Cruciferous veggies and thyroid - yay or neh?

[Juliet_22]

Hi All,

I have heard many times that you should avoid cruciferous veggies with thyroid problems.

Yet, I am yet to actually see any solid evidence behind it.

Raw cabbage, sure, probably not a good idea. Raw broc sprouts is probably not a good idea. A lot of cruciferous veggies, maybe not a good idea, if someone has goitre.

But for straight forward hypothyroid folks who manage it through medication?

Surely including some steamed cabbage family veggies is ok? They are one of the most nutrient dense foods, so many benefits.

Do you eat some cruciferous veggies with hypo in your diet personally?

Some studies I have found:

In one study, the anti-thyroid potential of broccoli florets was rated as low due to it having the lowest level of progoitrin in comparison to other brassica vegetables (rutabaga roots, Siberian kale, or collards) [6]. Unlike broccoli florets, knowledge about the influence of broccoli sprouts on the thyroid is scarce. Presently, two in vivo studies about the influence of broccoli sprouts on the biochemical, immunological, and thyroid function of rats with hypothyroidism have been published [7,8], in addition to two human trials [9,10]. The animal studies showed that the addition of broccoli sprouts to the rats’ diet did not cause any significant changes in the levels of TSH, fT3, and fT4. Additionally, a protective effect of these sprouts against sulfadimethoxine-induced thyroid damage was noted.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

In this study involving the University of California, researchers concluded that though collard greens, Brussels sprouts, and some Russian kale (Brassica napus) contain enough goitrogenic compounds to potentially decrease iodine uptake, that’s not true for all cruciferous vegetables. The researchers found that turnip tops, broccoli, broccoli rabe, and kale contain less than 10 μmol of goitrogenic chemicals per serving of 100g, concluding that those foods can be considered minimal risk.

In another small study, participants were given 150g of Brussel’s sprouts daily for 4 weeks. Even though these sprouts contained a super high 220 mg per 100 g. of sulfurous chemicals called glucosinolates, they did not affect thyroid function. Measurement of thyrotrophic hormone, thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine in the study subjects was unchanged. The researchers believe this was because the Brussels sprouts were cooked and produced myrosinase, an enzyme that helps to deactivate the glucosinolate levels.

hormonesbalance.com/article...

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't consume a large amount of raw cruciferous vegetables in a smoothy for instance, but the small amount in coleslaw I would. When cooked I don't believe it makes any difference. Probably best not to over think it too much and just avoid large amounts that are raw.

[greygoose in reply to Jaydee1507]

It really doesn't matter if they're cooked or not, because they're just not going to affect you.

[Juliet_22 in reply to Jaydee1507]

I agree, I wouldn't like cabbage in my smoothie either, but celery or other greens - any time!

[tattybogle]

i just don't believe it's a 'significant' problem as part of a balanced diet ...it might be as issue if poor enough to be forced to live on a diet that was made up of the majority of giotrogens and raw brussel sprouts ..... but really , who lives on cabbage out of choice ?

i eat all sorts of veg , both raw and cooked , if like them, i eat them, end of.

As it happens i really like steamed dark green cabbage, purple sprouted broccoli, spring cabbage or Kale (smothered in butter and black pepper and sea salt obviously) .

i've been eating them by the bowlful for decades ... i've had autoimmune hypo for decades too , but never had any sign of a goitre. (so not Hashi's, ? Ord's)

i eat a certain amount of raw cabbage in coleslaw cos i strongly believe a certain a amount of raw veg every day is a good idea , and coleslaw is an easy way to make sure i do it.

when travelling on no money in the past , i have more or less lived for weeks on half inch inch slices of raw white cabbage spread with marmite... hasn't done me any harm.

my mum used to give us raw shredded brussel sprout salad as kids , but i never ate much of it as i really didn't like it.

I do like brussels (for christmas dinner lol) as long as they're 'lightly steamed and sauted with bacon' rather than 'boiled since november'

perhaps if i had a goitre i'd be a bit more cautious with how much of these foods i consume, but in my book they are an extremely good source of nutrients that are cheap and more to the point, i really enjoy the taste of them .

Trying to replace those nutrients with something else i didn't like half as much, and therefore didn't bother to prepare as often , would probably be worse for me that any harm my 'cabbage habit' is doing .

[jade_s]

We eat plenty of raw cabbage & other veggies in our family because it's done wonders for our gut health and blood sugar control. It even reversed RA joint pain/swelling in one of my relatives - she avoids most cooked foods.

I don't think iodine uptake is an issue if we're already on thyroid meds?

[Juliet_22 in reply to jade_s]

Yes to eating more healthy fruit and veggies and more raw is great too! I know people who have reversed endless health issues eating raw food.

[Juliet_22 in reply to jade_s]

Awesome, yes! Why is iodine uptake not an issue on thyroid meds?

[jade_s in reply to Juliet_22]

More experienced members may correct me, but if the issue is that goitrogenic substances interfere with iodine uptake into the thyroid, and the thyroid makes less thyroid hormones... well we bypass that completely because thyroid medication is full replacement. We don't take it to top up what the body makes.

According to these sources sciencedirect.com/topics/ve...

"Goitrogens can inhibit iodine uptake into the thyroid gland or impair the activity of key enzymes (e.g., thyroperoxidase) in the synthesis of thyroid hormones"

Again neither of which is a concern if you're already on full hormone replacement.

Though i wonder if it would impact T4/T3 conversion.

[greygoose in reply to jade_s]

Pretty certain it does not impact T4/T3 conversion because that does not depend on iodine. It is the removal of iodine atoms, so conversion gives you extra iodine which is recycled.

[jade_s in reply to greygoose]

I agree. I was just wondering about the part where the research papers say "impairs the activity of key enzymes" (but then it refers to thyroperoxidase)

I did a quick search on Goitrogens & Deiodinases and there seems to be plenty of research, but don't have time today to read through them all 🙈 scholar.google.com/scholar?...

[greygoose]

This is a subject that has been discussed many times on here. But the search facility is so bad, I can't find any recent threads. However, this is one from ten days ago, where I say what I think about it all:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Juliet_22 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you, read it, very interesting!

[serenfach]

As someone who has around 20 autumn purple sprouting plants and about the same for spring every year, as I love it, I have never noticed any effects. Unlike sprouts...