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Thyroid health is something that I am always looking for new information on. When it comes to thyroid health, it’s important to understand that we are all unique. As we are all finding out, what works for one person may not work for another. As you will read in the article below, I had to avoid goitrogenic foods for a period of time while I worked on healing my gut. I was able to reintroduce them and now have none of the side effects that I did before.

If you’re suffering from thyroid disease, then one of my favorite resources is the Thyroid Sessions from my trusted affiliate partner, Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness. This compilation of thyroid health information from leading health experts has changed the lives of thousands of people (myself included).

Learn more about the Thyroid Sessions today.

I also have a wide range of thyroid health posts on this site that are a great starting place for anyone with thyroid disease.

Read all of my thyroid health articles here.

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My Personal Experience with Goitrogens

I think most people who suffer from thyroid disorders know about goitrogenic foods and how they can be bad for the thyroid. I know that it was one of the first things I learned when I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism years ago.

I was always told that if you cooked these types of vegetables, then it wasn’t a big deal to eat them, as the cooking process neutralized the goitrogenic properties. While the cooking process does reduce these properties, it does not completely eliminate them, so if you’re one of the people who have noticeable reactions to these foods, then cooking may or may not improve that.

It’s strange, but once I started paying closer attention to my body, I began to notice a difference in how I felt when I consume foods like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. Whenever I eat these foods (both fresh and cooked), I get this tense, tight feeling across my throat, like a constricting of the airways. It ranged from a slight sensation to something rather strong and uncomfortable.

For the longest time, I thought I was just imagining things until I was talking to one of my friends about it and she said that that feeling is actually quite common. Another lesson that once we start paying attention to our bodies and listening to what it has to say, there will be certain cues that we’ll start noticing. It is our duty to pay attention to these cues.

Once I did start paying attention, it was obvious that my body was reacting to these foods. And, it was important that I take note of these reactions.

I began experimenting with goitrogenic foods. I tested both raw and cooked versions and then noted any effects after consuming them. The tightness/swelling persisted, so I made a decision to eliminate these foods from my diet for a time. The discomfort was not worth it.

Around the same time that I eliminated these foods, I started full force on healing my gut and getting my Hashimoto’s (which I had recently been diagnosed with) under control. While I know my gut is not completely healed, I do know I have made large strides in healing. You can read about my healing journey here.

After about a year of avoiding these foods, I decided to test them again and see what my reactions were.

Lo and behold, I had no reaction!

I was thrilled, as most of my favorite veggies are on the list below. I was careful to reintroduce them slowly and pay attention to any symptoms, but it’s been a year or so now and things are great. I eat a lot of these veggies every week (both raw and cooked) and do not experience that same tightness I did before.

The key here is that we are all different.

What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

While I have spoken to many people who experienced the same reactions I did, there are others who have thyroid conditions who never had any of these issues. I advise experimenting, like I did, and see what you find.

Considering how many vegetables are on this list, it would be a shame to eliminate them if you don’t have any reactions. But, for those who do have reactions, eliminating them, even for a short period of time, can make life a lot more comfortable!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have received a lot of comments and emails about how everyone needs to supplement iodine, especially those with thyroid conditions. While we do all need iodine, supplementation can be tricky and sometimes dangerous. I strongly encourage you to work with a naturopath or other practitioner who is familiar with supplementing iodine and can help you supplement correctly. If you do supplement with iodine, there are other minerals you need to add to your regime in order to keep your body in balance.

Also, for people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (like myself), supplementing iodine is NOT advised, as it can cause your thyroid to burn out faster. Chris Kresser, one of my favorite alternative practitioners, has a fantastic series of posts that I encourage anyone suffering from thyroid disorders to read:

Now, let’s take a look at goitrogens.

What are Goitronenic Foods?

According to Wikipedia:

Goitrogens are substances that suppress the function of the thyroid gland by interfering with iodine uptake, which can, as a result, cause an enlargement of the thyroid, i.e., a goitre.

Yeah. I’m already freaked out enough about an enlargement of my thyroid gland (which I do already have), and I certainly don’t want it to get any bigger. I am constantly asking my hubby if he can visually see an enlargement. He assures me he can’t.

See, I told you I was neurotic!

Anyways, when I started avoiding goitrogenic foods, I was doing a lot of research and as I was perusing Dr. Sara Gottfried’s site, I came across her list of thyroid-suppressing foods and there were some that I didn’t know about! Pears, peaches, and strawberries? GAH! Most of these I can do away with no problem. But some of them make me very sad.

According to Dr. Sara, here’s the foods we should avoid or minimize, especially in their raw form, if we are suffering from thyroid issues:

  • Caffeine
  • Soybeans (and soybean products such as tofu, soybean oil, soy flour, soy lecithin)
  • Pine nuts
  • Peanuts
  • Millet
  • Strawberries  🙁
  • Pears  🙁
  • Peaches  🙁
  • Spinach
  • Bamboo shoots  🙁
  • Sweet Potatoes  🙁
  • Bok choy
  • Broccoli
  • Broccolini
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Canola
  • Cauliflower
  • Chinese cabbage
  • Choy sum
  • Collard greens
  • Horseradish
  • Kai-lan (Chinese broccoli)
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Mizuna
  • Mustard greens
  • Radishes  🙁
  • Rapeseed (yu choy)
  • Rapini
  • Rutabagas
  • Tatsoi
  • Turnips

Like I mentioned above, I experimented with these foods and after a period of eliminating them and focusing on healing my gut health, I no longer have the issues I was having before. I had also done research on fermenting these veggies to see if that made a difference and I found this article stating that fermenting actually increases the goitrogens in certain vegetables.

For those of you who don’t suffer from any thyroid problems, eat up! Here are two of my favorite lactofermented vegetables:

For those of you who do suffer from thyroid problems, experiment! See what works for you, what your body tolerates, and take time to really pay attention to any reactions you may have. They may be small, they may be big. We’re all different.

If you’re looking for more info on how to heal your thyroid through alternative methods, I highly recommend the upcoming Thyroid Sessions Online Summit (affiliate link). It launches May 4th and will provide you with all of the information your doctor didn’t tell you about your thyroid problems. The hand-picked team of functional medical doctors, naturopaths, nutritionists, and health experts reveal how you can regain your energy, lose excess body fat, and heal your thyroid NATURALLY through real food, lifestyle changes, and getting the lab testing you need. Learn more and register for free here. I’ll be watching daily and I hope you’ll take advantage of the free information as well.

What are your feelings on goitrogenic foods? Anything on this list surprise you? Do you avoid these foods altogether? Have you noticed a difference in how you feel with eliminating these foods? How about when you eat them? Do you notice a difference in how you feel? Leave a comment below!

Supporting the Thyroid & Adrenals Through Herbs

When it comes to supporting the adrenals and thyroid (because they are very closely linked), caffeine may not be your best friend. While those with sluggish adrenal glands tend to feel run down and in need of a regular pick-me-up (like coffee and other caffeinated beverages), in the long run, caffeine can do more harm than good while you are healing. I go into the “whys” around caffeine and your adrenals in this detailed post here. In addition to the caffeine, there are other constituents, molds, and mycotoxins that can show up in coffee that some people find they react to.

When I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease and adrenal fatigue, one of the first things that had to go was coffee. To be honest, I never drank coffee because of the caffeine. I drank coffee for the taste and aroma, as well as the emotional experience I felt to my morning cup of joe. For me, it was a ritual that I looked forward to every day (and sometimes multiple times a day). Whether I was brewing it at home or going to my local coffee shops, the experience was one that I clung to tightly.

But, when I was faced with new health struggles, I knew I had to do whatever I could to support my body and give it the tools it needed to heal. Giving up coffee and caffeine was one step in this direction.

And it sucked.

I turned to the coffee substitutes on the market in a desperate attempt to recreate the ritual I had grown so fond of, but nothing ever tasted the way I wanted it to. Nothing ever gave me that same experience that my cup of “real” coffee did. I knew there had to be something better, but I simply could not find it on my health food store’s shelves.

Necessity is the mother of invention so that is why I created my own coffee substitutes. They were made with organic, sustainably harvested herbs with zero grains, zero gluten, and zero caffeine. Just herbs. Herbs that not only tasted delicious but supported my body’s function, like liver detox, bile production, digestion, etc. In my mind, if I can get something to not only taste amazing but do amazing things for my body, then it’s a no brainer!

I sold these pre-made blends on Etsy for awhile and the demand was more than I could keep up with. People literally LOVED these blends and were stunned at how much like coffee they actually tasted. Customers who had been dealing with a variety of chronic illnesses had given up coffee to heal their bodies, but like me were deeply missing their morning cup of joe ritual.

After careful consideration and work with some highly experienced advisors, I decided to stop selling the pre-made blends and instead share my proprietary recipes in the form of an eBook. That way I could arm people with the knowledge and recipes they needed to make their own caffeine-free, gluten-free, grain-free blends in the comfort of their own home. 

That is why I created the best-selling DIY Herbal Coffees eBook: A Complete Guide To Making Delicious Herbal Coffees to Support Healing & Stress Relief. Now in its second edition, this ebook features all of my proprietary herbal blend recipes to you can craft a homemade herbal cup of “coffee” at home.

In addition, you get a ton of researched information about coffee’s impact on the health of those dealing with issues like adrenal fatigue, blood sugar dysregulation, autoimmune disease, thyroid disease, and any other chronic illness.

Lastly, you get access to your own personal coffee shop. I show you how to recreate your favorite coffee shop drinks and pastries with wholesome, nourishing real food ingredients. No junk here.

This book truly is a comprehensive guide to supporting your health, reducing your stress, and bringing a little something special back into your healing journey. You can learn more and download your own copy of this revolutionary wellness guide here, or simply click on the image below.

Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2015 // deliciousobsessions.com

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