Υποθυρεοειδισμός: η Ιδανική Διατροφή

Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis. I'm a doctor and I specialize in medical nutrition and metabolic disorders. Our subject today is the ideal diet for people diagnosed with hypothyroidism. First of all, let me point out that no diet substitutes the thyroid pill, but for many people with hypothyroidism, weight loss may lead to the discontinuation of medication. Namely, if a patient takes a small dosage, let's say 50-80 ìg of thyroxin a day, and if they are overweight, it's possible that weight loss will enable them to stop taking the pill. But first, they should lose weight and then, with the endocrinologist's instructions, they can reduce or stop the medication, if possible. In the 20 years I've been doing this job, and in the two medical nutrition centers that I've been leading, I've had the joy to take part in something so pleasing many times. But this requires patience and persistence from the whole team, and mainly from the patient. The thyroid is a small gland in front of our larynx that regulates the rate at which our cells function. It's a conductor that gives the tempo, namely it defines if our cells function rapidly or slowly. As everything in our body, it should be balanced and the function rate should fulfil the needs of our gender, age and the conditions we deal with. The hormones secreted by the thyroid guarantee the proper rate. When the thyroid produces excessive amounts of thyroxin, this condition is called hyperthyroidism, while when it doesn't produce enough thyroxin, it's called hypothyroidism. The cause of hypothyroidism can't always be known, although it's often caused by the destruction of the gland due to autoimmune processes. The most common form of thyroid destruction is Hashimoto's disease. The older we get, the less our organs function. But when there's an autoimmune damage, the destruction rate is quicker. This leads to failure, namely the gland can't produce the necessary hormones for our body's proper function. This is called hypothyroidism, and 1 in 20 people suffer from it. The nutrients that can help the thyroid function better or, more correctly, the nutrients the sufficiency of which enables the thyroid to function as well as possible are selenium, zinc and iodine. The diet that offers an abundance of these nutrients and, at the same time, allows for weight loss, if a patient is overweight, will guarantee the thyroid's ideal function. I'll start with foods that are rich in selenium. The most famous of these is Brazil nuts, which contain so much selenium that you shouldn't eat more than three per day, because the amount may be excessive. You can add 2-3 Brazil nuts to your breakfast cereals or your salad. Mussels and shellfish in general also contain a very large amount of selenium. Meat products contain a smaller amount of selenium, but it's sufficient, if you consume them often. For example, pork, veal, lamb, goat, chicken and fish. In general, if you consume meat products regularly, as most people do, it's not highly possible that you have a selenium deficiency. On the contrary, if you don't consume meat products, namely if you're a vegetarian, you should eat Brazil nuts or other plant-based foods rich in selenium, such as mushroom, tofu and whole-grain pasta. Brown rice and beans contain a smaller amount of selenium, but it's sufficient, if you eat them on a daily basis. Let's go to zinc. This trace element is also abundant in meat products, while you should be more careful, if you're a vegetarian. Pork, veal, lamb and goat contain abundant zinc, as do fish and shellfish. The plant-based foods that are rich in zinc are mushroom, kale, beans and nuts. Let me point out that if you choose to reduce or avoid meat products, you should be really careful in your choices, because low-nutritional-value plant-based foods such as sweeteners, white flour and oil are not rich in trace elements such as zinc and selenium. Therefore, you should regularly choose plant-based foods with high nutritional value such as legumes, mushroom and leafy vegetables. Regarding iodine, I think it doesn't pose a problem in most people's diet, because the salt we consume is enriched with iodine and the overconsumption of iodine is the most common problem here. The only foods that contain much iodine are algae, which most people eat rarely and in small amounts. If you suffer from hypothyroidism, you should also avoid supplements containing iodine, because they may rarely worsen your hypothyroidism. Furthermore, if you have been diagnosed with antibodies against thyroid, namely if you suffer from Hashimoto's disease, you should consider quitting foods that increase autoantibodies. All autoimmune diseases are more or less associated with our diet and, in the years I've been working, I've seen that individualized diet can help reduce the production of autoantibodies in Hashimoto's disease too.