Article originally published by Thyroid UK Harmony Magazine in February 2025
We all know how important immunity is. It’s our protection against the world. We are constantly protected from infections and pathogens. It allows us to recover from illness and injury. It even has the ability to identify and eliminate cells that could be cancerous.
When it’s working as it should, it keeps us healthy and strong. But when it is either weak or overactive, it can create or complicate health issues, not least where thyroid disease is concerned.
We can look at immunity in two ways when it comes to thyroid conditions.
Firstly we need it to be protective. To support our immunity in this way I would look at various food and lifestyle strategies.
- Increase antioxidants in your diet. Antioxidants neutralise free radicals. Free radicals are unstable atoms that can damage cells and they are linked to many diseases. Antioxidants in foods are high in deeply coloured plant foods like blueberries, strawberries, goji berries, kale, red cabbage, spices and spinach but also in nuts and beans, and even chocolate (although it has to be dark chocolate).
- Check you’re getting foods rich in the nutrients that are crucial for good immunity.
Zinc: found in pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, eggs, meat, fish, seafood, beans, nuts, whole grains, dairy products.
Vitamin A: organ meats, fish (particularly herring and salmon), eggs, dairy. There are also foods high in beta carotene which is the precursor to the vitamin A we need – from leafy greens, orange and yellow vegetables and mangoes, plantains and papayas. However, it’s worth noting that some people struggle to convert beta carotene to vitamin A.
Vitamin C – found in fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruit.
While this advice is relevant to everyone even if you don’t have a thyroid condition, it can be particularly important if you do because digestion is often not as effective, and the same goes for the processing of some nutrients in the body. So often in hypo- or hyperthyroidism, some extra consideration is needed for these key immunity nutrients.
3. Manage your stress. Stress has a huge impact on the functioning of the immune system. If you encounter a lot of stress on a daily basis then it’s imperative to put in place some regular calming activities that are nourishing for the nervous system. Walking in nature, reading a calm book (thrillers don’t work for this), medication, deep breaths, yoga nidra, being in a creative flow state, there are endless ways.
The second way we talk about the immune system in relation to thyroid conditions, is with autoimmunity. When there is autoimmunity, the immune system kicks into gear when it shouldn’t be, and our body is attacked in some way. This is true in both Hashimoto’s and Graves diseases.
So we need to look at why this happens and do all we can to reduce the possibility.
Vitamin D’s role here is a big one. It helps regulate the immune system so that it is activated only when it’s needed as it both stimulates the immune system and induces immune tolerance. Vitamin D deficiencies are likely to increase the risk of of autoimmunity.
Sunlight is the best place to get vitamin D but in the UK the sun isn’t strong enough between October and April so a supplement is often required. I would recommend everyone with autoimmune thyroid disease to take a supplement of at least 1000IU in the winter, and possibly all year round.
The next consideration is to find out what it triggering the autoimmune response. There is usually a role for the gut as it is thought that poor gut health can lead to damaged gut lining that means molecules can enter the bloodstream that shouldn’t be there. When the immune system spots them, it mounts an immune response and this induces autoimmunity.
Looking after our gut health is key here. Things you can do yourself at home to support your gut health are chewing well, being calm when you eat, keeping well hydrated, eating a wide and colourful range of vegetables and plant foods and eating fermented foods regularly. But sometimes a more substantial gut healing protocol may be necessary that could involve herbs and supplements to eradicate pathogens or bad bacteria, to help nourish the gut lining and help repopulate the gut with good gut bacteria.
Then autoimmune triggers. These can be all kinds of things including infections, stress, and foods. The most common food triggers are gluten and dairy. But that doesn’t mean you need to cut them both out immediately. Separate elimination diets for a couple of months each (pick one to do first, whichever seems most logical) can be helpful to see how these potential triggers are affecting your symptoms. These aren’t the only potential food triggers so further investigation may be necessary.
If you have a thyroid condition, supporting the immune system can be a bit of a balancing act. The goal is not just to strengthen and support immunity but to regulate it so that it not only protects against infections but excessive autoimmune activity is prevented or reduced.
It is possible to have both strong and balanced immunity with thyroid disease but it may require moving towards an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle and some extra support and attention towards nutrient intake, management of stress and gut health.
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Alice Godfrey Nutrition 