I have a multi modular goiter due to having Hashimoto’s. My concern is I’ve read regular celery consumption can fuel a goiter to grow bigger and possibly cause hyperthyroidism.
Have you heard of this ? My tsh is on the low end 0.89 being more hyper than hypo so I really don’t want to push myself towards hyperthyroidism.
Pls advise you thoughts I would greatly appreciate them.
Mickey
Buffalo, New York
Thanks for your question Mickey. There is almost zero research on celery and celery juice and the Medical Medium is getting his information from spirit so we have no way of backing it up. I have not heard that regular celery consumption can fuel a goiter to grow bigger. I do not think that celery is goitrogenic, I looked up goitrogenic foods and it is not on the list. What could be the issue is the chemicals sprayed on to the celery because even organic crops are sprayed- just with less toxic chemicals.
Goitrins, thiocyanates, and nitriles are all goitrogenic chemicals derived from natural plant pesticides called glucosinolates. An enzyme breaks these chemicals down during digestion into goitrogens and goitrogenic byproducts.
Other things that can affect goiter are antibiotics, medications for irregular heart beat, bromides (from pesticides, plastics, and brominated vegetable oils- found in that yellow drink representing mountains), Dioxins, heavy metals (mercury, lead, etc), Over the counter pain meds such as ibuprofin, acetaminophen, benzodiazapines, paint fumes, perchlorates, pesticides and thiocyanates found in cigarettes.
The reason that goiters appear is because your thyroid is enlarging itself so it can take up iodine that is missing from the diet. If you don’t have enough iodine, you will have low T4 and low T3. This would also trigger TSH production and your TSH is on the low end- some practitioners like to see it between 0.5 and 1-2 so I would pay attention to how you feel and watch this very carefully. Goiters also have genetic and environmental factors but not much is known about this.
Celery is a super food really. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is excellent at preventing things like CVD, jaundice, liver diseases, urinary tract obstructions, gout, rheumatic disorders, and in rats it has been shown to improve their fertility. Celery lowers blood sugar and blood lipids (so cholesterol), and blood pressure. There is some experimental research to show it has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. The seeds help treat bronchitis, asthma, and skin issues such as psoriasis. Celery root is used for treating colic. I could go on an on. Real food is amazing.
So my gut is saying it isn’t the celery necessarily. Do you feel your thyroid is enlarging? If so I would consider having it checked.
If you are dealing with hyperthyroidism, the treatments are kind of barbaric if you ask me. They kill it off with radioactive iodine or they give you a nasty drug to slow it down or they take it out. Not good choices. These are also all just bandaids to the problem. You must always the question why? Why is your body creating a goiter? Why is your TSH suppressed or low? Always ask why.
What does hyperthyroidism look like?
One paper I found defines subclinical hyperthyroidism biologically- a concentration of TSH below the normal with free T4 and free T3 within the normal range. It is then divided by how severe it is.
Grade 1: TSH around 0.1 and 0.39 mU/L
Grade 2: TSH less than 0.1
Subclinical terminology suggests there are no symptoms and we know that symptoms matter most when it comes to treating our thyroid disorders.
Clinical signs of hyperthyroidism are:
Now this is important- Serum TSH concentration below the reference range, but corresponding to a normal concentration for this person because the normal values only refer to 95% of the population. As with everything in the body- there is bioindividuality. You may be an outlier in your lab work. And you may have to fight for yourself to get proper care.
Low TSH due to pituitary gland not working properly
Low TSH concentration observed at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy
Treatment with high doses of glucocorticoids or dopamine
Low TSH concentration observed in some disease-free thyroid diagnosed subpopulations; smoking, elderly and certain ethnic groups (of course, the ethnic groups are not mentioned in the information I found)
Low TSH concentration observed in the context of iodine overload
It is common to see low TSH after pregnancy, in toxic multinodular goiter and in a single autonomic nodule
Graves disease is also a factor in low TSH- when all the sudden you are having hyper symptoms.
Now, goiter is not just for hyperthyroidism.
Goiter with hypothyroidism can result from iodine deficiency and lack of selenium and iron intake.
I found a study with goiter being treated by Traditional Chinese Medicine that was pretty interesting.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners have been treating goiter for hundreds of years and have a substantial amount of clinical experience. In the theory of TCM, Qi is the vital energy important for physiological processes in the body. A Qi deficiency of the spleen and stagnation of Qi from the liver can cause phlegm, eventually leading to the development of goiter.
Based on their perspective they use an herbal protocol that restores and enhances, the flowing of Qi as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of goiter.
The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Shaanxi created a Qi-promoting herbal regimen called Xing Qi Hua Ying Tang (XQHYT), of which showed great promise in treating goiter in clinics.
This study showed that treatment with XQHYT contributed to reduction in the size of goiter and reduction in clinical symptoms.
XQHYT, which consists of astragalus (30 g), white peony root (15 g), bupleurum (9 g), Citrus aurantium (15 g), chuanxiong (10 g), tangerine peel (10 g), wide wood incense (9 g), dried rind of unripe mikan (9 g), Prunella vulgaris (15 g), Fritillaria thunbergii (12 g), Fructus trichosanthis (15 g), calcined oyster shell (30 g), and honey-fried Glycyrrhiza uralensis (6 g)
Astragalus, one of the major ingredients of XQHYT, was reported as able to reduce clinical symptoms of patients with Graves’ disease. C. aurantium was shown to have protective effects on thyroid. The extract of P. vulgaris was shown to reduce goiter size in clinical patients.
Based on this information, if you have goiter or hyperthyroidism/Graves disease, seek out a doctor of Chinese Medicine or a Licensed acupuncturist who uses Chinese herbs in addition to getting care from your doctor.
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References:
Bel Lassen, P., Kyrilli, A., Lytrivi, M., & Corvilain, B. (2019). Graves’ disease, multinodular goiter and subclinical hyperthyroidism. Annales d’Endocrinologie, 80(4), 240–249
Yang ML; Lu B, Journal Of Alternative And Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) [J Altern Complement Med], ISSN: 1557-7708, 2018 Apr; Vol. 24 (4), pp. 374-377