Goitrogens

Merriam-Webster’s definition of goitrogen is, a substance that induces a goiter. A goiter is the enlargement of the thyroid gland, visible as a swelling of the front of the neck. Goitrogens are substances that suppress the function of the thyroid gland by interfering with iodine uptake. There are several vegetables and raw foods that are on the list of goitrogenic foods. I encourage you to do some research to find out what these are in their entirety, because the debate is still out on whether or not an excess of such substances can contribute to a complete attach on the thyroid gland. Some of the foods that may appear in your reading and research include soybeans, broccoli, spinach and cabbage, to name a few.

For me personally, I spent several years as a vegetarian, and I wonder if I didn’t indirectly contribute to this hypothyroid condition that I now have due to the diet I lived by. I’ll speak more to that in my book. And note, there is life after the death of a thyroid. And I still eat soy based foods on the regular.

Prior to being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I was diagnosed as having a non-toxic multi-nodular goiter. That’s a mouthful…literally a throat full, to be precise. What this means, is, that I had multiple growths (nodules) that had caused my thyroid to become enlarged. These nodules were not throwing my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) level off, so they were nontoxic. However, they were still casing problems for me, such as anxiety and I was constantly choking on my food, and had grown accustomed to carrying bottled water everywhere I went for fear of choking to death. I was a nervous wreck. So, in essence my TSH had been disturbed, but not to the level at which a toxic definition was given to my diagnosis.

This diagnosis led to the removal of my thyroid gland. Which in turn led to the diagnosis of hypothyroidism for me. Which has led me to this point – education. You have to educate yourselves on thyroid conditions, and others at that, especially when they are regarding your health and the health of those you love. You don’t know what you don’t know. I hope you learned something new today about goitrogens.

TGIF,

S;)