What is a Good Diet for Hypothyroidism?

Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source

Finding the “right” diet for hypothyroidism can be easier said than done. There are tons of diets that all claim to improve your thyroid health, however, they lack the science to back up their claims. And this can be dangerous, especially when many of these diets recommend foods that have been shown to negatively affect your thyroid.

Below I have laid out some general but useful tips that you need to consider when choosing the right diet for hypothyroidism. All of these tips are based on research that accounts for the nutrients required for your body to not only produce thyroid hormone but to also to convert it and deliver it successfully to your cells where it is used.

An Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Hypothyroidism

The best diet for hypothyroidism should be very anti-inflammatory by nature. And this is because inflammation from your diet or any other source, causes stress to your body and activates your body’s natural stress response.

The stress hormones involved with this stress response work against your thyroid to slow you metabolism as means of telling your body to conserve energy so that it can either overcome or outlast the source of the stress.

But when the stress becomes a continuous problem such as eating an inflammatory diet that places your body under daily stress then those stress hormones continuously slow your thyroid which causes many problems.

Do Grains Have a Place in a Diet for Hypothyroidism?

There are many sources of inflammation within your diet but one of the biggest and most common is from gluten containing grains such as wheat. And yes, all grains contain some form of gluten and in some amount. Wheat is just the one that gets the most attention.

Not only that but starchy grains contain sugar chains made up entirely of glucose. And glucose alone will have a much great impact on your blood sugar than many other forms of sugar.

So it’s quite common for people who eat a heavy grain based diet to have blood sugar imbalances and oftentimes develop insulin sensitivity, or diabetes.

Anti-Inflammatory Proteins

Yes, protein is good for you and it needs to be a big part of any diet for hypothyroidism. But also keep in mind that not all protein is created equal.

More than a decade ago, our diet used to be quite different.

We would make use of the entire animal that we ate instead of merely using a few different cuts of meat. And that included using the bones and organs as well.

Fast forward to today and all we eat are a few cuts of muscle meat which tend to be far less nutritious than other parts of the animal. But more importantly, muscle meats are higher in amino acids like tryptophan, cysteine, methionine, and histadine which tend to promote inflammation.

This is why I always recommend incorporating bone broths and gelatins into your diet for hypothyroidism in order to get plenty of the anti-inflammatory amino acids such as glycine.

Aside from that, the anti-inflammatory proteins have a host of other benefits. They help regulate fat metabolism. They improve your clotting factors. They have even been used for more than 100 years to treat diseases such as diabetes and arthritis.

Saturated Fats

Another very important component to any diet for hypothyroidism is saturated fats. The benefits of having saturated fats in your diet are enormous.

But you have to break through the invalidated misinformation out there that has led so many people to wrongfully believe that saturated fats are bad.

For starters, saturated fats are easily metabolized. They inhibit the release of histamine which is responsible for much the inflammation within your body. They also counteract the effects of the inflammatory proteins I mentioned above.

But possibly most important to your thyroid, they promote availability of thyroid hormone receptors, allowing your cells to use T3 more efficiently.

Coconut oil is one of the best saturated fats that you can eat. It’s made up almost entirely of medium chain fatty acids such as Lauric acid, which are directly converted into usable energy, instead of being stored away as fat like some would like you to believe.

Butter is another great choice of fat in your diet. Butter contains plenty of nutrients such as vitamin A and vitamin D which are necessary for healthy hormone production.

A Hormone Supportive Diet for Hypothyroidism

Another very important aspect of the best diet for hypothyroidism is that it must support healthy hormone function. And I can’t emphasize this enough.

There are many different hormones within your body that all play different roles. But keep in mind that many of these hormones all interact with each other and many work to balance each other out.

And when one hormone becomes out of balance then it can create a cascade of effects that effectively cause many other hormones to become imbalanced.

Take your thyroid hormone as a very simple example. Your body requires thyroid hormone along with vitamin A to convert cholesterol into the cascade of protective hormones including pregnenolone, progesterone, and DHEA.

But when you become hypothyroid and lack thyroid hormone then your body can’t produce enough of these protective hormones which protect your body from a number of different health issues, including cancer.

