What Not to Eat When You Have Grave’s?

Although proper eating habits may not completely eradicate or treat Grave’s disease, but it can help a lot in reducing the symptoms of the disease maintain proper metabolism.

Grave’s disease is one of the deformity conditions of Thyroid gland. It is an auto-immune disease which results in hyperthyroidism and enlargement of thyroid gland. People suffering Grave’s diseases generally have lower level of TSH than the normal and higher level of thyroid hormones. The common symptoms of Grave’s disease includes weight loss, increased appetite, chest pain, anxiety, restlessness, and many other symptoms depending upon the patient. The symptoms of Grave’s disease which are related to food habit include:

• Increased appetite
• Weight loss (despite of increased appetite)
• Brittle bones
• Osteoporosis

As said earlier, diet plays a major role in maintenance of the disease. Some foods may exaggerate the symptoms and some food help in lowering the flares and cause symptomatic relief. If there are any kind of food allergies in the patient it may sometime worsen the condition, therefore it is very important to avoid certain food items along with including some in your diet. This helps in reducing the symptoms.

What all food items should be avoided? There is always a common list of food items which should be avoided by all of us (not only the patients with Grave’s disease), but to know what exactly to eat and what to avoid, a dietician should be consulted. However some common food items which should be avoided include:

If the person consumes food containing gluten, the treatment of Grave’s diseases becomes much difficult. It is also important to avoid gluten rich food because it can cause celiac disease and the risk of such disease is higher in the patients with Grave’s disease than the normal people. Many foods and drinks are rich in gluten and specially the packaged and processed food. It is very important to read the constituents of any food item before consuming them. The list of common foods which contain gluten includes:

• Malt
• Wheat and its products
• Rye
• Barley
• Triticale
• Yeast
• All types of grains

The amount of gluten varies in the above mentioned food items, however grains cannot be avoided completely but there portions can be limited according to the dietician’s advice.

Evidences show that iodine rich food can exaggerate the hyperthyroidism because all the hormones of thyroid gland contain iodine. However Iodine cannot be completely avoided because it is a micro-nutrient and essential for body functioning. It is very important to consume the right amount of iodine in your diet. The amount can be decided by consulting your dietician.

Some of the foods that are iodine rich and should be consumed in limited portions include: salt, bread dairy products etc. The natural sources of iodine rich foods are seafood like haddock and cod and some sea weeds like kelp.

Food items which are rich in caffeine like tea, coffee, soda, chocolates should be avoided in Grave’s disease because they can worsen the symptoms of Grave’s disease. The more common symptoms like anxiety, nervousness, weight loss, rapid heart rate can increase with the consumption of caffeine rich food. Again it’s not possible to completely avoid caffeine, required amount can be consumed, but with consultation of your doctor and dietician. If a small amount of caffeine, like say a cup of coffee in the morning makes you feel energetic, it can be consumed.

There is some or the other food item which causes allergy, even if it’s a very mild allergy like sneezing such foods should be completely avoided.

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Also Read:

• Graves’ Disease or Basedow-Graves Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Ophthalmopathy, Dermopathy
• Home Remedies for Graves’ Disease
• Can Graves’s Disease Make You Blind?
• Can you be Cured of Graves’ Disease?
• Can Graves’ Disease Affect Your Eyes?