Steer Clear of These 3 Popular Foods, Says a Thyroid Expert

If you're not familiar with thyroid disorders, it's likely that someone close to you is. According to MindBodyGreen, some experts believe 30% of women will develop the autoimmune disorder in their lifetime. 

An over- or underactive thyroid can wreak havoc on your health. Thyroid expert Fern Olivia explains, "Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) can cause rapid weight loss, an unusually fast heartbeat, and anxiety, while hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) can trigger constipation, mental fogginess, weight gain, and extreme fatigue."

Since being diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, Olivia says cutting out certain foods "has been crucial to my healing journey. It may seem difficult at first to avoid all of these triggers, so be gentle with yourself, and beat by beat, you'll begin to notice a tremendous change in how you feel."

These are the three foods a thyroid expert would never touch.

According to Olivia, vegetable oil such as corn, sunflower, safflower, soybean, cottonseed, canola, grape-seed, and rice bran oil should be avoided. "These oils are all very high in polyunsaturated fats. … [These] fats have been damaged during the extraction process, which uses heat and chemical solvents," she says. "Damaged fats create a great deal of inflammation in your body and disrupt the hormone balance, especially to the endocrine system."

Food Swap: Reach for olive oil or macadamia nut oil instead. 

"Just because something is 'gluten-free' or made with 'all-natural' ingredients doesn't mean it isn't junk food. Processed foods like white bread, cookies, and chips are stripped of nutrition and full of empty calories even though they claim to be good for you," she says. "These are filled with hidden sugars, vegetable oils, and other additives that are toxic to the thyroid."

Food Swap: Cook with coconut flour to make meals that typically contain gluten, like pancakes. 

"Commercial meat is packed with antibiotics, which are disruptive to the thyroid gland—all meat consumed should absolutely be organic," Olivia says. "These meats are also filled with sodium nitrite and other chemical flavorings and dyes, all which have been proved to disrupt the thyroid and endocrine system."

Food Swap: Replace deli meats with grass-fed meats or wild-caught salmon. 

Searching for more healthy food suggestions? Add these six foods to your cart to naturally regulate your hormones.