soy and my thyroid...

I have been vegetarian for years, and eat soy products (including tofu, "fake" burgers and chicken, etc.) almost every day.  I depend on them for much of my protein, and was sure that was a good thing - soy is supposed to be healthy, right?  Well, I started gaining weight at a pretty rapid rate without changing my diet about 2 years ago... eventually I went and had blood work done, and found that my thyroid was to blame.  Further tests revealed a small lump on my thyroid that was causing my hypothyroidism.  I was put on medicine a little over a year ago, and with the calorie counting, have been losing weight ever since.

Well, a few weeks ago, I was looking for info online and stumbled across a bunch of articles all about how soy products can cause/exacerbate thyroid conditions!

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soyinfo/a/soy.htm

Wow!  I had no idea!  My doctor never mentioned this to me, either.  Now I don't know what to do... As I said, I depend heavily on soy products in my diet... and I love them!

Does anyone else have any insight / suggestions / a similar story???

Nuts and beans are good sources of protien. I tend to eat a lot of them.

Well, this depends on whether you eat dairy, but Greek yogurt (like Chobani or Voskos) have incredible amounts of protein in them. I'm not vegetarian, though many of my friends are, and they all suggest nuts and beans (like chickpea_curry said). Peanut butter is also great.

I would also suggest maybe staying away from the fake-meat things. That may be because I'm not a fan of the taste (though tofudogs are pretty delicious).

Aside from that, I don't really know. Good luck!

There's a possibility of a malfunctioning thyroid happening to anyone.  You could never have eaten a soy product and still got the same problem.   Having said that, you can have too much of something and a varied diet is always going to be healthier.  I think the amount of salts, flavourings and colourings in soy products (in common with other heavily processed foods) may even be more concerning than the soy itself....   As everyone's saying, other good sources of protein are eggs, quorn, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, dairy products, quinoa grain, barley.  Beanburgers are really easy to put together from scratch.

Well, I went to a doctor yesterday (I had an appointment anyway) and I asked him about the soy - thyroid connection... and he told me that there is no conclusive evidence that there really is a connection!  I guess it's hard to say... lots of articles lean one way, and lots lean the other... thanks for all the replies, though... I'm a really picky eater (don't really like beans, lentils, quinoa, barley... not to mention most vegetables!), so it's hard for me to diversify my diet... plus, with calorie counting, it's SO much easier for me to get something out of a box than to measure ingredients, add numbers, divide - doesn't anyone else find it a pain?

I'm a fussy eater & need to watch my weight too... which is precisely why I don't get things out of a box.   I like to make things to suit my own tastes and I like to know what's gone into them.  I've never yet tasted the contents of a wooden spoon and thought 'Hmm... this needs a dash of black malt powder'  

BTW... How can you be a veggie and not like most vegetables, beans lentils and barley? LOL!  Isn't it in the joining instructions... ?    As I also learned recently, the calorie counts on packets only have to be 80% accurate and manufacturers have a tendency to overfill rather than underfill.... so that's a bit of a dietary minefield that you may not be aware of.

not trying to scare anyone here, but it is actually proven  that soya supress thyroid fuctioning.

Last year I was diagnosed with mild hypothyroidism. Instead of taking medicine right away, I did some research and found it can be caused by an iodine difficiency. I started taking a multivitamin containing 100% DV of iodine (I wasn't taking any vitamins previously) and my thyroid returned to normal. I'm vegan and eat a fair amount of soy, but I don't think that factored into it because I didn't change my soy intake. But that's not to say it couldn't be affecting your thyroid. Best of luck!

I use Spiru-tein for protein and vitamins.  It's a drink mix with the same idea as Slim-Fast, etc., except I believe it's healthier (no murky additives, etc.).  It uses blue-green algae as a protein source.  Don't let that put you off, lol.

I mix mine with a glass of soy milk and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour or more before consuming.  It thickens up and tastes like a milkshake.  It's delicious, and comes in many flavors.  If you like chocolate, try chocolate fudge crunch or black cherry chocolate flavors.

The only flavor I didn't like was the vanilla, because it has a green hue to it.  Nothing with the product, it's all psychological with me.

If you do a Google search, you can find the manufacturer's site and read more about it.  It can be found in most health food stores.  I buy mine online from Vita-glo, as it's much cheaper there.

It provides 100% of most vitamins, and when mixed with soy milk, 20g of protein, all for ~200-210 cals.

I swear I don't feel as vibrant if I miss my daily dose of it.

Most HFSs sell sample packages so you can try it without buying a whole can.

I also have hypothyroidism and am on levothyroxine for it.