And I’ll also note that when you lack the thyroid hormone to convert cholesterol, then it should make perfect sense why your cholesterol becomes elevated.

And using cholesterol lowering medication to drive your cholesterol lower in the absence of thyroid hormone is not doing you any good. But by following a good diet for hypothyroidism you can effectively increase your thyroid hormone production and naturally lower your cholesterol.

Selenium

Selenium is one of the most important nutrients to your thyroid and the best diet for hypothyroidism will make sure that you eat plenty of foods that are high in selenium.

This nutrient is so important because it’s used readily by your liver to convert your non-active form of thyroid hormone to the active form that can be used by your cells. And if you don’t have enough selenium then you quickly become hypothyroid.

The most notable foods that are rich in selenium as well as other thyroid supportive nutrients is seafood such as shrimp, muscles, crab, etc.

Vitamin A

As I mentioned above, vitamin A plays a very important role in your hormone production. And it also plays an important role with your thyroid function.

Too little vitamin A will suppress your thyroid, making you hypothyroid. But too much will also do the same when it’s not properly balanced with thyroid hormone.

So it’s important to make sure that your diet for hypothyroidism allows you enough vitamin A to not only promote healthy thyroid function but to also ensure that your body is capable of producing the necessary protective hormones to keep your thyroid healthy.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E plays a little bit of a different role when it comes to supporting your thyroid. There are many foods that should be excluded from your hypothyroidism diet because they tend to directly affect your thyroid function.

One example of a food that will negatively affect your thyroid and should not be allowed as part of your diet for hypothyroidism is polyunsaturated fats.

These fats work to suppress your thyroid and block the use of thyroid hormone by your cells. And vitamin E is one nutrient that can really help offset the anti-thyroid effects of polyunsaturated fats.

But it also does much more than that. It also helps balance the negative effects of estrogen which also works against your thyroid. It is anti-inflammatory, prevents the degeneration of organ and muscle tissue, and is a proven factor for preventing heart disease and miscarriages.

A good hypothyroid diet doesn’t have to be overly complicated. It just has to naturally support your body’s needs so that it can produce and utilize its thyroid hormone effectively and efficiently. And it should go without saying but it’s a necessary component of any good treatment for hypothyroidism.

The healthy functioning of your thyroid is essential for life. The healthier your thyroid, the longer and healthier life you will live. So regardless of whether or not you are experiencing any major symptoms of hypothyroidism, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of eating the right diet for hypothyroidism to not only reverse the various health problems you might have but to also ensure that you live a happy and healthy life.

Watch this Video HERE - Diet Plan For Hypothyroidism (Low Thyroid Function): Proper Foods For Hypothyroidism

Author Bio:

Tom Brimeyer – The author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine, health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.

His personal mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.

For more details on his program, click on HypothyroidismRevolution.com

Revealing Here the 3 Best Kind of Hypothyroidism Exercise

Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source

Hypothyroidism Exercise

Exercising with hypothyroidism has been quite a misunderstood topic. Many people claim that exercise has huge benefits for people suffering from hypothyroidism. And some others tend to disagree.

The truth is that exercise CAN have some amazing benefits BUT not all exercise is created equal. In fact, most forms of exercise will further damage your thyroid.

But there are some very beneficial forms of hypothyroid exercise that have proven that they can be a very effective component of your hypothyroidism treatment plan.

And don’t forget to make your exercise even more effective by following the right hypothyroidism diet for even better and faster results.

The Wrong Kind of Hypothyroidism Exercise

I want to make sure that I make myself clear… Most forms of exercise are not beneficial and will only make you more hypothyroid.

This is because most forms of exercise cause excessive stress to your body.

Think about how exercise is supposed to work for a minute…

Almost all exercise is catabolic by nature, meaning that the stress of it causes your body to break down its own tissue. And it’s not until after this exercise that your body’s natural repair processes start up and your body recovers from the stress with the goal of rebuilding itself stronger than before.

But you have to realize that when you are hypothyroid, your body cannot properly recover from stressful exercise. So while you are hitting the gym thinking that you’re doing some great hypothyroidism exercise, you are continuously breaking down your body even more while your body fails to rebuild itself.

