Hey there - as long as your protein levels are ok (protein intake is acceptable - which is easy enough to do on a vegan diet) then you're good to go.

The only things you need to steer clear of are soy (of course) and goitrogens that are not cooked or in large quanitites.

List of goitrogens:
http://thyroid.about.com/od/symptomsrisks/a/All-About-Goitrogens-thyroid.htm

Thank you very much MButterfly. I'd heard that about broccoli. So, if it is better if it is cooked, how cooked does it need to be? I usually like mine el dente. I found the section on the predisposed "taste" for certain foods fascinating. I actually had to "acquire" a taste for many of those. Very interesting. Thank you.

I've been vegan for a few years, and vegetarian a couple years prior to that. You do indeed need to be wary of the goitrogens. I tried to be raw vegan for a few months and when I had my TSH tested, I had to increase my levo by 25%. I went to a naturopath after the test, understandably freaked out, and she told me it was the raw goitrogenic veggies that did me in. Once I started cooking them, my levels returned to normal. Well, normal for me. I do eat soy, though not in excessive amounts. Preference given to tempeh. And I don't cook my veggies to limpy, soggy mush. Just cook them all the way through. Al dente should be fine. That's pretty much how I do it (unless I get distracted, then all bets are off). Hope that helps!

Yes it does. I've been toying around with the idea of becoming vegan and I've been toying around with the idea of a juice fast. I wasn't sure how either would affect things. I just started feeling "normal" again and am afraid of rocking the boat.

CMTodd

I would steer clear of any soy in anything, remember its referred to by other ingredients in the evil US food system. Also, goitrogens, cooked or not, CAN be a problem, the jury out on that but better safe than sorry. I dont eat them at all. Everyone's body is different. Only your labs will tell you.

Ironically, CMTodd, the article you recently linked for us on here mentions the need for some animal protein:

http://litalee.com/documents/Thyroid%20Resistance.pdf

In his book "Your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy", Dr. Durrant-Peatfield mentions the benefits of a juice fast for liver detox.

I, too, wonder about what it might do to our thyroid levels and I'm totally with you about not wanting to rock the boat of normalcy :) It took too long to get where I am today.

Hi CM,

I have been vegetarian for 35 years now and vegan for about 6. One of my hardest obstacles after being diagnosed with hypothyroidism was to eliminate the soy. Once I did though, it made a big difference with my thyroid. I eat cabbage, broccoli, or culiflower, but only occasionally. I find that even if it is cooked it slows me down as does garlic, onions, or lentils.

Something I would definitely recommend is adding sublingual b12, not the cyanocobalamin. It helps a lot with energy and getting rid of cloudy thinking.

Also, I take protein powder to make sure I get adequate amounts of protein.

I know, cd3764. The real irony is that before reading that, I was considering becoming a vegan and after reading it, I wondered if I should at least eat fish (pescatarian). Many of the juices that I HAD been using had things that I recently found out I should avoid, such as kale.....
NinjaMother, supplementing with protein powder is a great idea. What type do you use?

The only one that I found that works for me is Now pea protein. I have many eating issues though, so if you can find a different one that you can tolerate there are many other ones out there that taste a lot better. My 6 year old uses the Jay Robb whey protein powder and she likes the flavor.

I haven't eaten meat, chicken or dairy products for over 30 years.
I drink just a little low fat milk, I do eat fish about twice a week. The rest of the time I am a vegetarian..
As far as how if affects my thyroid, I really can't say..
I inherited my hashi's from my grandmother..and I was only diagnosed 4 years ago..
I just feel it's the only way for me..I couldn't stand the thought of eating over chemically treated antibiotic laden meat and chicken. It's a personal choice that I can live with..
I eat a lot of legumes..lentils, beans etc. I do eat soy products non GM.. I don't overload on the soy. I love all vegetables..organically grown preferably....it's just how I eat.. I am skinny..I can eat all I like..so I recommend it for those who want to lose weight.and feel healthier in general..

sovgrateful

CUT the soy products now! Your diet sounds quite ideal but soy is not healthy for anyone, esp hypos. Protein is essential however, but not from soy. I take a rice/pea protein smoothie daily plus eat alaskan salmon, and other fish because I feel better when I do so.

I also take daily a subligua B12 tab.

cd, you mention in your quip about carrying two containers of milk, or, when not optimized, NOT being able to do that. Well, milk in the US, if not organic, is LOADED with hormones. We dont want hormones in our food if we are hypo or not. Headsup!

When you have no meat or chicken in your diet..it's not easy to avoid soy altogether..I don't eat much.. I also try and stay away from Frankensoy products. :)
I think, and I may be wrong, that a lot of the "controversy" over soy is created by the meat and dairy industry..
I always take my meds hours after I eat any soy..just in case there's an inference.. I don't drink soy milk..just a little organic low fat hormone free cow's milk..
Wild salmon is the very best.. I love it especially when it's in season in the summer months.. I also love mahi mahi and other non-farmed fish.

Forgot to mention I also do a strong detox 4X a year which seems to help overall with everything.

sovgrateful

Re: soy. I do believe its the opposite, its the soy undustry that touted soy as healthful for human consumption when they had copious amounts of it when its actually not good for human or even animals. Fermented soy in the form of soy sauce is OK however. Or Miso soup is also fine. There is much written on the internet about this.

GageL, what sort of detox do you do? I've done a few with supplements from the local health food store, but I'm always worried that it might interfere with my thyroid pill. Do you just fast or juice?