5 foods for healthy thyroid

 

The National Institutes of Health say that your thyroid needs iodine to work well and make enough thyroid hormone for your body's needs (NIH). If you don't get enough iodine, you risk hypothyroidism or a goitre (a thyroid gland that becomes enlarged to compensate for the thyroid hormone shortage, per Medline Plus). Since table salt is iodized, most Americans don't have a problem getting enough iodine. However, if you're on a low-sodium diet (which more and more Americans are doing for their heart health) or a vegan diet (more on that later), you may need to get more iodine from other sources.

A registered dietician at the Cleveland Clinic, Mira Ilic, RD, told Health that there is a lot of iodine in many kinds of seaweed, but the amount can vary a lot. The NIH says that the amount of iodine in different types of seaweed is very different. For example, the amount of iodine in whole or sheet seaweeds sold in stores ranges from 16 mcg/g to 2,984 mcg/g (the recommended dietary allowance for a non-pregnant or non-lactating person is 150 mcg).

Since seaweed can have a lot of iodine, you shouldn't start eating sushi every day of the week. Too much iodine can cause or make hypothyroidism worse, which is just as bad for your thyroid as too little. Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, a contributing nutrition editor for Health, said that if you want to get the big benefits of seaweed without going overboard, stick to one fresh seaweed salad per week (in addition to sushi) and stay away from seaweed teas and supplements.

Yoghurt

You probably don't have to worry about getting too much iodine from any foods other than kelp salads. The NIH says that a cup of dairy products has an average of 85 mcg of iodine in it.

But dairy products have different amounts of iodine. Part of the reason for this is that animals are given iodine supplements and cleaners used in the milking process are made with iodine. The NIH says that when they looked at samples of nonfat milk, they found that each cup had anywhere from 38 to 159 mcg.

The NIH says that plain, low-fat yoghurt or Greek yoghurt is a good source. It can give you about half of your daily iodine needs.

Brazil Nuts

The NIH says that selenium is another nutrient found in Brazil nuts that helps control thyroid hormones. A 2013 review in the journal Clinical Endocrinology found that selenium may help people with thyroid problems like Hashimoto's and Graves' disease avoid long-term damage to the thyroid.

There are between 68 and 91 micrograms in just one kernel. Since the most selenium you can take in a day is 400 micrograms, don't take too much. Ilic said that getting too much selenium can cause "garlic breath," hair loss, nail discolouration, and even heart failure.

Milk

The NIH says that milk and milk products are some of the best places to get iodine. But plant-based drinks that are used as milk substitutes, like soy and almond drinks, have a small amount of iodine in them.

Our use of dairy has been going down for a long time. Data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the amount of fluid cow's milk consumed per person in the US has been going down for more than 70 years. It went down by an average of 1% per year in the 2000s and by an average of 2.6% per year in the 2010s.

One cup of low-fat milk will give you about one-third of the iodine you need for the day. Another good idea is to drink a glass of milk that has vitamin D added to it. One study from 2013 that was published in the International Journal of Health Sciences found that people with hypothyroidism were more likely to be D-deficient than people who were healthier. (Cheese, especially cheddar, is another good example of dairy: One slice has 12 micrograms of iodine and 7 international units (IU) of vitamin D.)

Chicken and Beef

Zinc is another important nutrient for your thyroid because it helps your body make thyroid hormone. A 2013 study in the International Journal of Trichology says that getting too little zinc can cause hypothyroidism. But here's the kicker: if you have hypothyroidism, you can also lose zinc because your thyroid hormones help your body absorb the mineral. And when that happens, you may also have side effects like severe alopecia, an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles and makes hair fall out in clumps, according to a 2013 report in the International Journal of Trichology.

Most people in the US get enough zinc, but if you have a bad diet or a GI disorder that makes it hard for you to absorb zinc, Ilic says you might be at risk for a deficiency. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that meats are a good source. A 3-ounce serving of beef chuck roast has 7 milligrammes, a 3-ounce serving of beef patty has 3 milligrammes, and a 3-ounce serving of dark chicken meat has 2.4 milligrammes.

Fish

The American Thyroid Association says that fish are another good source of iodine because it is found in soil and seawater. As the authors of a 2014 study in BMC Public Health wrote, researchers have known for a long time that people who live in remote, mountainous areas without access to the sea are more likely to get goitres.

Salvatore Caruana, MD, director of the division of head and neck surgery in the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Columbia Doctors, said, "The most convincing evidence we have [for thyroid problems] is not getting enough to eat."

The NIH says that a 3-ounce portion of baked cod has about 158 micrograms of iodine, which is enough to meet your daily needs if you are not pregnant or nursing. A 3-ounce serving of fish sticks has 58 micrograms of iodine, which is a healthy amount.