Cruciferous and thyroid health: what you should know.

This week I wanted to touch upon a topic that we do not hear a lot about: the cruciferous vegetables and the thyroid health.

The cruciferous family of vegetables include cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, cress, bok choy, kale, collard greens, among others.

These vegetables are “goitrogens” meaning they can act as antithyroid molecules, slowing down the thyroid function, and ultimately causing thyroid dysfunction. Thus, if you have thyroid issues, you may want to look at your cruciferous intake and figuring out which ones may be part of your situation.

Clinically, these are the foods that I regularly see to be a problem for some patients:

African cassava
Babassu (a palm-tree coconut fruit found in Brazil and Africa)
Bod Choy
Broccoli
Broccolini
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Chinese Broccoli
Collards
Daikon
Kale
Kohlrabi
Millet
Mustard
Peaches
Peanuts
Pine nuts
Radishes
Red Radish
Rutabaga
Spinach
Strawberries
Turnips
Watercress

Cruciferous vegetables are great for healthy people. They provides anti-cancer molecules for examples. But when we are handling the underlying causes of your problems, abstaining eating them may be very beneficial. Each cause is different and that is why an individualized approach is recommended.

Yous in health,
Dr Serge