For those with thyroid diseases, especially Hashimoto’s or other autoimmune thyroid disease, there is a mountain of evidence showing that a thyroid reset diet, LOW in iodine-containing foods and other sources of iodine, is the way to regain optimal health. I’m pretty open with my patients that I have a thyroid disorder and I have switched my dietary strategy for myself in order to specifically target and support my thyroid!

If you’re doing this type of low iodine diet, either because you are reading Dr. Alan Christianson’s book, The Thyroid Reset Diet, or because you’re one of my actual patients, then here is a fun recipe for you to try! It’s very low in iodine when you follow the letter of the recipe as law. If you need help with your thyroid and you’re not a patient of mine and you’re in the state of Oregon, you can contact my clinic for an appointment!

If you don’t have any issues with thyroid, but you want a tasty recipe, you’ll also like this one! If you’re a ketonian or on carnivore, you will not like this recipe, but that’s okay! Steak is very low in iodine, so keep on eating that! I know I will.

Ingredients:

• 2 large ripe bananas
• 30 grams (2 tbsp) raw honey
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 large egg white or equivalent egg-white replacer
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp non-iodized salt (see note about salt below, but I use Celtic Grey Salt)
• 150 grams Kite Hill vanilla yogurt (one 5.3 oz container; see note about dairy below)
• 150 grams (1 cup) Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 30-60 mL filtered water (enough to get a good consistency for pancakes, or no water for waffles)
• Frozen blueberries to your heart’s delight

Pro tips:

• I weigh everything into a big, thin-walled metal bowl, sitting on a gram scale, taring every time I add an ingredient. It saves a lot of measuring tools/dishes and time. The bananas aren’t measured, but I use larger bananas.
• I use a wire potato masher thingy to do all the wet-mixing-mashing work and it’s pretty much one of my favorite tools.
• Use your “keep warm” function of your oven with ceramic, oven safe plates inside. You can put your pancakes on the plates as you finish each one and they’ll stay nice n hot when you’re ready to serve them! Keep warm should be around 170ºF on most ovens.

Method:

1. Put bananas, honey, oil, egg white (or replacer), vanilla, salt, and yogurt all in a big bowl, then mix/mash until combined. It will be lumpy, which is cool.
2. Add flour and baking soda, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl so there’s no dry ingredients sitting around.
3. Add water a bit at a time to get the consistency you want for pancakes.
4. Pre-heat your griddle to medium-ish until a drop of water dances on the pan (your mileage may vary; depends on your stove). Note: I use either cast iron or ceramic depending on my mood for the day. I don’t need any extra oil for mine, but use olive oil, coconut oil, non-dairy butter without carrageenan, if you need it for non-stickiness.
5. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure (or whatever, it’s your cake) to plop some batter down. You may need to spread it out a little.
6. Place 10 or so frozen blueberries around your batter, pressing them into it gently. You may want to use gloves if you don’t want to stain your fingies!
7. Watch for bubbles and dry edges before you flip. It should be browned underneath and flippable after 30-40 seconds or so. If your cake is burning, turn the heat down! If it’s taking forever to bubble, turn it up! Pancakes take practice.
8. Carefully flip your cake and finish cooking it for another minute or so.
9. You should be able to make about 8 or so pancakes, give or take.

Waffle variation:

1. Put bananas, honey, oil, egg white (or replacer), vanilla, salt, and yogurt all in a big bowl, then mix/mash until combined. It will be lumpy, which is cool.
2. Add flour and baking soda, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl so there’s no dry ingredients sitting around.
3. For waffles, follow waffle manufacturer’s instructions for pre-heating and cooking times, if you need to use cooking spray, and how much batter will make a waffle.
4. Put the right amount of batter into your waffle maker.
5. Place some frozen blueberries around your batter, pressing them into it gently. You may want to use gloves if you don’t want to stain your fingies!
6. Watch for steaming to mostly stop when making a waffle. I have made many waffles and I feel like there’s just some waffle-intuition you have to develop, so be patient and know you might ruin your first one or it might be an absolute triumph! Either way, you’re doing something great!
7. The yield of waffles depends on the waffle maker, but a normal sized Belgian waffle iron will probably make 6 to 8 waffles.

Notes:

• Safe salt: there are few salts that are iodine-free, including Celtic Grey Salt, pickling salt, kosher salt, and a few others. The heavily iodized salts are off limit for thyroid resetting. AVOID: pink Himalayan salt (shocked me when I learned this), iodized salt, sea salt in general.
• Dairy: I use Kite Hill yogurt because it contains no sea vegetables, carrageenan, agar, sea salt, or obviously dairy, all of which contain iodine. I like the flavor it imparts as well, giving the pancakes a slightly more buttermilk flavor due to acidity.
• Eggs: egg yolks contain about 20-25 mcg of iodine apiece, so for low iodine (iodine clearing phase of a thyroid reset diet) you will want to keep the yolk out. Sad but true. If you’re in maintenance after completing a reset and your thyroid disease is controlled, leave the yolk in!

Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. The relationship between a doctor and patient is an important one, and nothing in this post should be construed as creating a doctor-patient relationship or as providing medical advice. Reliance on any information provided in this post is solely at your own risk.