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Maintaining a Healthy Thyroid Diet - Include These Foods
Have you ever heard “You are what you eat?” I'm sure you have. When I gave up Western medicine to solve the disease of my grave and later Hashimoto's, I turned to diet. This was not an easy process. I had trouble experimenting with food for a long time and discovered that diet can actually affect the thyroid. I discovered what foods to eliminate from my diet and what foods were needed to heal and maintain a healthy thyroid. Now I want to cover: Foods that need to be added to my life to support my immune system...
Maintaining a Healthy Thyroid Diet - Include These Foods
Have you ever heard “You are what you eat?” I'm sure you have.
When I gave up Western medicine to solve the disease of my grave and later Hashimoto's, I turned to diet. This was not an easy process. I had trouble experimenting with food for a long time and discovered that diet can actually affect the thyroid.
I discovered what foods to eliminate from my diet and what foods were needed to heal and maintain a healthy thyroid. Now I want to cover the following:
Foods to add to my life to boost my immune system, detoxify the body and help the thyroid
NUTRITIONAL DENSITY FOODS
FOOD that is nutritionally dense and provides all important macro and micronutrients in a good ratio.
Some tips here:
o They are always organic, more nutritional and free of hormones known to disrupt our endocrine system
o Meat must be at least organic, but pastureland is best. We want to eliminate antibiotics and growth hormones from our diet
o Foods that are FERMENTED in the traditional way, so things like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, homemade yogurt and kombucha tea are rich in probiotics.
PROTEINS and FATS
They are the building blocks of your digestive tract and our hormones. We're fat-o-phobic in America and low-fat diets are one of the worst things we've invented. Europeans and Asians eat a (traditional) high-fat diet and enjoy much better health than we do. Good fat tips: Avocados, walnuts, coconut oil, coconut butter. Animal fats are the best means to restore impaired digestion. Ghee (clarified butter), butter, chicken and beef fat are essential but must be rendered and not made in fried/processed form.
PROBIOTICS
Probiotics are key to restoring your digestive tract
Everyone has bacteria in the digestive tract or intestines that are essential for the functioning of the human body. A healthy adult has approximately 1.5-2kg of bacteria in their gut, both good and bad. Normal levels of bacteria or plants in the intestine protect against invaders, undigested food, toxins and parasites. When the good and bad bacteria in the gut become imbalanced (i.e. more bad than good), a whole range of negative reactions can occur in the body. Undigested foods can enter the bloodstream and cause food allergies and intolerances, vitamins and minerals not to be absorbed, leading to deficiencies, the bad bacteria producing a whole range of toxins and the immune system not functioning properly.
Here are examples of traditionally fermented foods you can include in your diet:
o Sauerkraut (pick properly fermented, not in vinegar)
o Kim Chee (Korean fermented vegetables)
o Yogurt
o Kefir (has different bacteria than yogurt, also very useful)
o Kombucha tea
o Vegetable vegetables (fermented)
o Coconut water kefir
Herbs, supplements and vitaminsthis benefits the thyroid
Although I'm a fan of getting these made from real food whenever possible. It's difficult to give tips here because many people overmedicate and end up feeling worse later. Hopefully these tips help; They apply to most autoimmune diseases (this was given by my naturopath who focuses on hormone and thyroid health):
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Most people have a Vit D deficiency. Taking Vit D in 2,000 units is safe and good to do because Vit D is actually a hormone associated with the thyroid
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Calcium is key but must be taken along with magnesium for full absorption
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for hypothyroidism: selenium, turmeric / curcumin, phytosterols and to support the GI; Probiotics and L-Glutamine are key.
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for hyperthyroidism: Copper and magnesium are a common deficiency in people with hyperthyroidism.
SIMPLE MEDITATION, BREATHING AND VISUALIZATIONTechniques that deal with stress and emotions.
I cannot emphasize how important this is, especially for people with hyperthyroidism. We underestimate what stress and emotions do to us. Any flare-up of anger, guilt, fear, hostility, jealousy, etc. inflames the adrenal glands, which release cortisol, and this hormone has an adverse effect on the thyroid.
MOVEMENT PLAN
Whether it's exercise, dancing or yoga that gets you moving, doesn't stress your adrenals and thyroid, but gives you a feeling of accomplishment and joy.
BALANCE
Balance based on your bio-individuality
No diet/plan works for everyone as every person has a unique way of healing. There is a saying: “One person’s food is another person’s poison.” It is always worth remembering that just because a diet worked for one person, it does not mean that it will work for you. In the same way, one person could have healed their thyroid just by changing water filters (by removing fluoride), and another person would have to make five key diet and lifestyle changes to feel a little better. Let's respect our differences.
Inspired by Magdalena Wszelaki