Active Low-Carber Forums
Atkins diet and low carb discussion provided free for information only, not as medical advice.
Home Plans Tips Recipes Tools Stories Studies Products
Active Low-Carber Forums
A sugar-free zone


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums.
Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!

Go Back   Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Low Carb Health & Technical Forums > Thyroid Disease
User Name
Password
FAQ Members Calendar Mark Forums Read Search Gallery My P.L.A.N. Survey


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   ^
Old Sat, Aug-14-10, 10:47
aeroangie's Avatar
aeroangie aeroangie is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,087
 
Plan: Dr. Eric Westman's/Atkins
Stats: 150/148/132 Female 5'-4"
BF:
Progress: 11%
Location: NC Southern Outer Banks
Default foods to avoid/ low carb and thyroid

Reposted from www.realthyroidhelp.com

What to do while awaiting treatment:

http://www.geocities.com/gnattygrl/diet.htm

There are a number of things you can do while you are waiting for treatment to commence that will help you feel a little better. Keep in mind that if you do have thyroid disease evenutally you will need replacement hormones. Trying to treat this ‘naturally’ is expensive, difficult and could seriously backfire on you. The drugs taken to restore hormone levels are the biological equivalents that your own body would make if it could.

Foods to avoid

Just as taking medication can affect your health, so can the foods you eat, or in this case, don’t eat.
Do you consume a lot of Soy products? Do you eat lots of raw veggies like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower? Do you consume any breads containing millet? Have you jumped on the flaxseed bandwagon? Do you severely restrict your carbs?

If you do any of those things, you may want to reassess your diet. I am not saying start eating sugar again, or stop eating veggies, however there are foods that definitely damage your thyroid health. Simply stopping Soy if you eat a lot of it might be enough to turn your health around (the only exception to this is that fermented products like Soy sauce are OK because the fermentation process destroys the bad chemical compounds in Soy). Millet is especially bad, too--especially when cooked, and the others are bad to a lesser degree when eaten raw, but are ok if cooked thoroughly.

Here is a list of foods to avoid unless cooked thoroughly:
• African cassava
• Asparagus
• Babassu (a palm-tree coconut fruit popular in Brazil and Africa )
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Horseradish
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leafy green vegetables (turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens)
• Legumes (beans and peas)
• Peanuts
• Pine nuts
• Processed meats
• Radishes
• Rutabaga
• Spinach
• Stawberries
• Peaches
• Turnips
• Watercress

Cooking can destroy some of the goitrogens found in foods, a good thing, as many of the foods to be avoided raw are otherwise healthy and rich with antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Roughly 1/3 of goitrogens are destroyed when foods are cooked. This means that these foods do not need to be avoided, but limited to approximately 1 or 2 cups per week.

And avoid entirely:
• Soy in any form that isn't fermented
• Millet (actually WORSE when cooked)
• Teas (green tea, black tea – high levels of fluoride suppress thyroid function)
• Rapeseed, canola, flax, soybean, safflower, corn and other polyunsaturated fats/oils (PUFAs help contribute to a skewed EFA balance that can exacerbate inflammation, CVD risk and depression)

Flax and Thyroid

Flax oil, flaxseeds, and flax meal are not often mentioned on lists of goitrogen foods. One might assume that's because flax isn't as commonly ingested in North America as are other more common goitrogen foods such as cabbage family vegetables. Consumption levels of flax are changing, as the seed and oil become more aggressively marketed as an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been proven to reduce cholesterol levels [common to thyroid sufferers], heart disease, and cancer.

Flaxseed is a cyanogenic goitrogen, which means it contains a substance that converts to thiocyanate in the body. Thiocyanate effectively blocks iodine concentration by the thyroid gland and thus causes thyroid dysfunction.

Flax is also a rich source of lignan, a phytochemical which converts after digestion into a phytoestrogen-like substance. Phytoestrogens are known to suppress thyroid function.

Extreme Low Carb and Thyroid:

Very low consumption of carbs can negatively impact thyroid function. If you are severely restricting carbohydrates, your liver has to work overtime converting protein and glycogen into glucose, the liver is also where ketones are converted. This extra work means that the conversion of T4 into T3 is compromised.

