Dr. Alan Christianson’s new book, The Thyroid Reset Diet: Reverse Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Symptoms with a Proven Iodine-Balancing Plan, is a “surprising new plan to reverse the symptoms of thyroid disease by reducing excess dietary iodine.”
I highly recommend this book if you:
- Have known or suspected thyroid dysfunction/disease
- Are a practitioner working with individuals with thyroid disease
- Are using amino acids – such as tryptophan, 5-HTP, GABA or theanine – for easing anxiety (because thyroid health needs to be optimal in order for the amino acids to work well)
- Would like to learn about how too much dietary iodine (and some surprising sources) can contribute to thyroid disease
Here is the official book blurb:
A surprising new plan to reverse the symptoms of thyroid disease by reducing excess dietary iodine, from integrative physician and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Alan Christianson.
“The most innovative treatment plan around.”—JJ Virgin, New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and Fitness Hall of Famer
Though the thyroid gland is small, it produces hormones that control the rate of nearly every chemical reaction in the body—turning food into energy, controlling the rate of tissue growth, stimulating the activity of other hormones, and much more. An estimated twenty million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, and up to 60 percent of them are unaware of their condition. Depending on the type and severity of the thyroid disease, symptoms can range from weight gain and fatigue to hair thinning and memory loss.
In The Thyroid Reset Diet, Dr. Alan Christianson helps readers reverse chronic thyroid diseases like hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis with nothing more than dietary change: the reduction of iodine intake. Backed by new research showing that proper dietary iodine intake can start to reverse thyroid disease in as little as four weeks, his diet plan contains the optimal amount of iron and dietary iodine to control thyroid hormones, effectively resetting the thyroid.
Instead of following a restrictive diet for thyroid health, The Thyroid Reset Diet does not require eliminating any food category. Instead, Dr. Christianson recommends food swaps like brown rice instead of processed bread to regulate iodine intake. He shares the latest on supplements and other thyroid health strategies, along with more than sixty-five recipes, weekly meal plans, and maintenance info. His cutting-edge research and clear results, coupled with an easy-to-follow diet plan, will help anyone struggling with thyroid disease.
Get your copy on Amazon here (my Amazon link) or from bookstores.
I have some questions for Dr. Christianson and based on the response to the email I shared about this book a few weeks ago, I know many of you have questions too.
Please do share your questions in the comments below.
I’ll also update this blog with some snippets and my questions in next week’s newsletter.
I’m planning a video interview with Dr. Christianson and we’ll do our best to get all our questions answered.
How is this new book any different from Dr Amy Myers book The Thyroid Connection? My guess is there is no new information on treatment of thyroid issues that hasn’t already been covered before.
Jane
This is completely new information that I don’t see covered in Dr. Amy Myer’s excellent book “The Thyroid Connection.” Dr. Izabella Wentz does have a section on it in her book “Hashimoto’s Protocol.” Dr. Christianson writes about how TOO MUCH dietary iodine can contribute to thyroid disease and how to REDUCE intake to find a balance. I’ll be making some additions to the blog so stay tuned.
Very important to be careful with this one, as too little iodine can also ramp up problems with Hashmoto’s. Iodine deficiency is one cause of Hashmoto’s. You often hear about how iodine deficiency or low iodine is very rare in western societies, this is not entirely true. And the thyroid gland requires iodine. The process is also quite complex so it is important to consult and do your research to see what works for you, but for many iodine supplementation (in the presence of adequate selenium) results in a reduction of Hashmoto’s symptoms, as has been the case for myself. Also, and this is very important, fluoride exposure inhibits iodine absorption and many if not most of us are exposed to a lot of fluoride (in my case my dentist had suggested using a high fluoride toothpaste).
Marie
Yes it’s a balancing act which is what Dr. C explains in his book
Knowing how much iodine you are consuming is just so difficult except for obvious things like seafood and seaweeds and the compulsory iodine added in many countries commercial breads. I’ll be interested to see how he manages to sort this out. Some counties dairy products have iodine because of treatment of cows udders at milking-some don’t. Eggs have iodine but how much depends on what they are fed-organic feeds Greens etc??? Many home gardeners on the coast put lots of seaweed on gardens. Who knows how much ends up in veggies and fruit! After a year of restricting iodine-I was hyperthyroid- I am very unsure if I’m actually getting enough and really confused!!
Thank you Trudy for such a great blog and the work you do; I’ve read your book and listened to many of your presentations and interviews in some of the online summits. I do want to mention here though with this post that it’s also important to think about different food and beverage practices in different countries, especially iodine. In the US, they don’t put iodine in flour and thus bread products anymore. It was replaced with bromide several decades ago. There may be some exceptions now, but it’s mostly bromide. See the article at https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9121
So taking bread out of the diet, as Dr. Christianson apparently suggests according to your blog post, in the USA is most likely reducing the competing bromide not iodine. So if that is helping, it may not be because iodine is being reduced. I would suggest reading the book, Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without it by Dr. David Brownstein and the 2024 interview of Dr. Ken Berry with Dr. Brownstein at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oix26uuBfZg
(By the way, I have Hashimoto’s and am iodine deficient; I live in the goiter belt here in the US. I’m beginning to take iodine.) It’s interesting, too, that iodine helps produce thyroid hormones, which in turn are important for neurotransmitters. In addition to being iodine deficient, I’m serotonin deficient.
Christina
You raise many excellent points many of which I agree with.
I find it so interesting how many professional differences of opinion there are when it comes to iodine – Dr. Christianson, Dr. Brownstein and Dr. Datis Kharrazian (who is also very cautious with the use of iodine with someone with Hashimoto’s)