Eventually, your body breaks down to the point that if you’re lucky, you just run out of gas and you just can’t muster enough energy to make it to the gym. But more often than not, you end up with some sort of injury that sidelines your gym efforts.

And this is actually quite common due to the calcification of soft tissues that is one of the common hypothyroidism symptoms. But that’s a topic of another article.

Studies have also shown that these poor choices of hypothyroidism exercise cause your body to stop producing T3 almost immediately. And if that’s not an indication of a problem, then I don’t know what is.

I think that most people fail to realize that hypothyroidism is a respiratory problem. And without going into detail here, when you perform these types of poor hypothyroidism exercise, it forces your body to shift even further away from your healthy and thyroid supportive, oxidative energy system. And this makes you even more hypothyroid, which continues to carry over even after your workout.

So here I’ve listed some of the worse kinds of hypothyroidism exercise that you should be avoiding at all costs.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Personally, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that so many people recommend cardio as a good form of hypothyroid exercise. And because people tend to push themselves to their limit when it comes to doing cardio, it makes it even worse.

Cardio exercise causes a chronic stress response from your body which is extremely catabolic. You might lose some weight but it is most likely going to be from the breakdown of muscle tissue. And this process is not only stressful and inflammatory to your body, but it also contributes to hypothyroidism.

Any Form of Intense Exercise

I’ve seen a major shift in the exercise world which has been brought around mostly because cardio exercise doesn’t get results. And I think a large part of the problem really stems from the fact that most people are hypothyroid to begin with.

So, there’s been a major shift away from traditional cardio and to shorter and much more intense workouts. But this also has some major pitfalls, making it another poor hypothyroidism exercise choice.

When you’re hypothyroid, you already have a problem storing sugar in your liver. And these intense workouts require your body to use large amounts of sugar very quickly. And when this sugar isn’t available, then your body takes a beating. And again, this causes significant amounts of stress that leave you unable to recover and even more hypothyroid in the end.

The Right Kind of Hypothyroidism Exercise

The right kind of hypothyroidism exercise is very contradictory to the current exercise philosophy of working harder to get better results. In most cases, doing less is actually the key.

I’m going to give you three forms of exercise that are highly recommended for hypothyroidism. And this is because they are not catabolic in nature and do not work to break down your body.

Instead they promote and stimulate your body’s repair processes and create an anabolic, or tissue rebuilding, effect.

There are a few similarities between these three forms of good hypothyroidism exercise that I think are worth pointing out.

One of the biggest similarities is that they all place their primary focus on proper breathing. And this is far more important that you probably realize.

They do this because it’s the breathing techniques that they use which work to stimulate your healthy oxidative energy system.

And without going into too much detail, this triggers your parasympathetic nervous system which is what promotes your body’s natural repair process.

And you’ll also notice that none of these forms of exercise are intense. Instead they are designed to focus on so much more than your muscles. They are balancing your energy system, your hormones, and so many other processes that work behind the scenes which are the true dictators of your health.

Instead of creating stress on your body, they are actually lower your stress level and hormones.

Below I’ve listed 3 great forms of hypothyroidism exercise. Find which one resonates with you the most and use it to your advantage.

Tai Chi

I’m a huge fan of Tai Chi and I think its benefits speak for itself.

I’ve mentioned many times that thyroid function decreases with age and that many of the health problems common among the elderly community are in fact a result of hypothyroidism.

And I think that the testament to the effectiveness of Tai Chi can be seen in the amazing success that it has been providing the elderly community. It’s slowly gaining ground with this age population but the results speak for themselves.

Also, consider the fact that as you age, your body’s healing processes slow down. So, if it’s this effective with the elderly, then imagine how effective it can be for the younger population.

Qigong

Qigong is another great type of hypothyroidism exercise. I understand that there are many differences between Tai Chi and Qigong, but for all intensive purposes I would say that they are similar in nature and the results that they provide.

Tai Chi tends to be more structured whereas Qigong is freer flowing.

I definitely recommend trying them both and finding which one you find you enjoy more.

Yoga

Yoga for hypothyroidism is one form of hypothyroidism exercise that you have to be a little more careful about. And that’s because there are many different forms and practices of yoga and not all are created equal.

