Diet

[Frsussed]

Hey I’ve just recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and I was wondering what kind of food should I avoid ? And is there any kind of exercise I could to ?

[greygoose]

Avoid any form of soya like the plague!

Best to avoid artificial sweeteners and processed seed oils for general health.

Avoid processed foods of all kinds because they usually contain some form of all three of the above.

Do you have Hashi's, with high antibodies? If so, you could either have Coeliac or gluten-sensitivity, so a gluten-free diet could make you feel better. Go dairy-free if sensitive to dairy; nightshade-free if sensitive to nightshades. Reduce sugar to reduce inflammation.

Apart from that, eat what you enjoy.

[Frsussed in reply to greygoose]

I’am lactose but I’m not sure if I have hashi’s

[Frsussed in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for the info !

[greygoose in reply to Frsussed]

You're welcome.

If you have reactions to certain foods, the best thing would be to try an elimination diet.

[Cooper27]

Izabella Wentz's has some good info, of you look her up. She had lots of info on her blog, or she summarises it in her books 'the root cause's and 'Hashimotos Protocol'. Around 75% benefit from being gluten free, and 45% be edit from dairy free, and same again for soya. There are other foods too,like 10% react to eggs.

[Frsussed in reply to Cooper27]

Thank you I will make sure to check her out

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If you are lactose intolerant it's likely the cause of your hypothyroidism is due to autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto's

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Bloods will need retesting 6-8 weeks after each dose increase

Presumably you have been started on 50mcg Levothyroxine

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Ask GP to test vitamins and antibodies if not been done

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Teva brand of Levothyroxine is the only lactose free tablet available in UK

Only other alternative is liquid Levothyroxine, expensive so they are very reluctant to prescribe

[Frsussed in reply to SlowDragon]

I haven’t had my thyroid antibodies tested since I got diagnosed this week but I will talk to my doctor about those!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Frsussed]

Very common for medics to be disinterested in the autoimmune aspect of thyroid disease, because they have no specific treatment, only replacement thyroid hormones for the subsequent hypothyroidism

But patients need to know as there is much we can do ourselves but changing diet

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/240...

universityhealthnews.com/da...

If considering going gluten free best to get coeliac blood test FIRST

Only make one change at a time. So just starting on Levothyroxine is enough for the first 6-8 weeks

Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

Ideally ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first




Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...