Thyroid cancer dietary taboos

There are no universal absolute dietary taboos for thyroid cancer. All dietary adjustments must be based on pathological classification, treatment stage, and dynamic judgment of thyroid function and urinary iodine indicators. The "no seafood at all, no iodized salt" spread on the Internet is a one-size-fits-all wrong statement.

The last time I accompanied my family members to the nail and breast department for a follow-up consultation, the little girl in the same clinic had just had papillary cancer ablation for half a month. She stood at the door holding a cup of pearl milk tea and struggled for ten minutes. She was afraid that the coconut inside had iodine-containing additives, so she didn't dare to touch it, which made the doctor laugh. In fact, there is no unified standard for the issue of iodine intake that everyone is most concerned about: if it is differentiated thyroid cancer such as papillary cancer or follicular cancer, and iodine 131 ablation treatment is required after surgery, iodine must be strictly low 1-2 months before treatment. Iodized salt, seafood, pickled processed foods, and even iodine-containing vitamins must be temporarily stopped to ensure the absorption effect of iodine 131. However, after the iodine 131 treatment is completed and the thyroid function is adjusted to a stable range through medication, as long as the urine iodine test is within the normal range, it is completely fine to eat iodized salt normally and occasionally eat shrimps, crabs and even hairtail fish. Of course, many doctors of traditional medicine will recommend that you eat as little as possible "foods" such as seafood and mutton for six months after surgery, for fear of affecting wound healing. This view is currently not supported by evidence-based medical evidence. However, if you yourself feel uncomfortable eating these foods, or if the elderly in your family are particularly concerned about it, it is okay to avoid food for a while, and there is no need to force it.

Oh, by the way, there are also those iodine-containing health products, whitening pills, anti-sugar pills, etc. You really need to avoid them. I have seen several patients take those internet celebrity whitening pills, and their urinary iodine levels were more than twice as high, and their TSH levels were directly high. The gain outweighed the loss. If you really want to take this kind of supplement, check the ingredient list before buying it and make sure it says no iodine.

Except for iodine, most of the remaining "taboos" that have been rumored to be so miraculous are half-truths and half-false rumors. For example, it is said that "you cannot eat cruciferous vegetables" is really not the case. There was a girl in the patient group I attended before. In order to control her weight after surgery, she ate raw broccoli and cabbage as her staple food. After three months of eating, she went for a review. Her TSH was twice as high as last time. She was so panicked that she thought she had relapsed. Later, the doctor asked her to reduce the amount of raw cruciferous vegetables to no more than three meals a week. Every time I cooked it before eating it, the next month's reexamination found it back to the normal range. It's not that you can't eat cruciferous vegetables, but don't eat them as food like her. Only the thiocyanate in raw vegetables affects the synthesis of thyroid hormones. If you stir-fry it normally and use it as a side dish, the content will not cause any trouble at all.

There are also many people asking whether they can eat spicy food, soy products, beef and mutton. Among the dozens of patients I have contacted, no one has had any problems because of eating these indicators. The Sichuan aunt in the next bed started eating mildly spicy twice-cooked pork one month after the surgery. Every time her thyroid function was checked again, her thyroid function was extremely stable. The doctor also praised her for her good attitude and quick recovery. As long as you don’t have gastrointestinal discomfort when eating spicy food or are not allergic to soy products, there is absolutely no need to avoid these foods.

Of course, there are exceptions. If it is a type that has nothing to do with iodine metabolism, such as medullary cancer or anaplastic cancer, there is no need to worry about the issue of iodine at all. Add iodized salt and eat seafood as you like. On the other hand, if the parathyroid gland is injured during surgery, you should be careful not to eat high-calcium foods together with high-oxalate foods such as spinach and strong tea. This will affect calcium absorption and may cause cramps in the middle of the night.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the reason why nail cancer is called "happy cancer" is because it has a very small impact on life, and there is no need to put so many restrictions on yourself in terms of diet. Instead of checking every day whether you can eat this or touch that, it is better to ask the doctor every time you check up, "Do I need to adjust my iodine intake according to my current indicators?" If you are really unsure, just spend dozens of dollars to check the urine iodine, which is more reliable than any taboo list posted online. Really, eating is a happy thing, but if you dare not eat anything just because of some unnecessary taboos, then the gain outweighs the loss.