You really want to stick with a less intensive form that focuses heavier on breathing and flexibility as opposed to many forms that are much more intense.

Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of using the right kind of hypothyroidism exercise as part of your treatment for hypothyroidism. It can really help accelerate your results and health to new levels.

Watch this Video HERE - 5 Quick Yoga Poses for THYROID Problems & Disorders

Author Bio:

Tom Brimeyer – The author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine, health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.

His personal mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.

For more details on his program, click on HypothyroidismRevolution.com

5 Important Steps for Hypothyroidism Treatment Success

Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source

Hypothyroidism Treatment

There’s a big problem within the medical community today with their approach to treating a number of health problems and diseases.

And 9 out of 10 times, this problem exists because their treatments are driven entirely by financial interests and NOT in the best interests of the patients who are suffering.

And their current sub-par approach to hypothyroidism treatment is one that understandably fits the bill.

In just a minute, I’m going to give you some important tips that your doctor isn’t telling you about, which are necessary for any successful hypothyroidism treatment.

But before I do, I want to talk a little bit about why none of this is even discussed within the medical community.

Hypothyroidism Treatment – Then and Now

Here’s something that most people don’t realize.

Long ago, before the pharmaceutical industry was pulling in over $500 billion dollars (yes, I said billion) each year from drug sales, the doctors at the time were far more successful at treating hypothyroidism than they are today.

Long ago, doctors clearly understood the far reaching effects of hypothyroidism. It was extremely common for doctors to find that hypothyroidism was involved in the majority of their patients’ health problems.

And oftentimes, the right hypothyroidism treatment would not only eliminate all of their symptoms, but also leave them with a clean bill of health.

Today, doctors have become far less accustomed to determining the underlying cause of disease. And instead, they have become far too accustomed to treating only their patients’ symptoms.

And by using drugs to merely cover up your hypothyroidism symptoms, you do absolutely nothing to improve your state of health. And so it’s very common that you develop newer and more severe symptoms in the process.

Unfortunately, when there’s more than $500 billion dollars at stake each year, there’s no real incentive to heal people. There’s far too much money to be made if people continue to stay sick and develop new and more serious health problems that require the use of even more drugs.

But if we went back to our old ways of using far more effective hypothyroid treatment options, then there would be too few people left to spend all of their hard earned money on a lifetime of prescription drugs.

The Truth about Hypothyroidism Treatment

The truth is that there is so much more that you can do to treat hypothyroidism than what your doctor may or may not recommend.

But as I mentioned above, because the medical community is largely driven by the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry, most patients are sent home with the wrong medication that oftentimes only makes their hypothyroidism worse in the end (more about that below).

A quick search on just about any online medical reference will quickly tell you that there are certain foods and supplements that may affect your ability to absorb many of the thyroid medications that are readily prescribed.

But not a single one mentions any foods or supplements that can directly affect your ability to produce or utilize the thyroid hormone that your body natural makes.

In fact, most medical professionals will tell you that your diet has little to no impact whatsoever on the health of your thyroid.

But when start to look at the research, it tells a very different story.

You can throw all of the supplements, medication, etc at your thyroid that you want. But if you don’t get the basics right, then you’re essentially wasting your time.

And this is because you are missing the bigger picture.

Below I’m going to cover 5 essential steps that are an integral part of any hypothyroidism treatment if you want to truly restore your life, health, and energy.

1. Start a Hypothyroidism Treatment Diet

There has been a lot of research that demonstrates the important connection between your diet and hypothyroidism.

There are certain foods that directly contribute to hypothyroidism and should be avoided as part of your treatment for hypothyroidism. And there are certain nutrients that are necessary for your thyroid to function properly.

So it should only make sense that your diet should play a big role in your hypothyroidism treatment. One of the best examples of a problem food is the polyunsaturated fats.

Research clearly shows that these fats block your thyroid from releasing its thyroid hormones, block your thyroid hormone from being transported properly within your bloodstream, and blocks your cells from properly using your thyroid hormone.

And there are key nutrients that your body needs to effectively produce the necessary thyroid hormones that it needs to keep your cells happy and healthy.

And that brings us to the second step.

