I have had an underactive thyroid for about 4 years and I'm sure as many of you can relate have just learned to deal with the side affects. However, I have come across a few posts and blogs recently regarding foods to avoid such as soy products, cabbage and excess fibre. I just wondered if anyone follows this advice and what difference it had made for you?
Also can I ask when you take your medication I take mine in the morning but I'm thinking of changing to just before bed in the hope anything I have eaten will not interfere.
Any thoughts would be most welcome.
Thanks
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Kelly_Macc
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It's best to avoid all soy products. Anything else just eat sensibly. Excess fibre, I think, can affect absorption of Levo so take Levo well away from this.
Many people get on better with taking their Levo at night so give it a try. However, Levo should be taken on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food. If your evening meal is the largest meal of the day it might be better to leave 3 hours.
Remember also that Levo should be taken 2 hours from any other medication supplements, although some need 4 hours, eg iron, calcium, Vit D, magnesium, HRT, oestrogen, Omeprazole and other PPIs.
Multi-vitamins often don't do much good for us hypos - I'll ask greygoose to add her excellent summary of the issues involved
- but DEF avoid soy and anything with iodine in it like kelp or seaweed. Don't be scared by anything you see about avoiding a whole load of other things (cruciferous veg, strawberries or whatever) - you'd need to eat a spectacularly large quantity for these to have any impact x
That would be wonderful if she could add that in. Will definitely cut out the soy and start taking meds at night as this will be at least 3 - 4 hours after I have last eaten.
Great news about the cruciferous veg as these are my fave!! x
You shouldn't be taking a multivitamin for all sorts of reasons.
* If your multi contains iron, it will block the absorption of all the vitamins - you won't absorb a single one! Iron should be taken at least two hours away from any other supplement except vit C, which is necessary to aid absorption of iron, and protect the stomach.
* If your multi also contains calcium, the iron and calcium will bind together and you won't be able to absorb either of them.
* Multi's often contain things you shouldn't take or don't need : calcium, iodine, copper. These things should be tested before supplementing.
* Multi's often contain the cheapest, least absorbable form of the supplement : magnesium oxide, instead of magnesium citrate or one of the other good forms; cyanocobalamin instead of methylcobalamin; folic acid instead of methylfolate; etc. etc. etc. This is especially true of supermarket multis.
* Multi's do not contain enough of anything to help a true deficiency, even if you could absorb them.
* When taking several supplements, you should start them individually at two weekly intervals, not all at once as you would with a multi. Because, if you start them all at once, and something doesn't agree with you, you won't know which one it is and you'll be back to square one.
* Most supplements should be taken at least two hours away from thyroid hormone, but some - iron, vit D, magnesium and calcium (should you really need to take it) should be taken at least four hours away from thyroid hormone.
*Vit C should be taken 2 hours away from B12 because it affects how the body uses B12.
*Never take magnesium/zinc/calcium at the same time as they affect the absorption of each other.
*Take zinc and copper separately as zinc affects the absorption of copper.
*Vits A/D/E/K are all fat soluble vitamins, and if taken together can compete for the source of fat. They are best taken away from each other.
* The magnesium you take - and just about everybody needs to take it - should be chosen according to what you want it to do:
Magnesium citrate: mild laxative, best for constipation.
Magnesium taurate: best for cardiovascular health.
Magnesium malate: best for fatigue – helps make ATP energy.
Magnesium glycinate: most bioavailable and absorbable form, non-laxative.
Magnesium chloride: for detoxing the cells and tissues, aids kidney function and can boost a sluggish metabolism.
Magnesium carbonate: good for people suffering with indigestion and acid reflux as it contains antacid properties.
Worst forms of magnesium: oxide, sulphate, glutamate and aspartate.
With a multivitamin, you are just throwing your money down the drain, at best, and doing actual harm at worst. Far better to get tested for vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin, and build up your supplementation program based on the results. A vitamin or a mineral is only going to help you if you need it, anyway. More of something you don’t need is not better, it's either pointless or even dangerous, as with iodine, calcium, iron or vit D.
So, if you've been taking your levo at the same time as a multi-vit and soy milk, you won't have been absorbing thyroid hormones either in the gut or at a cellular level. You must be feeling pretty awful!
