Diet to Help Reverse Hashimoto’s

Just how far do Hashimoto’s hypothyroid patients have to go in restricting foods in order to reduce their antibody count?

To remind you, if you have elevated thyroid antibodies, which is the definition of Hashimoto’s, not only will they destroy the thyroid gland, which could result in bouts of hyper symptoms followed by your energy crashing, the antibodies themselves can make you feel miserable.

A new study from Italy shows dramatic results in 3 weeks with certain restrictions similar to what a lot of the functional medicine community has been recommending.

The general idea is to eat a low-carb diet and restrict goitrogens and highly reactive foods. We will see the details in a little bit.

This chart shows the dramatic reduction in antibodies!

Diet Changes for Reducing Antibodies

The diet in the study was very restrictive, and the patients were monitored every week to be sure they were following the study restrictions. I recommend similar restrictions, but do not go as far as they did in the study.

Practitioners in the functional medicine arena recommend similar guidelines, and there is controversy whether it is necessary to restrict some foods. After all, the more you restrict, the more likely the patient will not follow the guidelines. A lot of times it is out of pure frustration with not knowing what to eat, but many times it is also out of foods being offered in social situations and it being hard to avoid them all.

We will examine each component of the study’s guidelines, then see what might really work for you.

Low Carbohydrate

The study used these proportions:

• 12-15% carbohydrates
• 50-60% proteins
• 25-30% fats

In contrast, the typical American diet contains

• 50% carbohydrates
• 15% proteins
• 35% fats

In addition, these patients were instructed to eat large leafy and other types of vegetables and only lean parts of red and white meat.

I was impressed with how much protein was recommended. One recommendation that I make is to avoid processed meats, those with nitrites.

The control diet, the one the group of thyroid patients whose antibodies did not decrease, was also low-carbohydrate. The big difference, then, was the foods that they restricted.

No Highly Reactive Foods

The study group restricted eggs, legumes, dairy products, bread, pasta, fruits, and rice.

I consider most of these highly reactive foods. The fruit restriction was to help the diet be low-carb.

Izabella Wentz, a pharmacist who has written on Hashimoto’s recommends the restriction of these highly reactive foods, which is similar to the study:

• gluten
• grains
• eggs
• soy
• dairy
• legumes

One point of controversy is that there is the idea that it is only necessary to eliminate gluten if you have both Celiac disease and Hashimoto’s. In this study, the patients only had Hashimoto’s and with the elimination of gluten, their auto-antibodies went down!

Another point of controversy is eliminating all grains, not just gluten-containing ones. In the study, they restricted rice as well as bread and pasta. That may have been more for the promotion of low carb, but it is interesting. Some patients may wish to experiment with eliminating all grains for a while to see the effect on antibodies.

Foods containing Goitrogens

Now we get into the controversial part. Goitrogens are compounds in food that interfere with thyroid function. The tricky part is that they do not all work the same way, and most can be inactivated with cooking. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to how the food is prepared and the quantity of food eaten.

For the purpose of the study, these foods were restricted:

• cruciferous (Brassicaceae family): rape seed or canola, cabbage, turnip, watercress, arugula, radish, horseradish
• milk produced by cattle nourished with these vegetables
• soy
• spinach
• millet
• tapioca
• lettuce
• certain food additives, ie, nitrates used for fish and meat preservation

However, the study authors say:

Goitrogens “induce iodine deficiency which can cause hypothyroidism and the formation of goiter (abnormal enlargement of the thyroid). This is why these substances are called goitrogens. From a chemical point of view, the substances contained in these goitrogens are glucosinolates. Actually, the suppression of thyroid gland function, because of the interference with iodine metabolism, is due to the breakdown products of these glucosinolates, such as thiocyanate, isothiocyanate, and goitrin. Generally, these compounds are inactivated by cooking and their iodine metabolism antagonizing activity can be considered insignificant.”

And that is the prevailing experience I see in my patients. By cooking foods with those compounds, they are inactivated.

I had a curious case of one patient whose thyroid would swell noticeably after eating cole slaw – which contains raw cabbage. And that was one patient. This is where individualized observation and recommendations are important.

I find it amusing to find lettuce on this list. Although it is eaten raw, I would like to see one patient that this makes a difference due to the goitrogenic properties. Lettuce can cause problems with those with irritable bowel, however.

To What Extent?

Again I ask, to what extent is is necessary to restrict foods in order to lower thyroid antibodies in Hashimoto’s patients?

The study only lasted 3 weeks, so it is hard to tell what would happen long term. Would the antibodies drop to normal levels? Would the patients stop being compliant with the diet because it is too restrictive? Would other systems begin to be affected to complicate the picture?

Please comment below if you have Hashimoto’s and are working with diet to affect antibodies.

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