2. Restore Your Liver Health

Most of the active thyroid hormone, T3, that your body uses is produced by your liver. But your liver can’t do this unless it has plenty of stored glycogen and certain nutrients, such as selenium.

So if your blood sugar is out of balance and your hypothyroidism diet lacks certain key nutrients then your liver can’t do its job. And even though your thyroid gland itself may not be the problem, your liver can be responsible for slowing it down, resulting in hypothyroidism.

So the health of your liver is another major consideration when it comes to your hypothyroidism treatment.

3. Improve Your Lifestyle Management

Most people take their lifestyle for granted. But the truth is that your lifestyle can be a determining factor in whether or not your hypothyroidism treatment is successful or whether you continue to become even more hypothyroid.

And no matter how you look at it, it always boils down to stress.

But most people don’t realize what stress actually does to the health of your thyroid. For starters, it starts an entire cascade of hormonal reactions within your body, many of which are inflammatory and cause even more stress.

Your stress hormones also play an active role in suppressing your thyroid. It does this by both inhibiting your liver from converting T4 to active T3, as mentioned above, and by increasing the conversion to the hormone, Reverse T3, which effectively blocks your thyroid function.

And the more stressful our lives become, the more important it becomes to keep stress to a minimum as part of your hypothyroidism treatment.

4. Balance Your Blood Sugar

Speaking of stress and stress hormones, one of the fastest and most common ways to increase your stress hormones is to allow your blood sugar to drop too low.

When this happens, your body increases your stress hormone, cortisol, which is responsible for breaking down your muscle tissue in order to raise your blood sugar back up.

But as I’ve already mentioned above, cortisol works against your thyroid.

So, balancing your blood sugar should be an extremely important part of any hypothyroidism treatment.

5. Use the Right Thyroid Supplement(s)

Once you get your diet right, liver healthy, stress hormones under control, and blood sugar balanced, and then your thyroid will begin to function far more effectively. But for some, it still might not be quite enough to get their thyroid health completely back to normal.

And only then is when thyroid supplementation can come in handy as part of your hypothyroidism treatment.

Your entire hormonal system is very complex and oftentimes hormonal feedback pathways can really inhibit your thyroid hormones from returning to normal levels. And in these situations, supplementing with the right thyroid hormones can help restore proper hormonal levels rather quickly.

But not all thyroid supplements are created equal. And some have no business being part of any hypothyroidism treatment plan.

For example, iodine is oftentimes the wrong choice of supplementation which can actually cause more harm than good.

And the medical community continues to prescribe T4 only medication when research clearly shows that it is not effective for the majority of people.

And too often, this additional T4 will actually make you even more hypothyroid which is very counterproductive when it comes to hypothyroidism treatment.

The key is to find the right combination of hormones that your body needs to restore balance.

Hypothyroidism Treatment Results

It’s also important to consider that there are also factors that affect how fast or slow that you begin to see the results of implementing the steps mentioned above in your hypothyroidism treatment plan.

For example, it can vary largely due to a woman’s cycle. This is because of the role that estrogen and progesterone play in her ability to handle certain nutrients in her diet.

It’s not uncommon for her symptoms to return when estrogen peaks during her cycle. But it normally only takes a cycle or two before things begin to stabilize.

If you can get a handle on these 5 essential steps for hypothyroidism treatment success then you will be well on your way to not only seeing improvements with your hypothyroidism but also with fully restoring your health and energy.

You may want to watch this Video HERE - Hypothyroidism Treatment and Diet Plan: Foods To Eat and Foods To Avoid 

Author Bio:

Tom Brimeyer – The author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine, health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.

His personal mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.

For more details on his program, click on HypothyroidismRevolution.com

10 Hypothyroidism Diet Tips to Help Heal Your Thyroid

Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source

Don’t expect to hear this from your doctor, but following the right hypothyroidism diet plan is by far the biggest factor in overcoming hypothyroidism.

You can do everything else right and be using the best available supplements or medication, but if your diet isn’t right, then you will be forever fighting a battle that you just can’t win.

Then there’s the problem of actually finding the “right” hypothyroidism diet to follow. Most diets for hypothyroidism are completely outdated and based on poor research, if any research at all. But there’s also a lot of great research out there that is just now starting to connect a lot of the dots with hypothyroidism.

