Written by: Lyn-Genet Recitas, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Healthy foods may not always be so healthy, especially when consumed too often. The reason? Every food has its health benefits and every food, even the healthiest, has its potential health risks.
Foods contain many compounds that can start to interfere with your individual chemistry. For instance, the nightshade family which includes tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are well known to exacerbate joint pain, eczema and arthritis.
If you eat food too often that compound can start to overwhelm your body causing food sensitivities, and health and weight issues. Your reaction could range from simple bloating after a meal to weight gain, depression, constipation, joint pain or headaches.
One group of foods can cause many issues because they contain a compound known as goitrogens. Ironically, some of the healthiest foods you are eating can fall into that category – raw kale, strawberries, cauliflower, arugula, bok choy and even spinach!
Goitrogens are compounds that disrupt the synthesis of thyroid hormones and inhibit the uptake of iodine, a necessary nutrient for thyroid health. Your thyroid is an organ that is directly responsible for your metabolism, digestion and mood. In addition, your thyroid is a major player when it comes to hormonal health since it stimulates and synchronizes the metabolic & cellular functions in every tissue throughout your body. 750 million people worldwide have thyroid dysfunction.
Signs of thyroid dysfunction includes:
Weight gain
Depression
Anxiety
Hair loss
Low sex drive
Feeling cold
Hormonal Imbalance
Sleep issues
Digestive issues
Low energy
Foggy thinking
Carb and sugar cravings
Sleep issues
So what should you do? Should you avoid these foods forever? Absolutely not. These goitrogenic foods have so many health benefits. The key is to rotate these foods in your diet and limit them to once a week. You can replace these goitrogens with other foods that have many of the same health benefits. You will be paid off with better health, energy and weight. In addition, you will have optimal nutrition without the potential health risks associated with low thyroid function, known as hypothyroidism.
Here are some common everyday goitrogens that you are most likely including in your diet to be healthy, and here’s how to rotate them out. You will get all of the benefits with none of the potential risk to your thyroid . All of the food substitutes are also low inflammatory providing you with optimal health and weight! Certain foods like broccoli and kale are goitrogens in their raw form, but cooking deactivates these compounds making them great substitutes.
Goitrogen | Low Inflammatory Substitute |
Cauliflower | Cooked Broccoli |
Spinach | Cooked Kale |
Strawberries | Blueberries |
Arugula | Red or green leaf lettuce |
Peanut Butter | Raw Almond Butter |
Sweet Potato | White Potato |
Horseradish/Wasabi | Sriracha |
Peaches | Apricot
|
Pine Nuts | Sunflower seeds |
Lyn-Genet Recitas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Lyn-Genet Recitas, Sports Nutritionist, HHP NMT, is the NY Times and International Bestselling author of The Plan and The Metabolism Plan a groundbreaking anti-inflammatory nutritional protocol which has been published in over 15 countries. She’s been featured on Dr. Oz, Huffington Post, CBS, NBC, Fox News, Women’s Running, Fitness, Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, and Prevention. Lyn-Genet and her staff of doctors and nutritionists have helped hundreds of thousands of men and women reach their best health by finding their chemical responses to food, not counting calories. The Plan is an effective way to lose weight, improve health and reverse the aging process.
