If you have thyroid disease, doctors often advise you to avoid an iodine diet or a low-iodine diet or an iodine-appropriate diet. But patients often listen confused and full of doubts.

Which thyroid diseases require control of iodine intake?

What is an iodine-free diet, a low-iodine diet, and an iodine-appropriate diet?

What foods can be used? What foods should be avoided?

Determine what kind of diet you need

First of all, you need to figure out what kind of diet corresponds to your thyroid problem.

No thyroid problems: iodine-appropriate diet

Hyperthyroidism: avoid iodine diet

Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism: low-iodine diet

Thyroid nodules Section: Appropriate iodine diet

Thyroid cancer surgery (half-section): Do not eat kelp, seaweed, seaweed, shrimps and clams, seafood no more than once a week, anything else. People living in coastal areas should eat non-iodized salt.

Thyroid cancer surgery (total resection): no contraindications. (If there is a lot of lymphatic metastasis, it is recommended to refer to the dietary requirements of subtotal and half resection patients).

Other thyroid problems: Consult a doctor

If the nodule is combined with hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism, you should eat according to the requirements of hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism.

What is the difference between high iodine, low iodine, and adequate iodine?

Healthy adults need to consume 150 micrograms of iodine every day (pregnancy and lactation require 250 micrograms).

Avoid iodine diet:

In layman’s terms, it means to try your best to avoid all foods containing iodine. Of course, it is almost impossible not to eat iodine at all, because water sources and soil contain iodine, so you can’t stop drinking water and eating things that grow in the soil, right?

Therefore, you need to avoid Iodine patients should just do their best, and at least avoid foods high in iodine.

Low iodine diet:

In layman’s terms, it means eating a little less iodine than normal people, and the daily intake of iodine is 150 micrograms.

Suitable iodine diet:

Like normal people, the daily intake of iodine is about 150 micrograms. It can be seen that for simple thyroid nodules, there is no need to worry too much about diet. That is, eat normally!

How to eat a diet that avoids iodine?

1. Do not eat iodized salt

When buying salt, pay attention to the ingredient list. Without "iodine", it is iodized salt. Look for the words "iodized-free salt" on the package, and don't be fooled by words like "bamboo salt," "low sodium salt," "healthy balanced salt," etc.

2. Do not eat processed foods with added salt

Such as pickles, kimchi, ham sausage, sausage, meat floss, potato chips, dried tofu, spicy strips, bread, biscuits, pastries ...(Ten thousand words are omitted here).

Unless you make it yourself, make sure you use non-iodized salt.

3. Do not eat seafood and seafood

Kelp, seaweed, seaweed, shrimp and shellfish... (10,000 words are omitted here) are all high in iodine.

Croaker, hairtail, mackerel, salmon, and freshwater fish do not contain high iodine and can be eaten.

4. Don’t eat egg yolks

You can eat egg whites.

Some processed foods may contain eggs. As long as eggs are not the main ingredient (for example, ranked in the first three ingredients on the ingredient list), it’s okay to eat a little.

5. Do not eat soy products

Soy products refer to soy sauce, soy milk, dried tofu, etc.

But soybean oil and soybean lecithin (a health product) can be eaten.

6. Do not eat health products and nutritional products containing iodine

Many multivitamins, trace elements, etc. may contain iodine. You need to read the ingredient list before purchasing.

So, is there anything else I can eat?

Patients who need an iodine-free diet can eat: egg whites, fresh raw meat, rice, wheat flour, cereals, oatmeal, fresh fruits and vegetables, canned fruits, unsalted peanut butter, unsalted baked nuts, coffee And tea (not instant coffee), sugar, honey, vinegar, black pepper, spices, vegetable oil, etc.

How to eat a low-iodine diet?

Compared with the iodine-avoidant diet, the low-iodine diet is much more relaxed.

If you choose iodized salt or low-iodine salt, do not eat seafood with high iodine content such as kelp, seaweed, seaweed, shrimp and clams, and try to avoid processed foods containing salt.

If you choose non-iodized salt, seafood does not need to be so strictly controlled.

How to eat an iodine-appropriate diet?

Compared with the iodine-avoidant diet and the low-iodine diet, the iodine-appropriate diet is more relaxed. Just eat normally.

Be careful not to eat large amounts of kelp, seaweed, seaweed, shrimp and other high-iodine-containing seafood for a long time (it is also difficult for ordinary people to eat large amounts of kelp and seaweed for a long time).

Why can people with thyroid cancer (total removal) still eat normally?

Because iodine is the "raw material" for the synthesis of thyroid hormones, and the thyroid gland is the "factory" for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. The "factory" no longer exists, and no matter how much "raw material" (iodine) is added, thyroid hormone cannot be produced. Therefore, after total thyroidectomy, the human body has almost no need for iodine, and there is no need to deliberately consume iodine-containing foods.

But there is no need to deliberately exclude foods containing iodine. After the thyroid is completely removed, the iodine ingested by the human body is absorbed into the blood from the small intestine and cannot be utilized and stored. The excess iodine will be excreted by the kidneys.

Avoiding iodine will bring inconvenience to life

Avoiding iodine diet will bring many inconveniences to life, such as:

It is best to eat three meals a day by yourself Do, because eating out cannot guarantee that you will eat iodized-free salt, and you cannot avoid processed foods with added iodized salt.

If you eat out, you cannot choose from many foods. You can only eat light dishes with less salt, or eat natural, low-iodine foods without additives, such as fresh fruits, freshly squeezed juices, and non-alcoholic beverages. Fruit and vegetable salads with salad dressing, cold dishes with less salt and no soy sauce.

When sharing delicacies with friends, you may have to refuse their kindness. Potato chips, seaweed, fish fillets, spicy strips, dried tofu, etc. all contain a certain amount of iodine.

……

The iodine-free diet is so painful, give me a reason to bite the bullet and stick to it!

Hyperthyroidism: The iodine-free diet is to limit the synthesis of thyroid hormone. Improve the condition of hyperthyroidism. Once hyperthyroidism is completely cured, you can eat seafood again.

Let yourself go

What should you do if you accidentally eat food high in iodine?

Let yourself go and don’t blame yourself, feel depressed or emotional all the time low. Occasional dietary mistakes will not cause too serious consequences. On the contrary, long-term tension, anxiety, and high mental stress are more detrimental to the recovery of thyroid disease.