The Best Natural Thyroid Replacement After RAI

Radioactive Iodine (RAI) therapy has a variety of uses for thyroid patients. Although it has been used successfully for many years, RAI is difficult to tolerate for many people. After going through RAI treatments, patients are often eager to find a more natural alternative for their thyroid therapy going forward. There are natural options for thyroid treatment after RAI, but which one is right for you depends on the nature of your thyroid condition.

Understanding RAI

There are two kinds of RAI therapy used for thyroid patients: I-123 and I-131. Both are administered orally. The former is harmless to thyroid cells and is used for diagnostic purposes. The second kind of RAI, I-131, destroys thyroid cells. Small doses are used to treat overactive thyroids while large doses are used for thyroid cancer treatment. Nearly all patients who receive RAI will need to take thyroid hormone replacement medication after they recover, even if their initial problem was an overactive thyroid.

Natural Treatments Post-RAI

In the wake of RAI treatment, most patients develop an underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism. A number of natural remedies exist that natural health experts and thyroid patients themselves recommend for treating an underactive thyroid, and any of them make fine choices post-RAI.

First, consider some dietary changes. Your thyroid needs iodine to function properly, so make sure your diet is iodine rich. In most countries, iodine is added to salt specifically for thyroid health, but do more than season your meals with salt. Red meat, eggs, yogurt, oatmeal, seafood, bananas and even parsley are all good dietary sources of iodine, so get plenty of them.

Coconut oil has been used successfully by many underactive-thyroid patients. Although it is not clear why coconut oil helps, Dr. Ray Peat speculates in an article entitled "Unsaturated Vegetable Oils Toxic," published in his newsletter, that replacing animal fats with coconut oil frees up enzymes that would be used digesting animal fat to help with thyroid hormone production.

Natural thyroid hormone supplements, found in health food stores, are another option. Dietary changes, coconut oil and natural thyroid hormone supplements can all be used together to boost results.

A word of warning about natural remedies: not all patients have success with these treatments. After RAI, your thyroid may be severely underactive, and natural therapies may not be enough. Be sure to keep your doctor involved in the process as you recover so she can monitor your blood work. If the natural remedies are not working, you will need to start taking a synthetic thyroid hormone replacement pill such as Synthroid.