But unfortunately, it will take years or even decades for the general public, or even the medical community, to accept the fact that many of the dietary beliefs that exist today are completely false. And there’s a good chance that they never will.

Until that time comes, I plan to share all kinds of hypothyroidism diet tips with you, starting with these 10 below.

Below I’ve broken down 10 important tips that are a necessity for any successful hypothyroidism diet. But more importantly, I’ve broken them down so that you also understand why they are so important.

All too often, we accept many things that we read as the truth without questioning or verifying the facts with the proper research.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #1 - Avoid Anti-Thyroid Foods

The first hypothyroidism diet tip that I want to share with you is one that is very important. And this is because it’s a controversial topic because there are some highly touted “health foods” that you are eating which are actually contributing to your hypothyroidism.

Some of the first foods that come to mind are any food that contains soy. This includes soybeans, edamame, soy milk, tofu, etc. Soy is very estrogenic and estrogens have been shown to inhibit the thyroid gland from secreting its thyroid hormones.

And this is disturbing because I have seen more than one, very well respected hypothyroidism diet and hypothyroidism treatment program that actually recommend soy without ever discussing this very important link.

Another very controversial food that directly contributes to hypothyroidism is the polyunsaturated fats in your diet.

And one reason this is such a big problem is that these fats have been touted for years for their beneficial properties while ignoring the research that clearly show the dangers.

But when it comes to your thyroid, these fats suppress its function on just about every level.

First of all, they block the secretion of your thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland itself.

Then they also block the transportation of the thyroid hormone within your bloodstream.

And lastly, they block your cells from properly utilizing the hormone once they get it.

The research against these fats simply can’t be ignored. And the best hypothyroidism diet should exclude these fats at all costs. Or else you’re only setting yourself up for failure.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #2 - Increase Your Saturated Fats

Saturated fats on the other hand carry a lot of unfounded negative criticism. Criticizers of saturated fats still continue to cite outdated and poorly executed research studies from more than 50 years ago while ignoring the enormous amount of research showing their benefits.

One of the major benefits of the saturated fats being part of your hypothyroidism diet is that they help to cancel out the negative effects of the toxic polyunsaturated fats.

They also help by improving your body’s insulin response which helps you to maintain balanced blood sugar levels and reduce stress hormones. Elevated stress hormones are also one of the many hypothyroidism causes.

But you do have to be careful with many animal fats because they might not be quite what they seem on the outside. For example, all conventionally raised cattle are fattened with corn, soy, and other foods that are high in polyunsaturated fats. And because of this, their body fat becomes very unsaturated in the process.

So it’s important to include only high quality saturated fats in your diet for hypothyroidism. This includes fats from grass fed and grass finished animals, butter, and coconut oil.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #3 - Eat Your Fruit

Fruit can actually be one of your best friends when it comes to your hypothyroidism diet.

For starters, most fruit is very high in potassium which plays an important role in regulating your blood sugar. This helps to decrease the need of insulin which helps keeps your blood sugar more stable for longer periods of time.

And by regulating your blood sugar, you automatically reduce your stress hormone response which, as I mentioned above, is a common problem with hypothyroidism.

However, there are some fruits which are best avoided. Avocados are a good example because of their high unsaturated fat content.

So, the key is to focus you hypothyroidism diet on the right fruits and avoid those that are working against you.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #4 - Increase Your Salt Intake

There are a lot of myths out there regarding salt and sodium. But it’s more important than most people realize, especially when it comes to your hypothyroidism diet.

Sodium is actually a very important nutrient that your body needs to carry out a multitude of functions. For example, sodium is necessary for properly regulating blood pressure. But it also has some other important functions in dealing with hypothyroidism.

One of the more common hypothyroidism symptoms is edema. And edema is a problem with your cells that causes them to take up more water. But when your cells take up water, they lose sodium which is then excreted and lost through your urine.

And when your sodium level is low, it actually slows your metabolism and increases your stress hormones which can also lead to sleep problem. And elevated stress hormones end up making you even more hypothyroid.

And because you get sodium from salt, it should make sense that salt is a necessary component of your hypothyroidism diet in order to help keep your stress hormones to a minimum and reverse hypothyroidism.

