Have you noticed an interesting phenomenon: for many diseases, doctors are most concerned about how to cure, while patients are often most concerned about how to eat.
For most chronic diseases, a proper diet is the prerequisite and foundation of treatment, and to control the disease, one must first learn “how to eat”, and guidelines also strongly recommend diet and exercise control , type 2 diabetes. In the endocrinology department, I think the first question asked about eating is how to eat for diabetes, and the second question is about food selection for hyperthyroidism. Today, let’s talk about how to advise hyperthyroidism patients “how to eat”.
A brief review
Hyperthyroidism, known as “hyperthyroidism”, is caused by excessive production of thyroid hormones in the body. The main physiological role of thyroid hormones is to increase the basal metabolic rate, accelerate carbohydrate absorption, and promote fat and protein breakdown.
Typical symptoms of hyperthyroidism include increased calorie consumption, accelerated protein breakdown, increased fat consumption, and decreased cholesterol levels, etc. Typical symptoms include increased appetite, excessive food and hunger, increased stool frequency, fear of heat and sweating, irritability, and insomnia and poor sleep.
From the diet, how to instruct patients to cope with it reasonably?
Second, avoid iodine ban can not be partial
Since iodine is the basic raw material for synthesizing thyroid hormone, in order to reduce the synthesis of hormone at source, the first thing to do is to “avoid iodine diet”, including the prohibition of iodine-rich foods and drugs.
1. High iodine food, goodbye
According to the amount of iodine per 100 grams of food, we can classify high iodine foods into three categories.
The first class contains thousands to tens of thousands of micrograms of iodine and includes kelp, nori, moss strips, jellyfish, etc.
The second category contains hundreds to thousands of micrograms of iodine and includes sea crabs, mussels, shrimp skin, etc.
The third category contains tens to hundreds of micrograms of iodine and includes sea fish, sea shrimp, etc.
During hyperthyroidism, patients should be instructed to say bye bye to these high iodine foods.
2. Avoid iodized salt
In addition, use “non-iodized salt” when cooking for hyperthyroidism. Due to the widespread use of iodized salt, hyperthyroidism patients should minimize the number of meals out.
3. Do not use drugs and cosmetics that are high in iodine
As for medications, you should not use amiodarone, iodine, iodine-containing vitamins, throat lozenges and contrast media. Cosmetics such as face wash and mask containing seaweed should also be avoided.
4. Is it necessary to avoid iodine diet after hyperthyroidism is cured?
The answer is no.
After hyperthyroidism is cured by drugs or isotopes, the ban on iodine can be lifted and iodized salt and seafood can be put on the table. However, since excess iodine in the body is a trigger for hyperthyroidism, you should avoid eating too much food with high iodine in a short period of time to prevent the recurrence of hyperthyroidism.
Adequate nutrition to ensure supply
Hyperthyroidism is a state of high metabolism, which accelerates the decomposition of protein and fat, and patients will show signs of overeating, easy hunger, and thinness. Accordingly, it is necessary to adopt a high-carbohydrate and high-protein diet to ensure adequate heat supply and improve the nutritional status of the whole body.
1. Maintain body weight and increase side meals
The amount of food varies from person to person and from condition to condition, and stabilizing body weight at the right level is a simple indicator to measure. The specific method of operation can be based on the standard three meals a day, in addition to 2-3 additional side meals.
2. These foods are suitable for selection
Milk, eggs, lean meat, poultry, fruits, low-fiber vegetables (such as cucumbers and tomatoes), and soy products are all ideal foods for hyperthyroidism patients.
3. Pay attention to prevent high blood sugar
Since thyroid hormone promotes glucose absorption and accelerates glycogen synthesis and decomposition, it is generally a “glucose-raising hormone”, and is often accompanied by high blood sugar in hyperthyroidism. Therefore, patients should be advised to optimize their food structure, eat less refined food and avoid excessive intake at one time to prevent high blood sugar.
This is especially important for hyperthyroid patients with combined diabetes.
4. Reduce food intake after disease control
It is especially important to remind that as hyperthyroidism improves after treatment, the body’s metabolic rate will gradually return to normal. During this period, if you maintain the habit of eating a lot under hyperthyroidism and do not reduce the amount of food accordingly, a tragic scene will easily occur: you will be cured of hyperthyroidism but you will become a fat person.
How to choose other foods?
If a patient is allowed to eat the foods listed above for a few months, it will be unbearable.
Therefore, it is important to take a good look at the following. Here are the principles to help determine what to eat and what not to eat.
1. Increase mineral and vitamin intake
In the state of hyperthyroidism, vitamins are consumed in large quantities, especially B and C vitamins, which can easily lead to deficiency. At the same time, minerals such as potassium, calcium and phosphorus are also easily excreted through diarrhea, causing malnutrition.
Therefore, it is important to choose foods rich in vitamins and minerals, such as fresh vegetables and fruits, and to take calcium and vitamin D supplements if the patient is at risk of osteoporosis.
In addition, it is important to ensure sufficient daily water intake to compensate for water loss due to heavy sweating, rapid breathing and diarrhea.
2. Limit the intake of dietary fiber
Dietary fiber is an important nutrient found in foods such as coarse grains, fruit peels and coarse fiber vegetables, which helps slow down digestion, relieve constipation and prevent fat accumulation, and has important health value.
However, because hyperthyroidism patients often have varying degrees of increased bowel movements and diarrhea, foods with high dietary fiber content should be moderately restricted.
3. Avoid stimulating foods
Typical symptoms of hyperthyroidism include panic attacks, fear of heat, and agitation. At this time, it is important to avoid stimulating foods such as spicy foods, strong tea and coffee to prevent the aggravation of these symptoms.
In general, it is necessary to fully understand the characteristics of hyperthyroidism and to be familiar with what foods are appropriate and what foods are contraindicated in dealing with it. Not only should patients understand that “food instead of medicine” is an unrealistic fantasy most of the time, but they should also know that “proper diet” is the best partner with medication.