Millions of people suffer from common forms of thyroid conditions. Women are more likely than men to develop some type of thyroid condition, but many are not even aware they are suffering from it until it begins to severely affect their lives. These conditions can range from an overactive or underactive thyroid condition, and medication is often required for people to feel their best. However, there are some natural ways that you can help improve your thyroid health.
For natural treatment, finding a functional or integrative medicine practitioner can to help you keep your thyroid condition in check and better control. But one of the simplest, most natural ways to support your thyroid health is to eat healthy foods and avoid the ones that affect it.
Cruciferous vegetables
Try to avoid eating large amounts of raw brassica or cruciferous vegetables, including turnips, cabbage, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, and bok choy. Although they contain essential minerals and vitamins and are full of nutrition, they can really be goitrogenic in large quantities.
You only need about 30 grams of crucifers a day. Cooking or steaming these foods will help reduce the goitrogenic effect. If you prefer, use cruciferous vegetables like kale or broccoli in your juices, but be mindful of how many cruciferous vegetables you include.
Limit Sugar
Unless you are following a ketogenic or paleo diet, you may need to limit sugar. Keep in mind that bad carbs can exacerbate your thyroid condition. Carbs make your body believe that you are in a starvation mode, and this will slow your thyroid function. You need to eat nutrient dense carbs in moderate quantity.
Soy
The isoflavones found in soy may slow thyroid function an in some people and huge amount of soy could worsen hypothyroidism. You may want to limit soy products such as tofu, soy yogurt, soy milk and more. This is also especially true if you have a genetic predisposition toward thyroid issues. If you consume soy, space it 1-2 hours away from taking your thyroid medication. It can interfere with absorption in some people.
Too Little Iodine or Too Much Iodine
Many thyroid patients have switched from iodized salt to Himalayan salt or sea salt. This is because iodized salt—and any excess amount of iodine—can be a trigger for thyroid dysfunction.
It is beneficial to consume brazil nuts, seaweed and fresh ocean fish for natural iodine supplements, especially if you have hypothyroidism.
Gluten
When you eliminate gluten-containing foods from your diet you are decreasing the inflammation in your body. Avoiding gluten naturally improves Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which is the autoimmune form of hypothyroidism.
Many individuals have improved their symptoms and felt a lot better after consistently following a gluten-free diet. It is a lot easier to follow a gluten-free diet these days than it used to be; there are a plethora of gluten-free options for most of your favorite foods.
You should start to feel some improvement after limiting (or avoiding) these foods.