And most people need a lot more than they think.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #5 - Get Plenty of Bone Broth

Most people don’t even know what bone broth is, let alone that it’s one of the best sources of protein that you can get. Bone broth was actually a common part of most people’s diets more than a century ago. But now, it’s become an almost entirely forgotten component of almost every hypothyroidism diet.

Bone broth is best known for being high in nutrients and very easy to digest. But it’s unique because it contains a blend of very anti-inflammatory amino acids that are lacking among most sources of meat.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #6 - Eat Some Shellfish

Living close to water definitely has its perks, especially when it comes to seafood. But shellfish in general are actually very beneficial to your thyroid and can play a crucial role in your hypothyroidism diet.

For starters, they are a good source of thyroid hormone which we rarely get in our standard meat based diet these days. So eating shellfish alone can help give your thyroid some much needed support.

Another amazing benefit of shellfish is that they are naturally high in selenium. And selenium is one of the key nutrients that are required to convert the inactive T4 to the active T3 thyroid hormone in your liver.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #7 - Cut the Processed Foods

If it’s one thing that almost every hypothyroidism diet can agree with, it’s that processed foods have no place whatsoever in your diet.

Processed and/or packaged foods are loaded with processed grains that cause lots of problems with your blood sugar. And this causes a spike in your insulin levels which eventually leaves you with low blood sugar. And this creates yet another stress hormone response in order to raise your blood sugar levels back to normal.

There’s also the issue of these processed foods being full of toxic chemicals like flavor enhancers and preservatives. These chemicals are toxic and contribute to liver congestion which makes it even more difficult for your liver to convert the necessary thyroid hormones into their active form.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #8 - Cook Your Veggies

This is another one of the more controversial topics when it comes to your hypothyroid diet. And that’s because there’s a lot of misconceptions out there regarding raw vs. cooked veggies.

Yes, raw veggies do contain more nutrients than cooked veggies. But it’s not about what you eat; it’s about what you digest.

Because raw veggies are very difficult to digest, you actually extract fewer nutrients from them raw than you do from cooked veggies.

You also want to really cook your veggies well in order to help break down the fiber and make the nutrients as readily available as possible. Otherwise, the fiber can become food for bad gut bacteria which is problematic and also contributes to hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #9 - Don’t Overdo the Water

Continuing in our long list of controversial hypothyroidism diet topics, let’s discuss water.

Most people are led to believe that they need 8 glasses of water a day or even more. But what we already know about hypothyroidism is that is causes water retention. So why does it make sense to drink even more water when your body has a problem getting rid of it in the first place?

It doesn’t.

And this can cause your sodium levels to drop even more which as I mentioned above, also contributes to hypothyroidism.

The best recommendation for water while on your hypothyroidism diet is to drink when thirsty. If you work outside in the sun then odds are you’ll need more water than me while I’m sitting here indoors moving only my fingers on the keyboard.

The amount of water you really need depends on many variables. And your thirst is the best indicator of how much you need.

Hypothyroidism Diet Tips #10 - Drink Your Coffee

I thought I would round out the 10 hypothyroidism diet tips with… coffee.

Believe it or not, but coffee has some amazing benefits for your thyroid. But keep in mind that it has to be taken right or else it can have some negative effects. You should never drink coffee on an empty stomach. And it’s important to add the right ratios of fat and sugar.

Coffee is high in caffeine which works to stimulate your thyroid. It’s also high in magnesium and B vitamins which are both necessary for proper thyroid function.

Studies also back up these claims showing that coffee drinkers have the lowest incidence of thyroid disease, including cancer.

I know that many of the tips that I just gave you are controversial. But they are all based on research even though the research might not have made it into the public eye for one reason or another. That’s a topic for another article.

But I hope that you’ve learned some very useful tips that you can immediately put into action and incorporate into your hypothyroidism diet today to start seeing some results.

Watch this Video HERE – Diet Plan for Hypothyroidism (Low Thyroid Function): Proper Foods For Hypothyroidism

Author Bio:

Tom Brimeyer – The author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine, health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.

His personal mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.

For more details on his program, click on HypothyroidismRevolution.com