Healthy thyroid function is critical for maintaining optimal metabolism, digestion, and a host of other bodily processes. While eating many of the best foods for thyroid health can help keep this gland running smoothly, especially for people who have a thyroid problem like hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), there is one food that the experts we spoke to consider the number-one food for thyroid health.
Meet the experts: Navya Mysore, M.D., a primary care physician and women’s health expert; Victoria Finn, M.D., an endocrinologist with Medical Offices of Manhattan.
But first, what nutrients do thyroid-healthy foods contain? “I usually recommend focusing on foods rich in iodine, selenium, zinc, antioxidants, and good-quality protein because these nutrients help the thyroid function, convert T4 [the primary hormone the thyroid produces] to the active T3, and reduce inflammation that can worsen symptoms,” Navya Mysore, M.D., a primary care physician and women’s health expert, previously said.
Both doctors we spoke to agreed: Brazil nuts are the top food for optimal thyroid health. “Brazil nuts are an excellent source of selenium, which is crucial for converting T4 to T3,” Victoria Finn, M.D., an endocrinologist with Medical Offices of Manhattan, told Prevention. “They also support glutathione production, reducing thyroid inflammation, especially in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.” Just how important is selenium? According to research in Frontiers in Endocrinology, selenium deficiency can increase the prevalence of several types of thyroid disease, while getting enough selenium can decrease levels of anti-thyroid antibodies and improve thyroid structure in people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (the autoimmune form of hypothyroidism).
