The thyroid gland is a powerful “iodine pool” for the body. The thyroid tissue is tens of times more capable of iodine uptake than other tissues in the body, so the majority of our daily intake of iodine is pooled and utilized by the thyroid tissue. Although we have no evidence of a direct relationship between thyroid malignancy and excessive iodine intake, for the thyroid gland, daily iodine intake can affect thyroid function and related diseases.
I believe that one of the things that thyroid cancer patients struggle with most in their daily lives is their diet. We often hear doctors’ instructions to pay attention to iodine intake in the diet, to avoid iodine diet during postoperative radioactive iodine (131I) treatment, and to have a low iodine diet in daily life …… but often, our ears are listening and understanding, but our hearts are a bunch of doubts. The table below provides some insight into these different iodine-based diets.
Table 1. Iodine avoidance, low iodine, and moderate iodine diets
|
Daily Iodine Intake |
Appropriate Population |
Explanatory notes |
|
|
Iodine avoidance diet |
|
|
Iodine is widely available in our daily diet. It is basically impossible to have a completely “iodine-free diet”, so an avoidance of iodine diet means doing what you can to avoid iodine intake, or at least foods that are high in iodine. |
|
Low iodine diet |
<120 mcg/day |
|
A low-iodine diet means eating less, a little less iodine than normal, with an iodine intake of 120 micrograms or less per day. |
|
Iodine-appropriate diet |
120 mcg/day |
|
Iodine-moderate diet: It does not mean that you can eat seafood as rice, although it is not strictly controlled, but it is still important to avoid long-term consumption of large amounts of highly iodized foods such as seafood. |