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Mercury and Your Health
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Is Raw Kale Good For You?
Dr. Blum explains how kale can affect your thyroid.
Is Raw Kale Good For Me?
At least once a day I am asked by one of my patients whether or not they can eat raw cruciferous vegetables. They are concerned that fresh pressed juice for breakfast or a raw kale salad for lunch will damage their thyroid gland. I decided to write this newsletter to address this topic, once and for all! Especially because now is the time for spring cleanses and when everyone wants to eat raw veggies!
Is Kale Bad? Kale and other cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower, mustard greens, turnips, and collards contain a compound called isothiocyanates, which like soy isoflavones, appear to block an enzyme in the thyroid called TPO. This enzyme is responsible for attaching iodine to the thyroid hormones to make them active. Basically, these vegetables are thought to block your body from using the iodine that it needs. If the thyroid doesn’t have enough iodine, the cells start overgrowing and the thyroid gets bigger–this is called a ‘goiter’. That’s why these foods are often called ‘goitrogens’, because they make the thyroid swell as it is trying harder to make your thyroid hormones with limited raw materials.
Kale and other cruciferous vegetables are only considered to be goitrogens when they are eaten raw. When these vegetables are cooked or lightly steamed, this issue goes away. Does this mean you should never eat raw vegetables? Absolutely not! Life after all, is about balance, and nature would not have given us these bountiful plant foods if they weren’t good for us. If you always avoid all of these foods your diet will be very restricted, and you would miss a lot of important nutrients. But on the flip side, I do not advocate eating raw cruciferous vegetables at every meal, every day. Either extreme is not a good idea. But eating them daily at 1 or 2 meals is okay, and periodically doing a medically sound liquid cleanse or detox program is fine, too, as long as you are getting enough iodine in your diet. At Blum Center for Health we have several medically supervised individual and group detoxes to choose from. I also created the Juice Cleanse + detox programs at Organic Pharmer , with or without food.
Focusing on increasing your iodine intake will help you supply your thyroid with what it needs, and this can offset the goitrogen effect from these foods. Now you can see why the main strategy to preventing a goiter from occurring due to eating raw foods, is to make sure you are getting enough iodine every day! How should you do this? Read on and Mary will focus on this in our nutrition section below.
Finding the Balance
The following Brassica, or cruciferous, vegetables contain isothiocyanates and, as Dr. Blum suggested, when eaten RAW and in LARGE amounts, may interfere with your thyroid function, especially if your diet is low in iodine.
To be sure you are getting enough iodine to counteract this effect, I suggest taking a multi-mineral or, alternatively, increase your intake of foods rich in iodine like iodized sea salt, seaweed (kelp, nori, dulse, kombu), saltwater fish, and shellfish. Sprinkling kelp, dulse or nori flakes on your food, or adding a strip of kombu when cooking soups, stews, beans, pasta, rice or quinoa will also provide iodine. Remove the kombu when finished cooking and the minerals will remain in the food.
* Arugula
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* Bok choy
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* Broccoflower
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* Broccoli |
* Broccoli rabe | * Broccoli * sprouts | * Brussels sprouts | * Cabbage |
* Cauliflower | * Collard greens | * Kale | * Kohlrabi |
* Mustard greens | * Napa Cabbage | * Radish | * Swiss chard |
* Turnip |
* Watercress
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You can also do a juice or food/juice cleanse for several days, and not worry about hurting your thyroid. The minerals and antioxidants in the foods and drinks will offset this, and you should continue to take a multi-mineral while you do this. After the cleanse, go back to your iodine-rich diet with limited use of the raw foods (not every meal) for your daily routine.
Remember, we are talking about LARGE amounts of RAW cruciferous vegetables! When you lightly steam these foods, the issue goes away. Isothiocyanates are very important for detoxification and elimination of carcinogens, therefore, we still recommend eating at least one cup of cruciferous vegetables daily, whether cooked or raw.
Food as Medicine – Gomasio
Gomasio is a dry condiment used in Asian cuisine that consists of toasted sesame seeds and salt. Our gomasio recipe also includes the sea vegetable kelp, which gives your thyroid gland some added support.
Sesame Kelp Gomasio
Sesame seeds are excellent for healing the thyroid. To boost its potency, we’ve added the sea vegetable kelp to our gomasio recipe for added minerals and thyroid support! Try this salty condiment on your raw cruciferous vegetables, or as a garnish on salads, soups, noodles, and other vegetables.
Walk in Nature
As we slowly come out from the cold, dark winter season of hibernation and turning inward, we are now moving into a lighter, more expansive season. This is a good time to consider an open-eyed meditation practice such as taking a walk in nature. To make this a meditative practice, simply pay attention to what’s coming in through your senses: aromas, sights, chirping birds, the rhythmic sound of your feet on the ground. Keep your mind focused on the beauty that surrounds you without letting it wander into your “To Do” list or the conversation you just had with your teenager/boss/friend. You can actually find yourself in a meditative state: mind, body and spirit all centered in the present. At the end of your walk you will have the added benefits of breathing fresh air and moving your body to clear your mind. And don’t forget to take time to smell the flowers!