Hypothyroid and Greens

Comments

• pianissima Raw Newbie

  i had hypothyroidism and anemia. the naturopath gave me a list of “goitrogenic” foods to avoid. i chucked it in the trash, went off my meds, and feel better than ever.

  YOGA was the first thing i noticed that really truly helped. (any mind-body practice would do)

  GOING RAW was the second thing.

  both require faith and steadfastness… believing that you are doing the best by your body.

  (the reason i chucked that list of foods is that WHAT ELSE was i going to eat???? i mean, no fruits or veggies? does that sound like a good diet idea, even just instinctually?)
• jenny2052 Raw Newbie

  I don’t have clinically diagnosed hypothyroidism, but it runs in my family and I had many of the symptoms (severe depression, rapid, bizarre weight gain, sluggishness, hair falling out, very low body temp, etc. – all of which, incidentally, have practically disappeared on raw). I’ve been nervous about dark greens, too, but honestly, I feel terrific when I eat them. And I’ve been losing weight at a rapid pace. So I’m just going with that for now, but it is something I stay aware of, and I’m very open to modifying it should my symptoms start to come back. I try to be good about alternating the greens I eat, too, but I really, really love spinach, so that shows up frequently.

  I remember being surprised by how long the goitrogen list was, but I think I recall the lighter salad greens (romaine, oak lettuce, butter lettuce, etc.) as being ok? I think most sprouts are ok, too (and I’m a huge fan of sprout salads!). Not completely sure, but I think so? There’s a lot of emphasis on the dark greens in the raw world, but I think any chlorophyll does a body good.

  I totally agree with pianissima, though. I do think lists like that can be helpful for trouble-shooting purposes if one isn’t seeing the results one wants. But if things are going ok for you in general, I think the best thing to do is just observe how your body reacts when you eat these things. Do dark greens give you energy or make you sluggish? Do you seem to digest them well? How you feel after eating these foods is the best clue as to what they are doing to or for your body. Good luck!
• Girlfridae1 Raw Newbie

  Okay, well I’ve looked at the ‘goitrogenic’ lists and it does seem like it leaves little for me to eat, but I’ve given up soy so I guess I will take a leap of faith and just eat my greens (maybe not in the morning since that’s when I take my meds) and see what happens…

  Thanks jenny and pianissima for your advice:)
• kattbuddah

  Interesting. I have been dealing with Hypothyroidism for about 20 years and I have never been told by my doctors to avoid “greens” or ever given a list of what to avoid. I will have to investigate this.

  Now I have been trying go raw for a few months now. I have had my ups and downs, but I am at about 50%. I have not had any problems, (that I noticed) with my green smothies or juices.

  Do you know what symptoms I should be looking for? Maybe I am just used to them and not realizing any effects to my system.
• Lyn-doe

  I am similar to Jenny’s situation, where I haven’t been clinically diagnosed but have a lot of the symptoms (yay for accutane and birth control side effects) I notice that when my greens are in a liquid form, such as green smoothies, I have no problem digesting them and it was the first time I actually lost weight (nothing else seemed to help). As long as greens are a main staple of your diet, and are in an easily digestible form starting out (smoothies/soups) then I think you will see a lot of improvement. Hope that helps!

  P.S. The more coconut butter/oil I eat the flatter my stomach gets. I heard its good for hypothyroid too.
• alpdesigns Raw Newbie

  I have hypothyroid symptoms and because so many foods are goitrogenous, I rotate/vary my diet and exclude foods that are high on the list of goitrogenous foods. I also eat a lot of seaweed for the iodine.
• lululovesu

  It took me forever to have a doc diagnose me with a thyroid disorder; it took me accidentally getting pregnant, and having a miscarraige before I ever got treated. My OB had absolutely no problem prescribing me medication because he believed that anything above 1.5 for a woman of child bearing age was no good. (Wish I would have known this I would have gone to him sooner) Since then I had gotten pregnant again, and had a successful pregnancy, and they monitored my thyroid throughout. I am a breastfeeding mom. When my baby was a month and half old, I decided he had a dairy allergy and then at 2 months a wheat allergy. I eleminated these things from my diet, and approximately 3 months into this new diet, I decided that my medication for hypo was working too well (I was on the lowest dose), so I had to cut it down. I sporadically took the meds, and then began to take 1/2 dose on a regular basis, and started having hyperthyroid symptoms. At about 5 months my baby developed little bumps (like baby acne). I thought it was from food, but soon after reading that baby acne was from hormones, I began to think it was from my hyperthyroid symptoms, and weaned myself off the meds, but that didn’t help the bumps or the symptoms, I am now eating foods that inhibit thyroid production, and within about 5 days, I am noticing that his little bumps are subsiding, and almost immediately I had relief from the hyper symptoms, but occasional anxiety. The pediatrician dismissed my theroy, so I took it upon myself to try it out. Needless to say with my new diet, I have looked into various ways to fill in the gaps, and I really enjoy trying out the raw recipes, but need a dehydrator, and will probably never go back to the old dead food!