McCall McPhersonFounder, Modern Thyroid Clinic.

Boost Thyroid Health: Herbs, Supplements & Foods to Avoid #shorts

15 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this short interview, McCall McPherson discusses practical strategies for supporting low thyroid function beyond iodine supplementation. He explains that thyroid hormone activation relies on several cofactors and that conversion issues are common, especially with age. He recommends ensuring adequate zinc, iron, magnesium, ashwagandha, and selenium—highlighting selenium’s potential to reduce Hashimoto’s antibodies. McPherson also emphasizes the importance of a nutrient‑dense, low‑inflammatory diet, listing the most inflammatory foods to limit or avoid: dairy, gluten, legumes, grains, and, to a lesser extent, nuts and seeds. The conversation frames these dietary and supplement choices as ways to improve hormone activation and mitigate autoimmune triggers.

What are some of the other things people can do if their thyroid's low besides maybe iodine, but not too much? Are there herbs or amino acids or supplements you can take that help with thyroid?
Like, it's hard to completely compensate for that, but, you know, cofactors are needed to activate our thyroid hormones. Lower levels of cortisol is needed to activate our thyroid hormones. We can really intervene at the conversion issue, which, again, I think conversion issues are ubiquitous. We almost all have them, especially as we age. So things like zinc, make sure your iron's good, ashwagandha, magnesium. Selenium. These things can help thyroid function. Selenium too can help reduce Hashimoto's antibodies. So there are— and just the nutrients from a high nutrient diet with low inflammatory foods also impact our ability to activate our hormones.
What are the most inflammatory foods to avoid?
Dairy's number 1, gluten's number 2, number 3 is legumes, number 4 is grains. And by the time, like, nuts and seeds are in there too, but a lot lower down, but they're definitely present.
I just don't think legumes, even though in some places they eat them, I just don't think that they're an ideal food. They're better than starving, but you're finding autoimmune activation from legumes in a lot of people.