Dieting (low carb dieting included) also reduces TSH, but NOT by increasing your thyroid hormones. TSH drops because your body is trying to slow metabolism. When TSH drops, T4 production by the thyroid gland slows down in response. T4 to T3 conversion, also compromised, further lowers your metabolism, and causes it to be harder to build muscle tissue. T3 is VITAL for protein synthesis such as building muscle tissue. If you can't build muscle tissue, it is harder to increase your metabolism.

You can also see how a lowered TSH would make life more difficult when you are trying to get that initial diagnosis.

What helps:

Selenium is VITAL for the production of the enzyme responsible for the conversion of T4 to T3. In addition, clinical trials have shown that supplementing with Selenium can help to lower the thyroid antibody counts, reducing symptoms that they cause, too. The maximum you would want to take is 200mcg a day – this is the total amount, so check your multi-vitamin and look at your diet for selenium rich foods, overdosing with selenium is possible.

Zinc (10 mg per day) is needed both before and after these production and conversion of T4 / T3 processes. Moreover, zinc is needed at the intracellular level to help the thyroid nuclear receptors attach and drive the reading of the DNA genetic code. Keep in mind that the main function of thyroid hormone is to help put the genetic code into action.

Vitamin D is necessary for thyroid hormone production in the pituitary gland, and possibly in the early stages of T-3 (thyronine) binding to its receptor. It now appears that the amount of vitamin D people need has been grossly under-estimated; experts recommend at least 800 IU of Vitamin D daily.

Vitamin E is part of the necessary supporting apparatus that enables the deiodinase enzyme to convert T-4 into T-3. As well amount of vitamin E needed has likewise been undersold; recommend dose is 400-800 IU daily.
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2   ^
Old Sun, Sep-05-10, 13:40
SlimJen SlimJen is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 345
 
Plan: My own
Stats: 122/110.7/100 Female 5'2 ft
BF:
Progress: 51%
Default

Is coffee alright to drink?
Reply With Quote
  #3   ^
Old Sun, Sep-05-10, 13:51
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Good info, Angie!! Thanks!!
Reply With Quote
  #4   ^
Old Sun, Sep-05-10, 14:11
ysabella's Avatar
ysabella ysabella is offline
Don't Call Me Sugar
Posts: 4,209
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 293/287/230 Female 65 inches
BF: :^( :^| :^)
Progress: 10%
Location: Auburn, WA
Default

Regarding selenium, I always read that one Brazil nut gives you the full RDA of selenium. So for those with thyroid issues, maybe it's more fun to eat a few Brazil nuts instead of taking a supplement.
Reply With Quote
  #5   ^
Old Mon, Jan-28-13, 22:09
TK123 TK123 is offline
New Member
Posts: 2
 
Plan: paleo
Stats: 123/125/117 Female 5'2"
BF:
Progress:
Default Hashi's and LC. How much is too low?

How many grams of carbs would you want to eat them to support thyroid? I have noticed since going LC its been harder to lose weight and i have lost muscle. I also have Hashimotos

Last edited by TK123 : Mon, Jan-28-13 at 22:10. Reason: added line
Reply With Quote
  #6   ^
Old Tue, Jan-29-13, 09:26
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,843
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

The number I've heard is 50g+.

I'm curious why you're losing muscle, that isn't typical on LC diet. Are you getting plenty of calories and protein? Protein should be at least .85g per KG of reference body weight (your goal weight).

So for you minimum of 45g up to around 79.5g unless you're very active then you can go up to around 2g per kg, 106g.

You might need to increase your thyroid dose. Best to get it checked out.
Reply With Quote
  #7   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-13, 08:59
mogirlinnc's Avatar
mogirlinnc mogirlinnc is offline
New Member
Posts: 24
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 196/186/140 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 18%
Location: NC
Default

Are all these foods to be avoided once on medication?
Reply With Quote
  #8   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-13, 11:26
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,843
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

IMHO, no. I am on medication and I eat them. I guess if your thyroid is marginal and you're not on meds, you should probably avoid them.
Reply With Quote
  #9   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-13, 05:55
mogirlinnc's Avatar
mogirlinnc mogirlinnc is offline
New Member
Posts: 24
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 196/186/140 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 18%
Location: NC
Default

Thanks! That's what I thought, but I did not want to make assumptions. I'm well regulated by meds - 2 grains of Amour and 50mcg of Cytomel. I just had my labs done 2 weeks ago, and everything looks lovely.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 17:19.


Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.