10 Vegan Foods for Thyroid Health And 3 To Avoid IAMA Charitable Foundation Community Health Clinic

Incorporating these into your diet ensures you meet your zinc requirements for optimal thyroid function. In effect, there is no specific diet or single vitamin/mineral supplement that will eliminate or ‘cure’ thyroid conditions. If you would like synthroid vial more guidance on the right diet to meet your individual needs, consider working with a registered Nutritionist or Functional Medicine Practitioner. We can guide you with the right foods to maintain your condition and keep symptoms at a minimal.

In fact, I do think there’s a place for the temporary use of the vegan diet in healing the body and I’ve used it successfully in many thyroid patients, especially those with Hashimoto’s. As a result, vegans will get less usable vitamin D from their diet compared to those who consume animal products. If you were to stack the vegan diet on top of hypothyroidism, you’d probably end up with a deficiency rate well into the 70-80th percent range. Vitamin B12 deficiency is already a huge problem for hypothyroid patients and eating primarily vegan only makes this problem worse. This is a huge issue for many thyroid patients because they already struggle to meet their daily protein intake of at least 100 grams each day. Because when you take a deeper dive into the nutritional aspects of the vegan diet, you start to see that it promotes problems that may make thyroid function worse.

• To minimize exposure, it’s best to choose high-quality, tested seaweed sources, but given the increasing concerns, a 150 mcg iodine supplement may be a more reliable option (8).
• There’s a lot of debate about this topic and, every now and then, the vegan diet gets recommended as a contender.
• And if you wanted to move to other sources, you’d end up needing to consume high amounts of soy which can be problematic for many thyroid patients.
• Vegans with low iron intake should focus on consuming more iron-rich foods like cruciferous vegetables, beans, peas, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.
• Regular blood tests and a balanced approach will help you stay healthy and thrive on a plant-based diet.

These fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce inflammation in thyroid gland disorders. Omega-3 is especially important during pregnancy, post-delivery and for women with recurrent miscarriages (increased risk with hypothyroidism). Hyperthyroidism on the other side, is also an autoimmune condition where the autoantibodies (antibodies made against substances formed by a person’s own body) cause over production of the thyroid hormones. For perspective, iron deficiency is seen in about27% of women on the vegan diet (6) and around 26% of hypothyroid patients (based on anemia as the diagnostic criteria). While incorporating a large amount of plant food into the diet will certainly provide amazing health benefits for the majority of people, an exclusively vegan diet for Hashimoto’s also carries potential risk.

• I went from sleeping like it was my job to being unable to fall asleep at night.
• If you prefer to meet your B12 needs through fortified foods, include them at each meal, with each serving providing at least 190% of the Daily Value (around 4.5 mcg per serving).
• Don’t get me wrong – I love a good fancy sea salt – but iodized salt is a helpful way to get your iodine.

Vegan meal plan for hypothyroidism

Being so rich in fibre, it makes removal of toxins easier by supporting the detoxification process in the liver. Other ways to support removal of toxins from the body include drinking plenty of water every day and incorporating regular aerobic exercise. Probiotics on the other hand, are live bacteria and yeast found in certain foods, which support the friendly gut bacteria. These could be added to the meal plan in the form of fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and sourdough bread. A small study 4 has shown there may be a positive effect on thyroid homeostasis when the gut microbiome is supported with the use of prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics are a form of fibre that feed the healthy bacteria in the gut.

Lifestyle factors that impact our thyroid health

Other foods you will need to evaluate on an individual basis, depending on any food sensitivities that you may have. As far as the vegan diet, 30 percent of those on a vegan diet reported that they felt better, while 28 percent on a vegan diet felt worse. I wanted to know how many people felt better with which dietary protocol, how many people felt worse, and how many people were able to reduce their thyroid antibodies with a dietary protocol. When I began my own healing journey and started experimenting with different diet protocols, I quickly realized that nutrition had a significant effect on my ability to heal from Hashimoto’s. I learned a great deal through trial and error, but also spent a lot of time researching (you know me!) to find the best ways to reduce my symptoms through the food I was eating.

• My endocrinologist called me in the same day she got the results.
• Matcha green tea powder gives an energy boost that lasts throughout the day, without the jitters that regular caffeine does.
• My doctor felt that the reason for my fatigue was because I was too hyper or amped up from being HYPERthyroid, that I wore myself out and got fatigued.
• Many doctors mistakenly rely on serum B12 levels, which can miss a severe functional deficiency.
• According to the UMMC, there are some things you can do with diet and supplements to help reduce the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

There is increasing awareness that a plant-based diet decreases morbidity and mortality within a range of chronic diseases. Veganism does not include the consumption of animal meat or dairy products. Avoid refined foods, trans-fatty acids, and alcohol and tobacco use. Avoid broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, spinach, turnips, soybeans, peanuts, linseed, pine nuts, millet, cassava and mustard greens as they are known to interfere with thyroid function. Synthroid, also called Levothyroxine, is a synthetic thyroid produced by Knoll Pharmaceuticals. Synthroid is hormone replacement used to treat hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones.

Each cell in the human body has receptors for thyroid hormones. I commonly see women of reproductive age who are iron deficient. Hence this is one of the nutrients I focus on regularly when discussing a plant-based diet and thyroid disorders. People often worry about adding cruciferous vegetables or soya to their diet when they have thyroid disorders. Nonetheless, research shows that as long as dietary iodine levels are maintained there is no harm in adding these extremely nutrient dense food items to regular meals. The thyroid gland is a butterfly shaped organ in the neck which plays a major role in many processes of the body, especially helping to maintain body temperature and balancing metabolism.

Still, soy products have many health benefits, including potential anti-inflammatory effects. So while hypothyroid patients do not necessarily need to avoid soy, it’s worthwhile to make sureyour iodine intake remains adequate. Vegan and vegetarian diets may cause those who have thyroid include exacerbated blood sugars. Non-meat protein sources such as legumes, dairy, grains, soy, and nuts may prevent the gut from healing, especially leaky gut.

Selenium

Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you.

Aside from being vegan, I’m also gluten-free now, as I mentioned. I don’t want to vilify any of these foods because heavens knows that sometimes I’ll have some chips or a glass of wine. A whole-foods, plant-based diet is best for you and this is not only what I’ve found with my research, but was also encouraged by my doctor. Diet and nutrition are critical aspects of any treatment plan for Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism.