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Newsletter for September 2010
Your Thyroid Health
Foods which may adversely affect your thyroid
Many commonly
eaten, otherwise nutritious foods, have been reported to have an
adverse affect on thyroid functioning. I think it is helpful to
be aware of this possibility, even if you've eaten these foods
for many years.
The most effective (and least expensive) way to test whether
you may be sensitive to these foods is through an elimination
diet. This requires that you avoid the suspect food for at least
a month and then eat it several times in a week and carefully
note whether you had an adverse reaction when you added it back
into your diet.
Cabbage family veges.
The foods most widely reported to supress thyroid
functioning are vegetables in the cabbage family. (This implies
that people with hypothyroidism should eat cabbage family foods
in moderation or even avoid them. However, people with
hyperthyroidism may actually benefit from the
thyroid-suppressing effect of the cabbage family.) Here is an
explanation from a book with the cheerful title Eat Right or Die
Young by Dr. Cass Ingram:
"Certain foods contain chemicals which block the
production of thyroid hormone, particularly cabbage, broccoli,
rutabaga, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, watercress, and
peanuts. Cooking partially inactivates the interfering chemical,
known medically as a goitrogen. Thus, in most cases it is wise
to eat these foods cooked. Raw peanuts or soybeans should never
be eaten. Fortunately, peanut butter is heated to a high enough
degree that the goitrogens are destroyed."
Milk and dairy products.
God designed cow's milk to turn a scrawny baby calf into a
1,000+ pound steer in a few months. In spite of the propaganda
of the Dairy industry, many nutritionists warn that milk is hard
on the human body! In his book, Fit for Life, Harvey Diamond
states that milk is a major contributing factor to thyroid
problems, especially since modern dairy products often contain
traces of antibiotics such as penicillin and hormones which
place an even greater burden on your endocrine system. Dr.
Norman Walker, M.D., in his book Become Younger, explains the
impact of dairy as follows:
"Among the elements or ingredients which the Thyroid
uses to make thyroxine is a protein known as casein. The body
manufactures its own casein out of the atoms present in our
food, in the same manner that the cow generates the casein in
her milk from her feed. Casein is one of the important
components of milk, but when cow's milk is used by humans of any
age, it is not digested properly or completely under any
circumstances. That is the reason why the use of milk not only
creates a great amount of mucus in the system, but also has the
tendency to disrupt the function of the Thyroid gland. The
casein in cow's milk is 300% more concentrated than that in
mother's milk. When cow's milk is pasteurized or cooked by
boiling, the casein is changed still worse than in its raw
state."
I had always loved milk and regularly drank several glasses
a day. So I was reluctant to drop dairy. But almost two years
after I had made other diet changes, I quit eating cheese and
substituted rice milk on my cereal. The difference was real! My
stuffy nose cleared and my monthly cramps vastly improved.
(Dairy is also reputed to be a factor in asthma.) Why not
experiment by dropping dairy for at least two weeks? It may make
a real improvement in your health!
Soy products.
Following a tip from Prevention magazine, I began in October
to eat 3 ounces of tofu daily, mixed with orange juice. While
the soy's natural estrogen may have helped my late 40's women
issues, I believe it had an unexpected side effect: I went
hypothyroid. Soy is a goitrogen known to depress thyroid
functioning. I eat tofu only occasionally now.
Soy Online Service (SOS) is a website from New Zealand which
publishes several articles which warns of the effects of soy
consumption on the thyroid.
For more information on soy, the Soy Connection (a soy
industry newsletter) has published several articles.
Kelp and other sea vegetables
While a small amount of seaweed can be beneficial to the
thyroid, an excess can damage thyroid functioning. According to
Annemarie Colbin, in her excellent book, Food and Healing:
"Thyroid problems can arise from an excess of iodine as
much as from a deficiency. Considering that we are already
ingesting large quantities of this mineral because of its
presence in fertilizers and table salt, the situation definitely
bears watching. Early warning symptoms of an excess of iodine
might include underweight, hyperactivity, rough skin, acne,
mental and emotional imbalances, and a 'spaced-out' feeling."
Refined sugar.
Like many people with thyroid dysfunction, my body seems to
be especially sensitive to refined sugar. Even a small piece of
cake or candy sets my cheeks burning as my body reacts with
alarm to almost any sugar I eat. In his book, Eat Right or Die
Young, Dr. Cass Ingram explains that high sugar intake can
indeed adversely affect the thyroid:
"At (a high) level of sugar intake, there is a risk of
damaging or even destroying the adrenal and thyroid glands.
These delicate glands must work overtime to help the body deal
with excess sugar. After awhile under the pressure of constant
bombardment of refined sugar, these glands literally burn out.
To be sure, the glands are capable of regenerating and their
function can return if you make the appropriate dietary changes
and get off the sugar. There is a risk for permanent damage if
you continue your sugar consumption. The more sugar consumed
over the years, the more likely it is that you will have burned
out a portion of your adrenal and thyroid glands."
courtesy: Thyroid Health Home Page
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