The 50 Microgram Iodine Diet

• Breakfast:
  • 1 cup cooked oat bran (that's 2 bread servings)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (1/2 miscellaneous)
  • an apple and an orange (2 fruit)
• Mid-Morning Snack:
  • 1/2 cup carrot sticks (1 vegetable)
  • an apple (1 fruit)
• Lunch:
  • baked potato (1 vegetable)
  • 3 ounces pork (1 meat)
  • an apple and an orange (2 fruit)
• Dinner:
  • baked potato (1 vegetable)
  • 3 ounces pork (1 meat)
  • 1/2 cup mustard greens (1 vegetable)
  • 1 1/2 cup steeped tea (1 1/2 miscellanous)

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the publishers of the journal, kindly granted me permission to reproduce the diet here for a period of 6 months. And might I add that they were very quick to respond to my enquiry, and made the entire permission process very simple and easy. Thank you, LW&W! However, that six month period expired May 12, 2001, and I've taken down the pages containing the journal text. You can still read my comments about the diet here, and email me for further information.

Audrey Boehringer, R. D.
Judith Carson-Drelling, R. D.

PURPOSE: To provide a diet following the normal diet pattern with limited iodine intake. This diet may be used in thyroid uptake tests or for the study of metabolism under restricted iodine intake.

COMPOSITION:
Carbohydrate - 144 grams
Protein - 54 grams
Fat - 65 grams
Calories - 1400 kilocalories
Carbohydrate - 45-50 micrograms

ADEQUACY: This diet does not meet the Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances for iron for women, or calories, calcium, and phosphorus for both men and women as established by the Food and Nutrition Research Council. However, for the test period, these limitations are not harmful.

GENERAL RULES: Follow the diet closely. FOODS NOT LISTED ARE TO BE OMITTED. Foods are to be eaten in the amounts listed. The diet is for a limited time only. The diet pattern as planned is effective for the purpose it is intended.

1. Hemken, R. W., Vandersell, J. H., Oskarsson, M. D., and Fryman, L. R.: Iodine intake related to milk iodine and performance of dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science. 55:931, 1972.
2. London, W. T., Vought, R. L., and Brown, F. A.: Brief recording: Bread - a dietary source of large quantities of iodine. New England Journal of Medicine: 273:381. 1965.
3. Vought, R. L., Brown, F. S., and Wolf, J.: Erythrosine an adventitious source of iodine. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism: 34:747. 1972.
4. Kidd, P. S., Trowbridge, F. L., Goldsby, J. B., Nichamen, M. Z.: Sources of dietary iodine. Journal of American Dietetic Assoc: 65:421. 1974.
5. Iodine Content of Foods. London: Chilean Iodine Educational Bur., 1953 p6.

I recently had the pleasure of receiving an email from Cindy, a Cincinnati resident who updated me on the Virgina Bakery. She has given me permission to quote her email here:

Subject: Virginia Bakery 
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 14:40:17 -0500 

FYI - I am also a thyroid cancer survivor and in the past have relied on the bread fom the
Virginia Bakery, Cincinnati OH while doing "the diet".  Sorry to say, the bakery closed
maybe 2 yrs ago and is now only opened for a couple of weeks prior to Lent each year to
make schneken (?sp), a traditional German pastry.  I contacted other bread -only bakeries
and was able to find products made without iodine.  You just need to talk with owners who
are also bakers.

Time marches on, I guess. She also has the following good advice for bread-seekers:

Subject: Re: Virginia Bakery 
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 08:23:24 -0500 

Back to the bakeries...(You certainly may quote me) I found that
knowledgeable bakers (usually the shop owner or the person who orders
supplies) were more than willing to tell me if their breads contained
iodine.  Just tell folks to stop in and ask.  They do need to make their
question very clear and not accept "Uh, no, I don't think so".  Three years
ago I used the French Country Loaf from Big Sky Bakery (Cinti) with no
problem.

• You WILL get hungry. After a couple of days you get used to it, and then it's not so bad. According the Weight Watchers "points" system, this Low Iodine Diet supplies about 21 points a day - exactly what is recommended for a typical woman following Weight Watchers. You will see results!! (of the Weight Watchers variety, that is, in addition to the Nuclear Medicine variety...)
• To prevent excessive hunger, I personally find that eating a fruit serving in the form of fruit is more satisfying than in the form of juice. For example, 1/2 a medium grapefruit or 1/2 cup of grapefruit juice are both acceptable servings of fruit according to this diet. However, the fiber in the actual fruit makes me feel satisfied longer than drinking the juice.
• If you buy lean cuts of pork and beef, they will be lower-fat than the peanut butter option in the meat category. Bad luck if you're a vegetarian, though, since the peanut butter is the only plant food option in the meat category.
• Invest in a dietary scale so you can measure 3-ounce portions of meat. Note to metric system users: 3 ounces is about 100 grams.
• Make sure you stock up on allowable foods before you get too hypo. Canned pineapple is very convenient and tasty fruit. You can cook a bunch of meat at once and then use 3 ounces at a time later on (freeze individual servings).
• The fruit selections will be more enjoyable if you are doing this in the summer, since more fresh fruit will be available. Of course, being hypo is more pleasant in the summer to start with ('cuz you don't get so COLD!!). But do we get to choose when we do this?? No! I'm just griping.
• Two weeks is the time that docs typically instruct us to follow the diet for RAI testing and treatment. That is, two weeks prior to testing... then stay on the diet until your test results have been reviewed, in case your doc wants to do an immediate treatment (while your TSH is still high) based on the results. Basically, stay on the diet until your doc instructs you to resume your thyroid hormone pills.

Last updated on May 8, 2002.

© 2000-2002 linda_tam@alumni.hmc.edu