I get asked this question a lot. Is a Vegan diet a good diet for healing from Hashimoto’s?
First, let’s talk about what a vegan diet can be good for.
If you are eating a Vegan diet you are removing any animal food products, eggs, and dairy from your diet. Some people even remove honey from their diet.
You can accomplish this way of eating by existing on processed foods but that won’t help you gain the benefits.
Any benefits that you might gain would be based on a whole foods diet.
And it is very likely you will feel benefits because you are eating healthy foods.
This way of eating can be good for weight loss.
It can help your kidneys function better.
It might lower your risk of heart disease and protect you against cancer.
It can even support some types of autoimmune illnesses.
The vegan and vegetarian way of eating hasn’t been shown to help Hashimoto’s healing for some of the following reasons.
Vegan diets without supplementation are likely deficient in nutrients that are needed for the healing process.
The vegetable protein sources like legumes, soy, nuts, dairy and grains have been found to be reactive foods in Hashi’s. They may be contributing to your leaky gut.
Blood sugar issues are a big deal with Hashi’s and the heavy carbs with vegan and vegetarian diets can be counterproductive to improving your blood sugar.
High quality meat, particularly red meat plays a big role in the healing of Hashimoto’s.
Red meat provides iron which is more easily absorbable than the iron in vegetables.
Carnitine is found in red meat and people with Hashi’s are usually deficient in this amino acid. Carnitine helps improve fatigue, blood sugar, leaky gut, muscle weakness, etc.
And your thyroid needs the meat protein to function properly.
According to Izabella Wentz, The Thyroid Pharmacist, she recommends 0.5g of protein per pound of body weight per day to help support your Hashimoto’s healing.
I know for many of your veggies out there to actually consider eating meat again, but the reality is that you aren’t serving yourself not eating the meat if you plan on healing.
I have refused to take on clients for not being open to eating meat.
I just don’t know how to help them. It’s unfortunate.
To summarize, I’m not saying that if you are eating vegan or vegetarian the right way, that you can’t benefit from it under the right circumstances.
I’m just saying that if you have Hashi’s and you are a vegan or vegetarian, you might not be serving yourself, particularly if you are interested in healing.
Thanks for being here.
Have a great week.
