low Iodine Diet info and tips

Low Iodine Diet for whole body scan prep

Let me start by stating this caveat: this was my diet based on the guidelines given to me by my nurse. You may be given other guidelines by your clinicians. Always refer to what has been given to you by your team first.

What makes me an expert?  I'm not!  But what I am is a food blogger who has many food sensitivities and has become skilled in food substitutions, especially on a tight budget.
I was diagnosed with papallary thyroid cancer in late November 2014.  I had a total thyroidectomy because I had a mass on each hemisphere, a "sticky" 4cm on the left. The removal was not 100%.  I'm considered persistent. In July 2018 I will be facing my 3rd stimulated whole body scan needing low iodine diet (l.I.d.) prep of at least 2 weeks.

Why low iodine diet?  Iodine is a naturally occurring mineral that is needed to produce a hormone in your thyroid called thyroxine. By going on l.I.d. the thyroid will be starved of it so, when given radioactive iodine, any remaining thyroid cells will soak up that iodine and light up under the whole body scan.

Iodine isn't just in iodine salt. Broad list of other foods to avoid:

• Egg yolks
• dairy
• Anything from the sea
• Canned foods
• Seasoning mixes
• Soy

My nurse is always keen to point out that it's "low" iodine not "no" iodine. Obviously, don't eat your way through the Cheesecake Factory's menu but don't put yourself under the pressure to not eat one tiny bit of iodine. It's hard. It's especially hard these days when we eat a lot of processed food. 

Tips

• Find a friend or family member to help
• Meal planning and prep is key
• Take a field trip to the market ahead of time
• Never hesitate to call your medical team
• Read labels
• Google is your friend, bring it shopping with you to help decipher ingredients
• Don't eat out
• Have non-iodine salt will travel
• Find a splurge substitute (for me it's sorbet)
• Remind yourself that a bottle of pinot gris is iodine free!..... ok, Maybe that one is for me

Most recipes on my blog are from scratch and can easily be made l.I.d. friendly just by switching out salt or using vegan/soy free substitute.  I will be posting more specifically l.I.d. menu plans and recipes very soon. 

14 dinners and yeast on a diet

Today, the day that we get our grocery money, husband and I went to get shopping.  Not only did we get the usual work lunches and snack but also bought the ingredients to make freezer to crock pot dinners.  I had to make a couple major changes, mostly that I had to switch out turkey breast for chicken.  

We started out trip at Aldi's.  Aldi's is a fantastic store when you are on a tight budget.  A large portion of the groceries are the same as the major brands, just off label.  Some of the savings are passed on due to some of Aldi's cost cutting measures.  You must rent a grocery cart for 25 cents which encourage people to put their own carts back, cutting the need to have an employee gather carts strewn all over the lot.  They neither provide free bag nor bag the groceries for you.  You can bring your own bag, grab an empty box or pay a small free to buy bags, even thermal-freezer bags.  Aldi's does carry your staple groceries but they also have some odds and ends other groceries including pet food, flowers, vitamins and energy drinks.  When husband and I switched to Aldi's our grocery bill was cut almost in half.  We still have to go to a name brand market for out cat supplies because Boo (our 3 year old tuxedo princess) will not eat anything other then Friskies canned food.  She'll turn her nose up, wasting it rather then to lower herself to generics.

14 Dinner:

An extra trip to Price Chopper market was needed to get some of the remaining ingredients for the freezer dinners.  All together, between the two stores, the bill came to just about $90.  The cost per meal is about $6, each meal serving 3 to 4 people making a serving around $2.  As soon as I got home I started by separating what was husband's lunch stuff, what was general groceries and what was for the freezer dinners.  You'll see that I got generic freezer bags.  I dont recommend it!  You will not see the meats because those went right into the fridge.  I started with the poultry recipes, cleaned off my surface, washed up the dishes, then took a break before moving on to the beef recipes.  Just the meal prep too me about 4 hours.  It could have taken less time had I bought different meat but the beef  I bought need some butchering to remove larger pieces of fat.  I suggest that people plan their freezer space ahead better then I did.  We have a fairly small freezer so there was a lot of finagling that needed to be done to get everything in the freezer.  Because I didnt get the best quality of freezer bags I had to stand a couple up in a casserole dish until it was hard frozen.  I made sure to write on the bag in Sharpie not only what it contained but also how long to cook it in the crock pot on what setting and if a side dish was needed.  (You'll notice the large quantity of pot pies.  Husband loves them every day for lunch at work.  And I mean EVERY day at work)

Yeast on a diet:

Last night I had planned on bruchetta and fresh made Italian bread for dinner.  I made a delicious bruchetta with plum tomatoes then started to gather ingredients for Italian bread.  There was no sugar.  Being experimental and knowing that bread in my machine is not expensive, I tried to see if the yeast would eat Splenda.  Apparently, yeast are diet free.  The dough never proofed.  They do say that bruchetta taste better when it has had a chance to sit for a while.  It is still sitting.  I made sure that we picked up sugar today.  Time to go try make Italian bread again, this time giving those little yeast bugs real sugar instead of substitute.

Of course, I had to add a picture of my Boo Radley, my princess.