uncooked cruciferous veggies are goitergenic, and can create an environment that leans towards hypothroidism.  Did you know?— even spinach is considered cruciferous!  Broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens, collards, cale, cabbage, turnips, soybeans, rutabagas, radishes, pears (!), peaches, mustard, millet, horseradish, cassava root, brussels sprouts.  I know!   On some of those you wouldn’t think… 

Bottom line, it is advised that people concerned about their thyroid COOK any of these foods.  Course, the bummer is, you don’t get the enzymes in these foods when you cook them…

 It would likely help it. The standard line from the medical establishment is to tell thyroid patients to stay away from iodine because it will cause goiter. They say that thyroid problems in the developing world are not caused by iodine deficiency because the requirement for iodine is very low and is usually met through consuming iodized salt and breads and such with added iodine.

There are a lot of people who have gone against this advice and found themselves recovered from thyroid problems when medical dogma says people will usually require medication for the rest of their lives. Some doctors believe the iodine requirment is actually 12-50 mg–yes, milligrams–per day. (See http://iodine4health.com/overviews/audiovisual/flechas_audiovisual.htm , which has some audio from Dr. Jorge Flechas to this effect or check into Dr. Brownstein.) The Japanese are said to average about 13 mg per day and have very low incidence of certain cancers, breast cancer especially. The claim is that since iodine is used by every cell in the body, though the thyroid will usually be first to manifest problems, there could be other problems developing elsewhere, and there could be problems that levothyroxine and even Armour or NatureThroid won’t take care of–because you’re supplementing only what the thyroid needs, not correcting all over the body for other functions that depend on iodine. That may be why medication brings levels to normal but doesn’t always correct fatigue or weight gain, for example. There are supplements, most notably Iodorol and Lugol’s solution. People argue all day long about which one they’ve had more success with. Both are iodine and potassium iodide together. These potassium iodide is inorganic. After taking Iodorol briefly, I found some literature that said that inorganic iodide is rough on the whole system, while organic iodine has almost the exact opposite properties. Kelp is one of the best sources of organic iodine, but you would have to eat a ton every day to get 12-50 mg.

In my own experience, having taken a small amount of Iodorol for a very short time (days), and then being tested about 2 months later, my thyroid was lower (higher TSH). I honestly don’t think it was enough to have had an effect either way.  My uncle, on the other hand, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism as well and began sprinkling kelp flakes on his food as you might use salt and trying to eat it sometimes in addition.  His thyroid levels are now normal and he doesn’t take medication anymore.

Other things that might help: even my mainstream endocrinologist said he has seen good success with coconut oil (The Coconut Oil Miracle is a good read) and Sally Fallon mentions that fish broth made with the heads (i.e., their thyroids included) is healing to the thyroid as well as all seafood to contribute not only iodine but also selenium, copper, and zinc (minerals that are frequently deficient in thyroid patients)–and in proportions that will balance and not deplete one another.  The food highest in selenium is Brazil nuts, complemented nicely with a lot of magnesium, phosphorous, copper, and calcium in them as well, but its probably best to find a source of unshelled nuts so they won’t be rancid and to soak them as they are one of the highest sources of the anti-nutrient, phytic acid.

Hope this information helps you with your decision and with helping your thyroid.