WORST FOODS FOR YOUR THYROID GLAND.

Hi Friends, being a doctor we come across many patients with a lot of chronic disorders such as Diabetes, Hypertension, Osteoarthritis, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism etc..

They will be consulting doctors and receiving appropriate treatment, regularly getting checked through blood tests and again reviewing their medicines with docs.

But the main point comes here, that is, its ok.. You are perfect in regular visits to your sugar clinic or heart clinic or bone clinic or kidney clinic or whatever, but what's the use if you are eating unhealthy and inappropriate foods that may interact with your medications or even damage your derranged hormones!!

Got my point friends.. So I just thought, why not share a bit of my knowledge to you guys in both medicine and nutrition so as to educate you to a certain extent in the type of foods that you should avoid or should eat in order  to cope up with your chronic diseases as well as help your medicines to work and get absorbed properly so that they can fulfil their purpose of you taking them as advised by your consulting Doctor.

What's say.. friends .. won't that be sensible!!

Welcome to my new page..

First, let's start with HYPOTHYROIDISM ..what kind of foods we should avoid or take in moderation and what kinda foods are helpful for our butterfly shaped thyroid gland.

Before we enter into the well of nutrition guidelines for Hypothyroid patients, let's have a look at the common symptoms they usually suffer.

Thyroid gland being called a metabolic gland helps in many metabolic functions of the body, indirectly it helps  to burn your calories. So if a defect in this gland occurs, I mean, if the thyroid hormone is under-active, automatically.. what happens?? Yes, your metabolism will suffer and will reflect in a big list of symptoms..

Few of them are..

1. Felling lazy
2. Depression
3. Constipation
4. Dry skin
5. Fatigue
6. Weight gain
7. Cold sensitivity
8. Slow Heart rate
9. Tingling and numbness in palms and hands
10. Dry hair, hair loss
11. Brittle nails
12. Decreased memory
13. Infertility
14. Irregular periods
15. Decreased memory
16. Increased cholesterol levels
17. Joint pains, muscle aches, headaches ..
18. Weakness
19. Thinking of eyebrows
20. Puffy face.

FOODS TO AVOID IF YOU ARE A VICTIM OF HYPOTHYROID:

1. Cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Turnips, Kale, Spinach. These cruciferous vegetables blocks the thyroid to absorb enough of Iodine which is actually essential for its normal function. But if you are used to cooked or boiled form of these you can have them in moderation becoming cooking will reduce their effect of blocking the thyroid gland.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Fats: High fatty foods are normally unhealthy but if you are a hypothyroid you have to be more cautious in enjoying your butter, mayonnaise, margarine and those extra fat on your meat. The secret hidden here is that fat has a bad habit of reducing the absorption of your thyroid hormone replacement tablets and not only that this greasy substance also weakens the thyroid gland so in turn our thyroid gland can't produce enough of hormone which is actually necessary for good metabolic functions.
   
3. Soy: The only vegetarian B12 source is known to be unsafe if consumed in large amounts by hypothyroid patients. why?? This soy is known to have a plant variety of oestrogen content in it and this oestrogen actually blocks or interferes or competes with thyroid hormone and thus making it less available for the body. 
4. Gluten: What's this?? It is a form of protein found in processed foods of wheat, rye, barley and other grains. Oh! Never knew this..Right!!  But research studies show that excess consumption of gluten will result in decreased absorption of the thyroid hormone. So better go for whole grain forms of bread, rice etc..
5. Fiber: Fiber is actually good but very high amounts of fiber, I mean more than 25-30gms per day is said to be a caution for hypothyroids again. the reason is that excess fiber interrupts with your thyroid medications.
6. Added sugar: Foods containing added sugar in large amounts as they add that extra pounds on your body which makes the thyroid exhausted in order to metabolite all that extra calories you stuff in your body by eating those added sugary foods. Ex., Carbonated soda, jellies, Jams, Doughnuts, Lollipops, Jams, Cream biscuits, Chocolates etc..
   
7. People taking calcium and Iron tablets should be aware that these supplements interfere with your thyroid pills, but don't worry if you maintain a gap of about 4hrs while taking calcium, Iron supplements with your thyroid tablets. But I guess many hypothyroid patients are advised to take their tablets early in the morning on empty stomach. Another important point to be noted is that caffeine also blocks the absorption of these thyroid replacement tablets. In the context it is better to take your thyroid tablets on empty stomach and be patient at least for half an hour before you grab your early morning hot coffee:-) 
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9. Processed foods: Most of the processed instant foods available in the grocery stores are highly loaded with lots of salt(sodium). Generally HYPOTHYROID patients are at a higher risk for hypertension and we all know that excess intake of salt(sodium) aggravates the risk towards hypertension. 
   
10. Certain nuts such as Peanuts, pine nuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts and linseed in large amounts may be risky- So eat in moderation these nuts if you have hypothyroidism.
    
11. Mustard seeds, strawberries, sweet potatoes are few more foods to be careful while you eat them in excess.