my diet. I've had my levels checked for the typical bloods and everything seems normal. It's just this memory problem...I don't want to go back to eating meat. But what else can I do to try to help this...along the lines of including things in my diet? Anyone have this problem and find a solution or are struggling to? Thanks

[domnica_ro]

It's totally because of your vegetarian diet. I've been a vegetarian myself for many years and had the same symptoms, and my memory came back when I started to eat meat (although not completely, but I feel and think infinitely better). There are so many nutrients that can be missing in a vegetarian diet. I don't have time to get into too many details here, but I suggest you to google "vegetarian memory loss" and see the many results that show up.

[allmymarbles]

Have your doctor take blood for a vitamin profile.

[Paxiled]

Hypothyroidism includes a lot of different ailments.  If it's Hashimoto's, it's an immune system disorder, for example.  If it isn't an immune system disorder, it's most likely an iodine deficiency, which can be treated with seaweed, usually bladderwrack and kelp or kombu or hijiki.  Every vegetarian should be eating seaweed anyway, since it's a good source of minerals.  But the unsaid truth is, some people do great as vegetarians, and some don't.  We're not all the same.  One nutrient lacking in a vegetarian diet is B12, which over time can cause neurological difficulties.  Some vegetarians get plenty of it because they know this, but many vegetarians most vegans don't eat according to health but according to ideology.  Just to show I'm not just making this up, I managed health food stores for 18 years, and I've got to tell you, the worst eaters, and you can check their magazines to confirm this, are vegans.  If you choose to eat this way, you have to know more about food and nutrients than others do, because since B12 and methionine are low without animal food, one has to go out of one's way to get them in order to be a vegetarian.  This can be done, and has been done by people in India for a long time, but certain people don't do well and others do.  You are the best judge of this.  One thing you're doing is putting dairy in there to avoid eating an animal, but dairy is one of the most problematic foods for humans.  No mammal but humans eats anything but mother's milk and only until weaning.  Humans force lots of things into their bodies, but we have to be careful to know when what we're forcing in there is working well for us.  

[Narble]

Vegetarianism, when practiced in a healthy manner, is generally neuroprotective, and not likely to be linked to your memory loss. Hypothyroidism, however, can include memory loss.

What is the underlying cause of your hypothyroidism? Is it well controlled? You may want to speak to your doctor about adjusting your hormone replacement level a bit. I have a vegetarian friend who is hypothyroid, and she has to work to remain euthyroid, and if she doesn't, her memory seems worse for it.

As for your diet, start by crunching the numbers for what you eat. Weigh your food, plug in the results into a thorough nutrition calculator, such as the one on www.nutritiondata.com, and see if you're deficient in anything. Then compensate for that. There don't seem to be any herbs or other supplements proven to help with memory loss, despite some optimism years back about Gingko biloba and such.