If we want to admit it or not, food affects us all in different ways. Food affects our bodies in a MASSIVE way! It is the fuel that literally feeds us and gives us energy. When you are not eating the right food, your body acts sluggish, versus eating the right foods and having energy to go through your day.
After having a thyroid for about 7 years now, I thought that I would share some information that I have actually just recently found out. Let me skip back about 7 years...when I found out I had hypo-thyroidism, it was in an Air Force Base hospital in Misawa, Japan. Unfortunately, the doctor at the time never informed me too much about my thyroid. It basically went like this, Doctor: "You have hypo-thyroidism. Take this medication. It will help you feel better". That's about it. I was just told, you have this disease, so take this medication to help your thyroid. It wasn't until later that a friend of mine, who also had hypo-thyroidism told me that there are certain foods I need to watch out for; foods I can not eat on a regular basis or at all. I got a snippet of information from her, but mainly I understood it all as, I can not eat soy and I can not eat any kind of nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds, ect.). I wasn't really even told why I can't eat these foods...I was just told that they were bad for me.
I lacked the right tools to do my own research. I didn't even know where to begin and I had no guidance what so ever. Plus, I believe back then, I was still in denial of my thyroid and watching what I ate. I didn't know the affect it could really have on me at the time. I just thought that if I took my medication I would be okay. WRONG! I had to seriously tune into my body and find out what I needed and what I didn't need.
When I moved away from Misawa, Japan and got stationed to Las Vegas, I went to the doctor there for my bi-annual thyroid check-up. It was then that I found out that my thyroid had actually gotten worse and that there were different types of hypo-thyroidism. First, in Misawa, I was told I had a secondary type of hypro-thyroidism, which meant my pituitary gland was not producing enough thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH, as the doctors call it.
Then, once I got to Las Vegas, I was told that I now had the primary type of hypro-thyroidism. I don't know if my thyroid changed or if I was misdiagnosed before. The definition of my "new" condition is called "Hashimoto Thyroiditis" or "Autoimmune Disease". The doctor explained to me that since thyroid problems ran in my family, it was inevitable that I was going to have a thyroid problem; it was just a matter of time.
Still, I was not educated any further on how my diet should change to cope with my thyroid. So, I continued eating what I wanted, while trying to avoid nuts and as much soy as possible, though I know I failed miserably at that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until just a couple of weeks ago, that I sat down and really did my own research on what my diet should be like to help my thyroid and my body. For years I ate whatever I wanted without even bothering to look at the ingredients of the food I was consuming. I was eating foods that could potentially damage my thyroid even more so and also my body as a whole and I didn't even care to notice. I mostly blame myself for that, but I also blame the doctors for not filling me with the kind of knowledge I feel I should have received from the beginning. I would have liked to have a conversation with my doctor, a nurse or even a nutritionist to tell me what my options were for my diet. Instead, I loosely followed the patchy instructions of my friend.
So, a couple weeks ago, I was sitting here at my computer, completing some work and eating a power bar. About half way through the power bar, I started to feel really weird, kind of like how I felt before I was informed that I had hypo-thyroidism. I felt light headed, sluggish and tired and I couldn't figure out why. Something dawned on me to look at the power bar's ingredients. And low and behold, the entire bar was made out of soy! I felt physically sick, but also upset that I just ate an entire power bar made out of mostly soy and other flavorings; exactly the kind of processed food I shouldn't be eating. It was at that moment that I said, enough is enough! I had to do research about food and my thyroid. So I started right then...and here is what I found out, after SEVEN years of neglect:
There was a LONG list of foods that I had been eating all along that I should NOT be eating or eating A LOT less of. All the foods had one thing in common and it's called "Giotrogens". Certain foods carry this natural chemical called Giotrogens and if these foods are ingested then this "chemical" blocks iodine utilization or the conversion of the thyroid hormone TSH. Supposedly the natural chemical varies with each of the foods that carry it.
I did a lot of research on a lot of different pages and they all just about said the same thing. I could not find an "official" website about this informtation, but here is the website I got all of my current information from: http://www.thyrophoenix.com/bad_foods.htm
Here is the list of foods I (and people with hypo-thyroidism) need to cut out of our diet or eat a substantial less amount:
Veggies.
-Broccoli
-Brussel Sprouts
-Cabbage
-Cassava Root (found in tapioca)
-Cauliflower
-Lima Beans
-Corn
-Millet
-Mustard
-Peanuts (as I understood it...not ALL nuts, just peanuts)
-Pine Nuts
-Rapeseed
-Sweet Potatoes
-Turnips
-Kale
-Mustard Greens
-Spinach
-Rutabaga
Fruits.
-Peaches
-Pears
-Strawberries
Items found in processed foods.
-Unsaturated fats
-Soy
-Fructose Corn Syrup
-Textured Vegetable Protein
Oils.
-Flax
-Soybean
-Corn
-Canola
Proteins.
-Red Meat
-Eggs
Beverages (besides alcohol).
-Non-Filtered Water (which usually contains chlorine and fluoride)
-Black Tea
-Green Tea
THANK YOU FOR READING
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