Goitrogenic Compounds In Tapioca And Other Foods

[RiceGuy]

I've been reading about foods which suppress thyroid function, and it turns out that tapioca is on the list, amongst other things. Given the extent to which tapioca is used in gluten-free baking, and that Celiac seems to often impact the thyroid, I think the following information is good to know:

Goitrogen content of fresh and cooked commonly consumed cyanogenic plant foods/vegetables viz. cabbage, cauliflower, radish, mustard, turnip, soybean, peanut, maize, bamboo shoot, papaya and cassava of Indian origin is reported. Most of these vegetables were collected from different regions of West Bengal and Tripura where endemic goitre was found during post-salt iodization phase and cassava (tapioca) was collected from Meghalaya and Kerala of India. Goitrogenic constituents of cyanogenic origin viz. cyanogenic glucosides, glucosinolates (thioglucosides) and thiocyanate were found in all the studied plants with varying concentrations. Cyanogenic glucoside content was highest in bamboo shoot followed by cassava, cauliflower, radish, cabbage, turnip and papaya; glucosinolates was maximum in cauliflower, followed by cabbage, bamboo shoot, turnip, radish, cassava, soybean, mustard etc., and thiocyanate content was highest in bamboo shoot followed by mustard, turnip, papaya, cabbage, radish, peanut, cauliflower, cassava, soybean and maize. After cooking the selected plant foods cyanogenic glucosides content was reduced markedly, glucosinolates content was decreased to a certain extent while thiocyanate content remained slightly increased or almost same in comparison to their uncooked/fresh counterparts. These results showed that the studied plant foods have the goitrogenic/anti-thyroid constituents that are capable of interfering thyroid function. Cooking does not reduce the goitrogenic content of the cyanogenic plant foods completely.

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[maile]

RiceGuy,

in your studies have you ever come across what level of exposure/ingestion of the vegetables on that list is needed before it begins to supress the thyroid?

just curious.

maile

[Nancym]

Cooking usually disables most of the goitrogens.

[maile]

Cooking usually disables most of the goitrogens.

Thanks for the response, I like a lot of these veggies but have also had problems with hypothyroid symptoms and was starting to wonder.

[RiceGuy]

Cooking does lessen the goitrogenic effects, as was mentioned. However, to what degree I don't know. I have briefly looked for a list, but didn't find anything. It seems most goitrogen food lists are just that, and the people posting them seem to feel that they want to completely avoid them like a Celiac avoids gluten (well, maybe not that much). I would only point out that there are also foods which boost thyroid function, so as the article from World's Healthiest Foods suggests, some avoidance coupled with good sense seems like a good idea to me. I think the wider and more varied a diet is, the more likely it is to have substances which cancel negative effects.

Supposedly, hard water is goitrogenic, as is calcium, magnesium, and various other nutrients. We cannot live without these nutrients, so just because there may be some lowering effect on the thyroid doesn't mean they're bad. I really think this is just one of many ways that the body regulates itself.

I read someplace, that it is better to judge by how you feel, rather than the numbers on a blood test. If there are no signs of a problem other than the blood tests, I question how much concern there should be. Obviously, if there is a continuing downward (or upward) trend, then yes, that would indicate a problem. However, if it is a little higher or lower than what is considered "normal", and remains at that level, and you aren't feeling bad effects from it, how much of a problem is it?

Hashimoto's on the other hand, is autoimmune, and as we all should know, that kind of a problem is a real concern. But there again, the cause isn't goitrogenic foods. Just as salt isn't the main cause of high blood pressure. So in that case, one needs to stop the autoimmune reaction, not continuously prop up the thyroid with drugs and such. In the mean time, limiting the goitrogenic foods may help somewhat I guess. I just can't see taking it to extremes, especially when it isn't even the cause.

Then again, I don't have hypothyroidism (as far as I know). Perhaps if I did, I might think differently about it.

[lpowmacback]

On 3/30/2009 at 5:30 PM, Nancym said:

Cooking usually disables most of the goitrogens. - I know this is an old post but wanted to let anyone reading this that not all goitrogen foods can have their goitrogenic properties cooked out of them. SOY & MILLET will not have their goitrogenic effect lessened by cooking. Some say that fermenting soy (tempeh, miso) helps, but I have not found that to be the case (for me, at least). Be careful - I know they say that cooked cruciferous vegetables are okay when cooked, but for me, if they are the slightest bit al dente - or basically not REALLY REALLY SOFT (almost like mush), they can effect me!