Hashimoto Diet Food List and Shopping List

The Hashimoto's diet is a balanced, whole-food way of eating that people with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune thyroid condition, use alongside their medication, not instead of it. No diet is proven to treat the condition. This list covers everyday foods, what to limit, and how to time food around your pill.

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How the Hashimoto's diet works

There is no single, proven Hashimoto’s diet. Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune condition and the most common cause of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). Its treatment is thyroid hormone medication, usually levothyroxine, and no food plan replaces it. This page is a balanced, everyday shopping list to eat well around that treatment.

The list leans on whole foods: lean protein, fish, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, dairy, eggs, and seeds. Iodine and selenium matter for the thyroid, and everyday foods supply both. Adults need 150 mcg (micrograms) of iodine and 55 mcg of selenium a day, and most people in the US get enough iodine from what they eat. The risk is too much, mostly from seaweed and supplements, so those stay off the list.

Timing matters as much as food choice. Levothyroxine is usually taken on an empty stomach, 30 to 60 minutes before breakfast. Soy, walnuts, high-fiber foods, grapefruit juice, and espresso can reduce how much of it your body absorbs, so keep them away from the dose. Calcium carbonate antacids and iron supplements need at least 4 hours between them and the pill.

Gluten isn’t part of the plan’s rules. Avoiding it is established for celiac disease, which is more common in people with Hashimoto’s. For everyone else, gluten-free trials are small and mixed, so the list keeps whole grains in.

What can you eat on the Hashimoto's diet

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  Lean protein

  Chicken, turkey, and lean beef round out meals. Roasted light-meat chicken has about 36 mcg of selenium per cup, against the 55 mcg adults need daily.

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  Fish and seafood

  Fish and shellfish are rich food sources of iodine and selenium. A 3 oz serving of cod has about 146 mcg of iodine, and 3 oz of cooked yellowfin tuna has about 92 mcg of selenium.

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  Vegetables

  Spinach, broccoli, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini make up the vegetable part of the list. Vegetables contain fiber, which can reduce levothyroxine absorption, so eat them with meals, not at the moment you take the pill.

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  Fruit

  Apples, bananas, blueberries, oranges, and lemons are everyday choices with no restriction attached. Grapefruit is the one to watch with levothyroxine, so it isn't on the list.

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  Whole grains

  Rolled oats, brown rice, quinoa, and whole grain bread make a steady base for meals, and brown rice adds about 12 mcg of selenium per cooked cup. If celiac disease is diagnosed, choose gluten-free grains such as rice and quinoa.

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  Legumes

  Lentils, chickpeas, and black beans are fiber-rich protein foods. Like other high-fiber foods, they belong at meals, not alongside your morning dose.

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  Dairy and eggs

  Milk, plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, Swiss cheese, and eggs are everyday iodine sources. One cup of 1% milk has about 88 mcg, three-quarters of a cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt about 87 mcg, and a hard-boiled egg about 31 mcg.

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  Nuts and seeds

  Almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds are portable snacks, and a quarter cup of sunflower seeds has about 19 mcg of selenium. Walnuts and Brazil nuts are left off the list, walnuts for pill timing and Brazil nuts for their selenium load.

Foods to limit on the Hashimoto's diet

On the Hashimoto's diet, skip, limit, or time carefully:

• Kelp, dulse, and other seaweed. Foods with large amounts of iodine may cause hypothyroidism or make it worse in people with Hashimoto's. For scale, 2 tablespoons of nori has about 116 mcg of iodine, most of the 150 mcg an adult needs in a day.
• Iodine and kelp supplements. The American Thyroid Association advises against iodine or kelp supplements that provide 500 mcg or more of iodine a day. Most people in the US get enough iodine from food, and the upper limit for adults is 1,100 mcg a day.
• Selenium supplements and Brazil nuts. Adults need 55 mcg of selenium a day, and the upper limit is 400 mcg. One ounce (6 kernels) of Brazil nuts from selenium-rich soil can hold 544 mcg, and high doses taken over a long time can be toxic.
• Food and drinks with your levothyroxine pill. Soy, walnuts, high-fiber foods, grapefruit juice, and espresso can reduce how much medicine your body absorbs. This is about timing, not banning: take the pill on an empty stomach, 30 to 60 minutes before your first meal.
• Calcium and iron near your pill. Calcium carbonate antacids and iron supplements should be taken at least 4 hours before or after levothyroxine. Multivitamins that contain iron or calcium can also lower absorption.

Downsides to know about

• No diet is proven to treat Hashimoto's. A 2023 systematic review of 9 studies found small trials with mixed results and concluded that more experimental studies are needed. Thyroid hormone medication remains the recommended treatment.
• Gluten-free evidence is mixed. In that review, one trial found a gluten-free diet lowered thyroid antibodies, while another found people improved less than controls. Gluten-free eating is established only for celiac disease, which is more common in people with Hashimoto's.
• Supplements can do harm. People with Hashimoto's may react to iodine amounts that are safe for others, and long-term high-dose selenium can be toxic. Selenium add-on trials are few: in a Cochrane review of 4 trials, 3 suggested lower antibody levels, but none showed a lower levothyroxine dose was possible.