Vegan diet without a thyroid

[superb_lulu]

Hello

I had a TT 12 years ago due to Graves. I take levothyroxine and have been doing well on it. I am considering a vegan diet and would like to hear other peoples stories (good and bad) about being vegan without a thyroid.

Thank you in advance.

Louisa

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I would ensure that you test key thyroid vitamins (ferritin, folate, B12 and vit D) before starting a vegan diet and every 3-4 months afterwards. These need to be optimal, not simply ‘within range’ to support your thyroid health.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

What are your most recent vitamin results

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Test at least twice year minimum

difficult to ensure adequate protein

And all thyroid patients need to limit or (ideally) avoid all soya completely

[Hashiboy in reply to SlowDragon]

SlowDragon Hi there always wondererd about advice on things like Soya. I'll start a new thread rather than hijack this one.

[Hedgeree]

Hi superb_lulu,

I consume a vegan diet but have half a thyroid after having a demithyroidectomy in 2022 (the right side of my thyroid was removed.) I've been plant based since my teenage years then became vegan some time in my 20's (I'm now 50+)

As a vegan the emphasis is usually on making sure you maintain good B12 levels but my iodine levels were something that I neglected to keep a check on. I ended up with a severe iodine deficiency which I believe was the probable cause of my multinodular goitre and thyroid lump. But as you are post thyroidectomy and on levothyroxine you will be getting your iodine from it.

Depending on your reasons for considering a vegan diet, I would probably take things slowly. If not already dairy free it may be an idea to do that first and see how you get on.

As SlowDragon has said elsewhere on the forum it can be difficult to maintain ferritin levels when being plant based; I've struggled and still do have low levels of ferritin. You need good levels of ferritin for the levo to work properly.

There are other vegans on the forum so hopefully someone who's had a thyroidectomy will reply to your post.

[Hashiboy]

hi there superb_lulu I suppose it depends on whether you want you want to eat vegan for ethical or environmental reasons or if you are mainly aiming to eat vegan for health reasons. If your reasons is to do mainly with health then I guess starting from an assessment of your personal health goals rather than any one diet is how I’d approach it. I eat mostly plant based with some dairy and a little fish. My approach to eating is intended to help me keep my blood fats, cholesterol and triglycerides low and to keep my blood pressure in check. I also aim to get sufficient iron, b12 and omega 3. Prioritising those factors lead me to a mostly plant based low gi diet that avoids ultra processed foods including ultra processed vegan foods. So my take is start with some specific health goals and design a diet that meets them and if you do go vegan for ethical reasons make sure you design a vegan diet that hits those goals. Hope that makes sense.

[thyr01d]

Hi superb_lulu, I am vegan and the equivalent of no thyroid (TSH over 95 with 95 being coma level and endo said my thyroid is doing nothing). I have been vegan for about 20 years and thyroid problems almost certainly were present while I was omnivorous. Being vegan for ethical (animal suffering) reasons I don't contemplate changing but it does seem to make managing the hypothyroid state more tricky. I have trouble keeping ferritin levels reasonable and recently after not taking B12 for some years had low B12 symptoms, which isn't good for thyroid problems. Other than that though being vegan doesn't seem to make a difference. Btw, my daughters have been vegan for a few years longer than me and one never has any trouble with vitamin levels and on a recent very thorough health check was found to have very well-working organs and excellent test results of all sorts of things including levels including of B12 though she has never supplemented. Other daughter's health is average. Both have no thyroid problems at all (I urge them to get tested). Hope this is of some help.