Foods to avoid in Thyroid deficiency.


Hypothyroidism is a condition where the body doesn’t make enough thyroid hormones.  Thyroid hormones help control your growth, repair and metabolism. As a result, people who suffer from hypothyroidism may experience tiredness, hair loss, weight gain, feeling cold, feeling down and many more symptoms .Hypothyroidism affects 1 to 2% of people worldwide and is ten times more likely to affect women than men.  Foods alone won’t cure hypothyroidism. However, a combination of the right nutrients and medication can help restore thyroid function and minimize your symptoms.

Foods to avoid in Hypothyroidism:

1. Eating Fried Foods

Eating fried food always can be harmful to your thyroid gland functions as it reduces the glands ability to secrete thyroid hormones. If you are on thyroid hormone medication you should avoid trans-fat rich fried food which will impede the proper functioning of the thyroid gland

2. Refined Sugar

If you suffer from autoimmune thyroid disease then avoiding refined sugar is a must. Your body’s blood sugar levels and causes great harm to the proper working of your pancreas which can result in your body becoming resistant to insulin and ultimately it damages your thyroid causing a decrease in your thyroid hormone levels.

3. Eating Gluten Rich Foods

The gluten-rich food you consume is rich in a substance called as gliadin. Your thyroid gland generates an enzyme similar to gliadin called – transglutaminase. When you then eat gluten your body will treat both the gliadin and the transglutaminase limiting the use of and the benefits derived from the transglutaminase produced by your thyroid gland.

4. Excessive Drinking of Coffee

Excessive drinking of coffee would cause your adrenal glands to secrete large amounts of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine hormones, leading to adrenal fatigue and this greatly affects your thyroid gland adversely.

5. Eating Cruciferous Vegetables

When taken in excess your broccoli can be harmful to you if you have a thyroid condition and where you are deficient insufficient iodine levels in your body.

6. Consuming Soy

If you have iodine deficiency, the isoflavones in soy can affect the proper functioning of your thyroid gland. Taking excess of Soy can hamper your body’s absorption and use of synthetic thyroid hormone if you are on thyroid medication. Doctors advise that if you are on thyroid medication you should wait for a minimum of 4 hours before you eat soy, as it would enable your body to properly metabolize every substance separately and more effectively.


While it’s easy to gain weight with hypothyroidism, there are plenty of things you can do to help maintain a healthy weight. For example, you can try to get plenty of rest, eat a good amount of protein and practice mindful eating which will help you to manage this disease well.