You should avoid consuming all types of brassica vegetables, period. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that an occasional small amount can do no harm. When you eat BV's you feed harmful goitrogens into your thyroid, however little. This makes the thyroid perform under-par even though full blown hypothyroidism may not set in.
If you are perfectly healthy and slim, a resilient body quickly recovers from the occasional consumption of small amounts of BV's and an underactive thyroid will not come about. But if you are not slim and not perfectly healthy (who is?), the body will not recover so quickly from such consumption. So regardless of your state of health you are urged to simply avoid all brassica vegetables and enjoy a very wide choice of non-brassica plant-based food.
Note: what follows is not a complete list of all known brassica vegetables but it represents those most commonly consumed throughout the world. Clearly, the amount of goitrogens and antinutrients will vary from item to item.
As mentioned, the sprouted seeds of these brassica vegetables are fine to eat, provided they are consumed sparingly (because they will contain a low level of goitrogenic glucosinolates) and so long as they are harvested (cut from their roots) at less than three weeks growth. The sprouted seeds of non-brassica vegetables are generally a better choice.
To summarize, you have a wide choice of plant-based foods that exclude BV's. Consider the following:
* Any kinds of fruit, both sweet and culinary.
* Great variety of many types of nuts and seeds.
* A wide range of sprouted seeds and baby shoots under 3 weeks growth.
* Many kinds of herbs, edible leaves, beans, vegetables and legumes that are non-brassica.
As mentioned, for a comprehensive list of edible leaf vegetables see 'List of leaf vegetables' at Wikipedia.org (ignore the group of 18 'brassica' vegetables included in this list).
On the following page is a list of BV's to avoid. But remember that certain non-brassica foods can also be high in goitrogens. These include: cassava, soybeans and all soy products, peanuts, millet, spinach, bamboo shoots, and sweet potatoes.
Some foods such as sweet potatoes can be boiled for 5 minutes, then peeled, sliced and soaked overnight before final cooking. This greatly reduces their goitrogens and antinutrients. Tip: add a flat teaspoonful of baking soda to the soaking water to greatly improve the soaking process.
Unfortunately, soaking brassica vegetables has no effect on their goitrogens as they are virtually impermeable to the soaking water in their raw state. By partially cooking vegetables before soaking overnight, the effect of soaking can be made more effective. But according to Dr. Chris Masterjohn (PhD Nutritional Sciences, www.cholesterol-and-health.com), any attempts to soak brassica vegetables can actually enhance the goitrogenic effect of such foods.
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