flax seed and thyroid

[mary2122]

I heard that flax seed is no the best for people with thyroid disroders...i LOVE flax seed and love all of its fiber benefits. Is this just another debatable thing? thanks!

[Ilse W.]

EVERYTHING is debatable...:D

[mary2122]

amen to that


i assume flax seed is a bit better than twinkies ;)

[sport]

Excerpt:
"Flaxseed is a cyanogenic goitrogen, which means it contains a substance that converts to thiocyanate in the body. Thiocyanate effectively blocks iodine concentration by the thyroid gland and thus causes thyroid dysfunction.
Flax is also a rich source of lignan, a phytochemical which converts after digestion into a phytoestrogen-like substance. Ph

[sport]

Many plants contain naturally occurring toxins and while it is true that flaxseeds contain tiny amounts of cyanide-containing substances, this has not been shown to be a problem. The concern arises from the writings in a popular book or two and has not been confirmed in any published studies that I know of.

If you think it is a concern, heating the flaxseeds has been shown to eliminate any detectable amounts of this chemical

So, while it may be theoretically possible that eating huge amounts of raw or unprocessed flaxseeds or flaxseed meal could potentially pose a problem, I am not recommending anyone consume anywhere near that amount and I know of no evidence supporting the concern.

If someone knows of any published peer reviewed data on this, I would be glad to review it.

Enjoy your TB of flaxseeds.

[Veganforlife]

I HAD a thyroid issue pre Raw. I healed it in less than a year eating 100% Raw (you can read my testimony at my siggy). I do consume a good amount of flax seeds.

And yes - anything is debatable.

[siren]

Good reason to keep these in my diet, then. I'm battling a thyroid problem as well and I am feeling a lot better since raw, but still have a long road ahead.

[DebB]

I've had my thyroid ablated (killed with radio-active iodine - wish I knew then what I know now). My holistic MD who is now treating me for this had me taking flax oil daily, so..? (I no longer take flax oil, I take krill oil, just wanted to mention that, but I took flax oil for years after the ablation). *Ü*

[Humanist]

Excerpt:
"Flaxseed is a cyanogenic goitrogen, which means it contains a substance that converts to thiocyanate in the body. Thiocyanate effectively blocks iodine concentration by the thyroid gland and thus causes thyroid dysfunction.
Flax is also a rich source of lignan, a phytochemical which converts after digestion into a phytoestrogen-like substance. Ph

Is this true also of flaxseed OIL? Because Charlotte Gerson recommends the oil but warns against eating the seeds.

Has anyone tried Lugol solution for thyroid problems?

[DebB]

Has anyone tried Lugol solution for thyroid problems?

I take Lugol's plus Armour Thyroid. *Ü*

[T-Bird]

Wow, sport, that's disheartening - I love flax.

Good to know it posed no problem to V4L's thyroid recovery, though! That is excellent to know, V4L!

Anybody know if sprouting them is helpful at all in reducing this neagtive aspect?

[Clare]

Wow, Humanist, how do you know of Charlotte? She's my great-Aunt ;-) She is pretty much anti-seed due to the enzyme inhibitors. She's also anti-sprout since they did not have good results when experimenting with sprouts. But remember she is teaching cancer patients and folks with serious degenerative diseases. They need to be flooded with nutrients and enzymes, and flax oil as the only fat because their ratios are all off. To live as a healthy person on the intense therapy without some modifications (ie switching to hemp oil or adding another healthy fat to balance all the flax oil, reducing thyroid, etc) might not be ideal. Charlotte herself has never claimed to be on it herself (it's a lot of work!!!) and though she eats better than anyone I know she also does not claim to be a raw vegan, as even the therapy promotes dairy protein and bovine liver. I am sure if Dr. Max were alive now he would be experimenting with other sources than dairy(spirulina? yeast?) and the reason liver was used is that there was no better source of enzymes to supply a dying person.

Anyway, even if flax oil itself has some anti-thyroid properties, the dessicated thyroid and lugol's on Gerson would override it.

[Humanist]

Clare,
How do I know of Charlotte? I'm reading her book. I'm surprised that she disallows sprouts. Dr. Kristine Nolfi used sprouts in curing herself of cancer. I respect Charlotte Gerson and the work she does, but don't always agree with her.

[sport]

Wow, sport, that's disheartening - I love flax.

Good to know it posed no problem to V4L's thyroid recovery, though! That is excellent to know, V4L!

Anybody know if sprouting them is helpful at all in reducing this neagtive aspect?

I would not go without flax seed myself. I think that you would need to take a lot for it to pose a problem.