A Thyroid friendly Dessert

Homemade hot cacao with marshmallows

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup sugar or pure fructose powder
• 4 cups of milk
• Garnish: marshmallows

This post concerns an overview of some of our thyroid diet principles, with a special focus on the ingredients of homemade cacao with marshmallows and how these affect your thyroid function.

Ray Peat’s Diet

Our thyroid diet is based on the research of Dr. Ray Peat, a leading thyroid expert.

Dr. Ray Peat’s thyroid diet is widely recognized around the world as a diet that is built on a deep understanding of how the body works on the biochemical level. So our thyroid diet advice is not just another quick fix.

Is Sugar Bad for thyroid?

There are a lot of negative things being said about sugar and how it is bad for your health, like that it caused diabetes and promotes obesity.

However, according to Dr. Ray Peat getting enough of the right sugars into your diet is extremely important for good health and also for a healthy thyroid function. The point is to get the right types of sugar.

What are Helthy sugars?

According to Dr. Ray Peat, not all forms of carbohydrates are the same.

Starches (such as bread, pasta, and rice) are long chains of glucose molecules, which strongly affects blood sugar by overstimulating insulin production. The same is the case for most candy which normally has a high glucose content. Overstimulation of insulin promotes fat synthesis and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Is Fructose good for the thyroid?

On the other hand, the sugars found in fruit, honey, and table sugar (sucrose) consists of 50 % fructose and % 50 glucose. Fructose is slowly converted into glucose, which prevents the overstimulation of insulin. In addition, fructose catalyzes the absorption and utilization of glucose by cells, thus decreasing the need for insulin, but increasing the metabolic rate making the body burn more calories. Fructose also supports steady blood sugar, which is important for the activation of the inactive thyroid hormone T4 to the active thyroid hormone T3.

Therefore table sugar, honey, fruit, and pure fructose powder are the best types of sugars to use. In our Hypothyroid Treatment Program, you can learn more about our thyroid promoting diet principles and healthy carbohydrates.

Gelatine and thyroid?

Getting enough good quality protein into your daily diet is very important for good thyroid function, as the liver needs large amounts of good quality protein to function optimally and the liver takes care of most of the activation of the thyroid hormone.

Dr. Ray Peat is a big fan of gelatin protein, as the amino composition of gelatin supports thyroid function. Therefore selecting meats with a lot of gelatin and even eating gelatin powder is part of our thyroid supporting diet recommendation. Marshmallows usually contain a lot of gelatine, and a dessert or snack with marshmallow is thus a quite thyroid friendly dessert.

Is Milk is good for your thyroid?

Milk contains calcium in large amounts. The calcium from milk is very easily absorbed. Calcium is essential in a thyroid supporting and anti-inflammatory diet.

Dr. Ray Peat recommends drinking large amounts of milk daily. In order not to gain weight, low-fat milk is often the best choice. Low-fat milk is also part of our weight loss diet recommendations. If you have problems with lactose, lactose-free milk is OK. Drinking hot cocoa can be a good way to get some of your daily milk consumption.

Is cacao good for your thyroid function?

Cocoa powder is a dry powder that remains after the cacao butter is extracted from the cacao bean. Cacao powder usually retains about 10 % cacao butter. Cacao butter is saturated fat. Dr. Ray Peat recommends using saturated fats to support your thyroid function.

Cacao powder also has a high content of protein and contains about 20 g protein per 100-gram powder. In addition, cacao powder contains important minerals and the health benefits of cacao have been attributed to its flavonoids content.

As you can see homemade cacao with marshmallows is an ideal thyroid-friendly desert. You can learn more about our thyroid promoting diet in our Hypothyroid Treatment Program.