Foods to avoid like the plague with any sort of hypothyroidism:
1. Soy. All forms of soy: soy protein, soy oil, soy flour, etc.
And, that's it, really. So, why soy? Because soy impedes the uptake of thyroid hormones by the cells, meaning that you can have good levels of T3 in the blood, but you will still be hypo because it's not getting into the cells.
Foods to avoid if they don't agree with you:
1. Gluten. Hashi's people are often gluten sensitive, even if they don't actually have Coeliac Disease. Worth trialing a gluten-free diet for a few months to see if it makes you feel better - but it has to be 100% gluten-free. If it doesn't make you feel any better, try eating gluten again and see if it makes you feel worse. If you don't feel any different, carry on eating it.
2. Lactose/dairy. Most people know when they're lactose intolerent, anyway. It's not exclusively a Hashi's/hypo thing. But, just out of curiosity, you could trial a dairy-free diet, see if it helps. NB: eggs are NOT dairy.
3. Processed foods are a good thing to cut out because they tend to contain three things that are bad for everybody - not just Hashi's/hypo - artificial sweeterners, soy derivitives and processed seed oils. All three best avoided by the population at large!
4. Anything else that disagrees with you. Common sense, really.
The Goitrogen Myth:
So, someone told you spinach and chickpeas are bad. Someone else might tell you that broccoli and Brussels sprouts are bad. Or it might be cabbage and walnuts, or kale and strawberries... All these fruits and veg - and a hell of a lot more besides - fall into the group called Goitrogens.
So, what are goitrogens? They are fruit and veg that contain a certain substance that has an unwanted effect on the thyroid. What this substance does is impede the uptake of iodine by the thyroid, meaning that the thyroid can make less hormone. In order to get more iodine, the thyroid enlarges into what we call a goitre - hence the name goitrogen.
However, what no-one ever tells you is that you would have to eat one hell of a lot of these things for them to have any effect - like cabbage soup three times a day for years and years and years. Normal consumption of these foods, normal portions, won't have any effect unless you happen to be sensitive to them for some other reason.
Also, goitrogens are highly unlikely to affect anyone taking thyroid hormone replacement, because once you're taking that, your thyroid stops making hormone, so doesn't need the iodine anymore.
So, cutting out a list of about 30 or so foods on that basis is a pretty illogical thing to do, and really isn't a good idea. And is pointless, anyway. So, enjoy what you enjoy, and don't listen to people who don't know what they're talking about!
OMG greygoose this is amazing!!!! Thank you so much!!!
Yes I haven't been feeling great lately and I'm guessing this is because I have started taking the multivitamins the Holland and Barret lady insisted I needed (this definitely contains calcium and iron I have just check) and have also recently changed to soya milk.
Will stop both of these immediately and start taking levo at night. I'll see how I feel after that and maybe think about gluten but as I'm married to an Italian that might be slightly difficult 🤭
I have got an appointment with the doctor next week as I hadn't been feeling great and hoping she may agree to check other things not just the TSH as she normally does.
Fingers crossed!! I am quite lucky my doctor is usually very good and open to actually listening to me.
I am happy to pay for the test if needed as long as they are open to working with the results. I had read about a couple of people who had had broader scale blood tests but doctors weren't open to accepting the results. Which just seems crazy to me.
Well, I have my own pet theory on that: When people test privately, they tend to get a hell of a lot more tests done than the GP is prepared - or allowed? - to do, and the results can show a lot more deficiencies that the GP is prepared to deal with - either through ignorance or lack of time or can't be bothered or whatever. So, s/he responds by rubbishing the testing and insisting that only NHS testing is reliable. As usual, they are just making life easier for themselves and to hell with the patient! But, I'm just an old cynic, so what do I know... lol
Thanks for your reply. I am seeing the doctor next week to see what she suggest. I am happy to pay for a test if needed but hoping they will work with me on this.
Avoid soy products is a nice option, Taking less fiber food is a good choice. Another thing, don't take junk food items in your daily food diet. It also causes several side effects in the daily life. Drinking enough amount of water and consuming natural food items will surely boost your body health condition.
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