I now realise that many if not all, who have hypothyroidism, also have gut problems. When I first started trying to inform myself about all this, I got into a stalemate regarding diet - I’d always loved broccoli, cabbage, swede mash, kimchi etc, not to excess but whenever I felt like having them. But that they might be problematic for hypo people. Then I read in several sources that these foods must be very well cooked and were only ok in moderation. Fine - I can live with mushy broccoli !
I do most definitely have gut problems and have done for years , starting decades ago with probable ibs which seemed to resolve and now I have had a couple of diverticulitis flares and a confirmed diagnosis of diverticulosis, severe in the sigmoid colon.
Fermented food - is it a good thing for us or not? I read so much contradictory stuff!
I’m trying not to be on an overly restricted diet, though my recent autoimmune antibody tests showed a really dramatic reduction while I was following a gluten-free diet for a few months. I didn’t feel any better for it and dropped after I did my test - but was it this that caused the reduction? I mean, it was 4,000 + in November last year and 29 this February.
Sorry about the length this post. It’s a long journey!
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I’d always loved broccoli, cabbage, swede mash, kimchi etc, not to excess but whenever I felt like having them. But that they might be problematic for hypo people.
They aren't problematic for hypo people. That's a misunderstanding of some bad science.
What you're talking about here is goitrogens. Many fruit and veg have goitrogenic properties and I bet you eat a lot of them without even realising you're doing it: strawberries? Walnuts? Peas? All goitrogenic. The list is long.
What a goitrogen does is impeded the uptake of iodine by the thyroid. The thyroid expands to try and capture more iodine forming a goitre: hence the name 'goitro-gen'. It needs iodine to make thyroid hormone.
When you are hypo, and taking thyroid hormone replacement - levo, etc. - your thyroid shuts down and stops making iodine, so you don't need as much as someone with a healthy thyroid. And, on top of that, you will be getting the iodine from your exogneous hormone that was used to make it, which will be recycled in your body. So, your need for iodine from other sources is greatly reduce.
What's more, one thing they never tell you is that you would have to eat a hell of a lot of goitrogenic fruit and veg for it to have that effect. Far more than is normally consumed. And it doesn't really matter if it's cooked or raw, it's highly unlikely that you're ever going to eat that much. And as you're hypo, it's not going to affect you anyway.
So, eat your broccoli and cabbage and enjoy - I love it, too. And don't listen to old wive's tales.
That said, there is one exception to that rule: soy. Soy is not just a goitrogen. It also has an effect at a cellular level impeding the uptake of thyroid hormones by the cells. So, you can have good levels in your blood but it won't be getting into the cells.
Unless it's fermented, of course. So, yes, fermented food is good for everybody provide it's not sterilised. It replenishes gut's healthful probiotics. So, eat your kimchi and your sauerkraut and - once again - enjoy.
It was the thyroglobulin that reduced from above 4000 to 29.
I was only tested the week before last so I don’t know if they increased after going back on gluten. I went back on gluten after I had the test, so only just over a week ago.
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