Dr. Westin Childs Podcast: Thyroid | Weight Loss | Hormones

Are veggies safe to eat if you have a thyroid problem? The answer for most people is YES. Certain vegetables do contain a potentially harmful ingredient known as a goitrogen. Vegetables that are high in goitrogens can theoretically exacerbate thyroid problems because of how they interfere with the thyroid gland. Goitrogens are substances that block the uptake of iodine into your thyroid gland. If you block iodine uptake into the thyroid gland then you may have issues in producing or creating thyroid hormone. If you don't produce enough thyroid hormone then you may experience low thyroid symptoms as well as a feedback loop that causes thyroid gland enlargement (thus where the name goitrogenic compound comes from). But even though certain vegetables contain these compounds, they often do not contain enough to cause any sort of real issue. Furthermore, you can reduce the content of goitrogens in vegetables by simply preparing them correctly. Boiling or steaming your vegetables will reduce the goitrogen