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Low-Iodine Diet

Iodine, contained in many foods, is absorbed by thyroid cells in your body. Your doctor may ask you to avoid certain foods and medicines that contain iodine for a few weeks before your ablation procedure, Tg testing or whole body scan (WBS). Doing so will deplete your body of its natural storage of iodine, allowing any remaining thyroid cells to better absorb the radioactive iodine given to you before these procedures. Be sure to let your doctor know if you've had any other x-ray procedures in the month before your test since some x-ray exams use iodine-containing chemicals that could interfere with your scan.

Being on a low iodine diet can be challenging. However, there are several cookbooks now available to help you select and prepare healthy, low iodine meals before your testing if your doctor thinks this is important for your care.

Visit the following links for low-iodine meal-planning suggestions:

Thyroid Cancer Survivor’s Association: Low-Iodine Diet & Cookbook
Light of Life Foundation: Low Iodine Cookbook
National Institutes of Health: Preparing to Receive Radioactive Iodine: The Low-Iodine Diet (PDF)
Your Health Press: The Low Iodine Diet Cookbook

Below is a list of some foods to avoid that contain iodine as well as foods that are okay to keep eating:

Other tips

You may want to shop and freeze or store your ingredients before starting your diet to avoid being tempted by iodine-containing foods at the store. Note that iodine does not mean salt or sodium: Non-iodized salt, such as Kosher salt, is fine to use on a low-iodine diet.