Your thyroid has a HUGE job! It's one of the largest endocrine glands in the body and influences almost every cell in your body.
The hormones it secretes helps to regulate heart rate, maintain healthy skin, and play an important part in metabolism.
When the gland is sluggish it, it can not only steal your energy, it can cause weight gain, dry out your skin and even trigger depression.
When your thyroid levels are out of balance, so are you. Too much or too little hormone secretion in this gland can mean trouble for your overall health, well-being and your weight.
Studies have shown that there are 10 to 40% of people in the U.S. who have suboptimal thyroid functioning.
One of the symptoms of a poorly functioning thyroid is weight gain. If you gain weight easily, or have difficulty losing pounds, despite a regular exercise program and careful eating, your thyroid could very well be out of whack.
What you eat can be important for supporting good thyroid function.
1. Cruciferous Vegetables
Eat plenty of cruciferous veggies, which means foods like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy and similar green, leafy vegetables. Ideally, you should be eating a mix of cooked, raw and juiced for the best benefits.
2. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is one of the best oils you can cook with as it’s about two-thirds medium chain triglycerides, or MCTs, which are fatty acids that are directly absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine and used for energy.
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They’ve been show to boost metabolism, and as better thyroid functioning is essentially synonymous with an increased metabolism, the oil is believed to be particularly healing to the thyroid.
3. Sea Vegetables
Sea vegetables, including seaweeds like nori and wakame, are rich in iodine. If you have insufficient levels of iodine, it can inhibit thyroid function.
You can add wakame to a miso soup, snack on nori dusted with a bit of sea salt or make nori wraps filled with wild-caught salmon, sweet potato and sprouts. Hijiki, used in a kale salad, is fabulously nutritious and delicious too.
4. Eggs
Eggs are sometimes called the Perfect Food, and when it comes to balancing hormones and supporting your thyroid, that’s especially true as they’re an excellent source of thyroid-supporting building blocks like protein, B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins and minerals as well as selenium and iodine.
5. Chlorophyll
When you wake up in the morning, you might want to drink a shot of chlorophyll, or add a shot to your juice or smoothie. It helps to boost energy levels and eliminate heavy metals that can inhibit thyroid function.
6. Going Gluten-Free
Avoiding gluten is especially important for those who have Hashimoto’s, a disease in which the immune system attacks the thyroid, as it can initiate thyroid antibody production.
As you probably already know, gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and any foods made with those grains. Chronic inflammation is a major factor that affects thyroid function, and the biggest source of chronic inflammation is gluten.
So, even if you don’t have Hashimoto’s, you may want to consider going gluten- free for optimal thyroid functioning.
By eating clean and smart, managing stress levels, exercising regularly and avoiding environmental toxins, you’ll be supporting a healthy thyroid and better overall health – in addition to being better able to battle off extra pounds.
Yours in Health,
Danette
