Diet taboos for thyroid tumors

There are no foods that are absolutely forbidden to eat. All dietary adjustments must be determined based on your thyroid function status and the pathological nature of adenoma. The only controversial thing is the intake of iodine. The rest of the "must-do lists" posted online are most likely exaggerations.

To be honest, I have been in the nail and breast surgery department for almost eight years, and the most common source of anxiety I have seen is iodine: I just found out a 2mm benign adenoma, so I immediately threw away the iodized salt at home and replaced it with non-iodized salt. There were a lot of patients who didn’t even dare to go to the beach. According to the current mainstream evidence-based medicine point of view, the adjustment of iodine intake is completely up to the individual's taste: if your thyroid function is normal and the adenoma is a non-functional benign nodule, then you can eat iodine normally. There is no need to deliberately avoid seaweed and kelp, and there is no need to switch to non-iodized salt - there was an aunt in her 50s who was diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism in less than half a year just because of changing salt randomly. She complained of hair loss and lack of energy every day. It is completely unnecessary. But if your adenoma is a high-functioning adenoma that can secrete thyroxine autonomously, and has been combined with symptoms of hyperthyroidism, then you must strictly avoid iodine. Iodized salt, seafood, and even processed snacks with added iodine should be avoided as much as possible. This is the consensus of both medicine and surgery. There is another type of situation where papillary cancer has been diagnosed and is going to be treated with iodine 131 ablation after surgery. In this case, low iodine or even no iodine should be strictly followed 1-2 weeks before the surgery to help improve the sensitivity of subsequent treatment. After the treatment, just follow the doctor's instructions and resume a normal diet. There is no need to avoid iodine for the rest of your life. Of course, some practitioners of traditional medicine believe that thyroid tumors belong to the category of "gall disease" and that excessive iodine intake will aggravate phlegm and dampness. It is recommended that all patients reduce their intake of high-iodine foods. This view is currently not supported by large-scale evidence-based evidence. However, if you prefer mild conditioning, it is perfectly fine to combine it with your own acceptance reference. There is no need to stick to a certain standard.

After talking about the iodine that everyone is most confused about, let’s talk about the “cruciferous vegetable taboo theory” that has been spread recently: broccoli, cabbage, radish, and cabbage cannot be eaten. It is said that it will make tumors bigger. It is really not that exaggerated. The glucosinolates in these vegetables do metabolize thiocyanate in the human body, which inhibits the thyroid's absorption of iodine to a small extent, but the prerequisite is that you have to eat more than a few kilograms of it raw every day to reach the disease-causing dose. If you usually eat a plate of broccoli as a side dish, the content is not enough to even fill the gap between your teeth, and it will not affect the thyroid gland at all. There was a little girl who believed this statement before, and she didn’t touch cruciferous green leafy vegetables for half a year. She ended up suffering from vitamin deficiency and had mouth ulcers all over her mouth. She really couldn’t do it.

That’s not to say you don’t need to pay attention. Some foods are indeed recommended to be touched as little as possible. It’s not that eating a bite will make tumors malignant, but eating large amounts for a long time will disrupt the overall endocrine level. As the most sensitive endocrine organ in the body, the thyroid gland will inevitably be affected. For example, repeatedly pickled high-salt foods, milk tea with a large amount of trans fatty acids, crispy bread, fried foods, and some so-called "unconcentrated health products" with unknown ingredients should be touched as little as possible. There was a young man in his 20s who was diagnosed with a 1cm benign adenoma. After he was diagnosed with a 1cm benign adenoma, he still stayed up late playing games every day and drank two cups of iced milk tea a day. During the three-month review, the tumor had grown to 1.8cm. Although work and rest were also affected, the high-sugar eating disorder and hormone levels could not be shaken off. Of course, there’s no need to give up completely. It’s okay to drink a cup of milk tea or eat fried skewers if you’re craving for it occasionally. Just don’t eat it every day.

To put it bluntly, most thyroid tumors are "emotional diseases" and "lifestyle diseases." If you look at the taboo list every day, don't dare to eat this, don't dare to touch that, and are so anxious that you can't sleep every day, the harm is greater than eating two mouthfuls of kelp. I often tell the patients who come for review that a thyroid color ultrasound once every six months is more effective than any dietary restrictions. Eat and drink as you should, be less angry and stay up late, which is better than any conditioning.