Monday, March 2, 2009

My Anti-Cancer Treatments: Raw Foods That Are Contraindicated in Hypothyroid Conditions

Broccoli, brussell sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, turnip greens, and spinach should be eaten or juiced with caution if you are hypothyroid.

According to About.com - Thyroid Disease
:
* These high-fiber vegetables are also goitrogenic, meaning that they promote thyroid enlargement and can potentially cause or aggravate hypothyroidism. Typically, the risk is highest when these foods are consumed raw, regularly, and in substantial quantity. Cooking eliminates most goitrogenic properties.
I am hypothyroid due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis and I would get very sleepy soon after drinking a pint of raw green juice that was loaded with the aforementioned veggies.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is very common in mercury toxic and/or selenium deficient individuals.

Because these vegetables are such powerful anti-cancer foods, and because I am 100% raw right now, I am taking a supplement called BroccoMax, but I will most likely start steaming these veggies instead soon and give up on being 100% raw, as I really don't like taking supplements.

I will continue to juice raw organic celery, asparagus, carrot, beet (up to four times per week), ginger and lemon.

Thyroid Toxins: The Double-Edged Swords of The Kingdom Plantae, by Chris Masterjohn:
Goitrogenic foods include soy, millet, cruciferous vegetables, cassava, lima beans, flax seeds, almonds, and fruits and fruit seeds of the Rosacea family.
Rosacea family fruits are mainly apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach and plum. Interestingly, their seeds contain vitamin B17, also known as laetrile or amygdalin, which is also used as an anti-cancer treatment in alternative medicine.

Even with a raw foods diet, every body is different and there is no "one size fits all" raw foods anti-cancer treatment menu.

What are goitrogens and in which foods are they found?

Good news: Avocado and coconut stimulate thyroid function.
These are two of my favorite foods!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

"I have read that taking supplements can increase the risk of lymphoma." Where did you hear about this? Im curious. Thanks for posting. Ive been checking often. ;)

Dana Herbert said...

I read it a long time ago. Probably some abstract like this that points specifically to multivitamin use in women (but not men) possibly increasing the risk of lymphoma:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11390323

However, I read something more recently that specifically said something to the effect of:

"Vitamins from food sources did not increase the risk of lymphoma, though vitamins from supplements did increase the risk."

I was looking for this article before I posted this blog entry so that I could link to it. I thought I had bookmarked it, but I can't find it (and my bookmark list is a mile long!)

Perhaps they are talking about the same article?

I do take vitamin C supplements, and have never taken multivitamins (they have always made me nauseous).

Usually, when I read a list of supplements to use against lymphoma, I just go out and buy the real stuff, like curcumin, shiitake, etc.

I'm sure that the BroccoMax is safe stuff and I also take spirulina and chlorella.

But anything I can get from real food or tinctures (herbs) is preferred.

Dana Herbert said...

I changed that sentence to read "as I really don't like taking supplements."

If I find that other article, I will post it here in the comments section.

xoxo

Unknown said...

So do you think that taking the vitamins a, c, or e without taking a multivitamin is better? This is very interesting to me. I will need to research more on this.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dana, I just discovered your blog through crazy sexy, and I love it! Lots of great information. I was wondering if you could explain the eating of raw broccoli and sinach. I think you said not to have it raw with thyroid disorders, but then as I was exploring older posts I noticed your green drink on Jan 9 had broccoli in it. Has the opinion on this changed? Thanks !

Dana Herbert said...

Toni, my best guess would be that the multivitamins, because they can sometimes contain trace metals, are what increase the risk of lymphoma in women. I know that nickel increases the risk of bone lymphomas because I searched ToxNet years ago and found out that metal implants can cause reticulum cell saroma (bone lymphoma). . . . that is why I really wanted that nickel pin out of my jawbone so badly. Many multivitamins contain copper, molybdenum and iron and probably other metals. That study was done before they really started coming out with high-quality vitamins, you know, back in the day when we all bought our multivitamins from CVS. So I would think that as long as you stick with metal-free herbs and supplements, that are high-quality, you are good.

GG - Thank you. Yep, my green drink on January 9th contained broccoli! I have since stopped juicing raw broccoli and other cruciferous veggies when I heard and read about Chris Masterjohn's study on another raw foods site. I still eat some raw spinach, but only on occasion, as it is easier than broccoli to eat raw, and I think it is okay as long as it is not eaten all the time. As for the other thyroid-toxic veggies, I will probably eat them steamed, and only once a week. Or stay on the BroccoMax.

Dana Herbert said...

And of course, if you are not hypothyroid, then you can eat or juice all the raw broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, etc. that you'd like!

:)

Shandy Monte said...

Dana, I take a WHOLEFOOD multi vitamin... It is only made from foods.. I love it! Its called "Natures way ALIVE multi" It has fruits, veggies, enymes, herbs, chlorella, spirulina, mushrooms, etc...

I also take a seperate whole food B-complex, Whole Food vitamin C, Host Defense, Chlorella, etc..

I like to get my supps that are made from food and not the synthetic...

Of course we all have different needs. But if you look this up on vitcost, it gives you over 60 reviews of this vitamin.

:)

Dana Herbert said...

Uww, look what I just found:

The Journal of Dietary Supplements

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t792304018~db=all

Anonymous said...

Can you supplement with iodine-rich foods, lugol's iodine and/or the ionic iodine?

Unknown said...

Try whole supplement called Juice Plus in a capsule. Sugar and water taken out. Its great. I've been taking it for 7 years now. I love it. www.smartpicksjuice.com

Russell Moris said...

Always pay attention to new symptoms while on desiccated thyroid supplements . New symptoms of hypothyroidism may require higher dosing. Many patients who had ill effects on synthroid switched to desiccated thyroid without any side effects.