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Plant Based diet & Thyroid Function!!!!

1896 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Naturebound
This is very interesting information.......in 1991 I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and have been on thyroid since. My dosage has changed very little over the 25 years. Having my first blood test since being on a plant based diet (since 10/15) my thyroid function has drastically improved...so much so that I will be dropping my daily thyroid dosage. I know this is not a scientific study at all and just a correlation at best of one case but.......does meat/dairy suppress the normal thyroid function or does plants i.e. fruits, vegetables and grains support thyroid efficiency and function. This may suggest benefits of both lack of animal foods and increase of plant foods. Very Interesting! Does anyone know of science to back this idea?
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I don't have any science to offer (oh boy, I might get some flack here lol), but my thyroid function has also improved in the years of being vegan. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the age of 16 (I am 43 now) and have been on thyroid meds all these years. For a good many years I was on 112 or 125 mcgs (.112mg or .125mg). In the years that I have been vegan, my dosage has gone down to a range of 88mcgs to 100mcgs (currently on this dose). I have been on this dose now for three years. I talked to a woman at a local vegan meetup group who has been vegan about the same length of time as I have, and she too has had her thyroid dose lowered from 137mcgs to 88mcgs over this time due to her thyroid functioning better. It's awesome isn't it?
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Hey Naturebound, great info.....congrats.....thank you for your post!
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My thyroid function improved too! 10 years ago, I had a thyroid nodule that doctors decided needed to be surgically removed, along with half of my thyroid. Since then, I've been on medication. When I switched my diet 3 years ago, my meds needed to be reduced for the first time ever. I'm now on 88mcgs. Wish I would have known about diet playing a part before I had surgery. Would've loved to have given it a try. Food is medicine! :)
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Many of my favorite foods have been suspected of being goitrogenic: cabbage family vegetables; peanuts; soy; pears and peaches (I think- I'm typing this from memory)... but so far, so good. I'm 63 and have eaten the above-mentioned foods for decades, but thyroid function hasn't been an issue for me. I think the latest research indicates that some (but not all) people may have problems with goitrogens in foods, just as I would run a risk of cardiovascular disease if my diet was heavy in saturated fats.
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Many of my favorite foods have been suspected of being goitrogenic: cabbage family vegetables; peanuts; soy; pears and peaches (I think- I'm typing this from memory)... but so far, so good. I'm 63 and have eaten the above-mentioned foods for decades, but thyroid function hasn't been an issue for me. I think the latest research indicates that some (but not all) people may have problems with goitrogens in foods, just as I would run a risk of cardiovascular disease if my diet was heavy in saturated fats.
I have been told and have read over the years that goitrogenic foods such as those you mentioned must be eaten in moderation and carefully for those already on thyroid meds because they can inhibit absorption of thyroid meds. Soy is supposed to be the biggest culprit. I love tofu, soy milk, cabbage, broccoli, and many other goitrogenic foods, and I do not limit most of them because well, I would starve to death lol. I am a bit more careful with soy milk because there was a time when i was drinking it daily and my TSH went sky high on a blood test I had done because I had been more tired than usual. I cut out the soy milk and kept my soy servings to three or less per week of major soy foods like tofu or tempeh, and my TSH went back to normal. I do continue to consume soy milk, tofu, and all the other foods in question but just not in huge amounts or very frequently. And when I do consume them, I space them apart from my thyroid meds. I did the same as an omnivore when I consumed the few dairy products I could tolerate, such as plain greek yogurt and lactaid milk (which I hated but thought I needed back then).
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