Cookbook review: ‘Complete Thyroid Guide’ useful for those with thyroid disorder

The Complete Thyroid Health and Diet Guide is a book for someone who already knows that they have a thyroid disorder.

It is not a tool for self-diagnosis. The first half of the book does contains a thorough explanation of the how and why of this disease. The second half of the book contains recipes specifically developed to work with the metabolism of a person whose thyroid is impaired.

The nutritional strategies are not a substitute for your thyroid medicine by any means. Rather, these recipes are meant to complement the meds you may be taking.

Dr. Nikolas Hedberg became interested in thyroid disorders early in his career and has worked with many patients undergoing physician treatment for thyroid problems. Dr. Hedberg is board-certified in nutrition and is a board certified chiropractor, naturopathic physician and chiropractic internist who is the founder of the Immune Restoration Center in Asheville, NC.

Danielle Cook has studied functional medicine and serves as the Director of Integrative Medicine at the Vital Health Institute in Los Gatos, Calif., and lives in Santa Cruz, Ariz. She holds a master’s degree in nutrition and food science and has worked as a diabetes educator. Cook’s interest in thyroid function is personal as well as professional. While traveling in South America she became ill with symptoms later diagnosed as gastrointestinal and hypothyroidism. She immediately began research that showed her so-called “healthy” diet was too heavy on carbs, sugar, conventionally grown produce, animal proteins and in general, too many processed foods. She worked on making dietary changes that helped her on her healing journey and has applied that knowledge to the development of, and or selection of recipes for this book.

The first part of the book is the detailed explanation of the disease, offering explanations that provide fodder for questions for your own physician and perhaps more information than the short time in your doctor’s office was able to offer. But, do not apply any to yourself or your own case without consulting your medical team.

The second half of the book focuses on understanding the healthy dietary journey these two co-authors have developed. It’s the guide to using the recipes, integrating them into your diet and helping you to learn how to adjust your diet, pointing it in a healthy direction. Chapter 11, the “Balanced Thyroid Diet” defines and explains the use of the “healthiest” foods for persons diagnosed as suffering from thyroid difficulties. I also found the chapter on common ingredients for healing your body to be of great interest.

The organization of each part of the book is logical and integrates the various sections. For instance, that chapter touting the benefits of various foods is alphabetical, making it easy to use. That chapter starts with almonds, asparagus, basil, beans and lentils (and lists the recipes in the book that use these) and goes all the way to yogurt.

Among the included recipes are interesting options such as pizza crust from grated cauliflower, quinoa stuffed tomatoes, gingery chicken and wild rice soup, mushroom lentil soup, lentil stuffed tomatoes and gluten free pumpkin date bars as well as some more standard adaptations of pizza and stews. The pair worked hard to provide a book that not only offers a wealth of understanding of their disease but also offers recipes the whole family will enjoy, things that are spicy and interesting, recipes that will assist them in living well in spite of their thyroid issues.

This is a very specialized cookbook. Not for everyone. However, if you are suffering from thyroid disease, as is one out of every eight women, (a rate five to eight times higher than the rate it affects men),then its dietary suggestions and explanations could, along with what your physician has suggested or prescribed, make a very positive contribution to the management of the thyroid condition.

By emphasizing what you can eat and how to prepare it, instead of simply offering a list of what to avoid, this book could also provide an improved quality of daily life for those with an impaired thyroid.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 5:20 AM with the headline "Cookbook review: ‘Complete Thyroid Guide’ useful for those with thyroid disorder."