- Pasta - treat yourself to a variety of shapes and sizes. Be wary of noodles - they contain eggs.
- Flour - avoid self-rising flour
- Corn meal
- Tortilla crumbs (read ingredients - look for corn and lime as the only ingredients)
- Matzo meal (make sure it's the salt free variety)
- So-Delicious coconut milk (always verify that it does not contain carageenan or sea salt)
- Fleischmann's salt-free, dairy-free margarine (the stick variety is hard to find these days, but the tub variety is also now safe)
- Mother's brand sweet salt-free, dairy-free margarine (not easy to find)
- Crisco vegetable shortening - regular or butter flavor - both are safe as spreads or for baking/cooking
- Baking potatoes, boiling potatoes, sweet potatoes (the skins have iodine but the inside is totally safe)
- Puffed wheat cereal (ingredient: wheat) from the health food store or health food aisle of your super market
- Unsalted nuts (pecans, almonds, peanuts, etc.)
- Pure vanilla extract
- Kosher salt (non-iodized)
- Hot Wheat (not instant) cereal [like "cream of wheat" but best brand I have found is Manischewitz Creamy Hot Wheat Cereal (http://www.allinkosher.com/p-56048-manischewitz-creamy-hot-wheat-cereal-12-oz-340g-kosher-for-passover-parve.aspx)]
- Oatmeal (not the flavored packets)
- Salt-free, sugar-free natural peanut butter (yup, the nasty stuff - don't worry, it'll be great) - buy three jars of 16 oz size - I buy mine on-line from Krema Nut Company
- Jellies and jams (no food coloring! And no salt)
- Olive oil
- Fresh garlic
- Canola oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Sunspire brand salt-free, dairy-free dark chocolate chips, or any other brand that's LID safe
- Dark chocolate like Lindt 70% dark or Ghiradelli 72% dark. Avoid milk chocolate.
- Cocoa (salt free, dairy free)
- White sugar
- Dried fruit - cherries, blueberries, dark raisins, etc. (watch for food coloring and salt)
- Pure maple syrup
- Agave syrup (light and amber colored)
- Honey (plain and whipped)
- Marshmallows (read ingredients - no salt!); works well as coffee creamer to melt one into coffee
- Marshmallow Fluff http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/homepage.html; works well as coffee creamer - put a spoonful into coffee
- Coffee
- Tea
- Water - Distilled. A note about water: Most tap water is safe. If your water is softened using a salt based process, you need to call the salt manufacturer and see if the salt is iodized or not. Reverse osmosis purified water is safe. Watch out for water with items added back in for flavor. Some of the popular brands of bottled water first use reverse osmosis (RO) and then add back in salts and minerals for flavor. Watch out for those! What do I use? I have soft water which uses a salt pot after that my drinking water goes through a RO process. I use that at home. When out - I buy some distilled water gallon jugs and keep some at work and in my car. Am I a bit anal about this? Yup! And proud of it!
- Remember that soy is a no-no, BUT soybean oil (or soy oil) and soy lecithin are safe!
Investing in your shopping list is important because eating out and eating processed foods is not a good idea when on this diet. Why not? Many restaurants and food manufacturing facilities, even your local butcher counter, meat grinder and deli slicer - might be using iodine based solutions to clean their equipment. If you eliminate all processed foods from this diet - you'll be pretty hungry because that would include things like the cocoa, sugar, coffee and marshmallows listed above. But, remember - this is a LOW iodine diet, not a NO iodine diet. So, eat a varied diet as much as possible and try to eat things in moderation. Now is the time to count some calories anyway - if you withdrew from Synthroid to do this diet you may gain some weight from going so hypo. If you are using Thyrogen, you still might be stress eating (I know I did!); so try to use this time for portion control. That will help keep your iodine levels in check as well since it's nearly impossible to remove all of it from your diet. Now, let's get cooking! Recommended bread-machines for those of you who want to bake your own:
Breadman TR520 2lb. Horizontal Bread Maker
Breville The Custom Loaf Bread Maker - BBM800XL
Cuisinart 2-lb Bread Maker - CBK-100
Panasonic Automatic Bread Maker With Raisin And Nut Dispenser - SD-RD250
Cuisinart 2-Pound Convection Bread Maker CBK-200
This blog does not focus on foods to avoid - you can get good comprehensive lists at the reputable links provided on the upper right hand side of this page. However, these links won't tell you that Bromine also binds to Iodine receptors and could inhibit Iodine uptake when you have treatment. Foods to avoid:
Breadman TR520 2lb. Horizontal Bread Maker
Breville The Custom Loaf Bread Maker - BBM800XL
Cuisinart 2-lb Bread Maker - CBK-100
Panasonic Automatic Bread Maker With Raisin And Nut Dispenser - SD-RD250
Cuisinart 2-Pound Convection Bread Maker CBK-200
This blog does not focus on foods to avoid - you can get good comprehensive lists at the reputable links provided on the upper right hand side of this page. However, these links won't tell you that Bromine also binds to Iodine receptors and could inhibit Iodine uptake when you have treatment. Foods to avoid:
- Bakery goods and some flours often contain a “dough conditioner” called potassium bromate
- Soft drinks (including Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sun Drop, Squirt, Fresca and other citrus-flavored sodas), in the form of brominated vegetable oils (BVOs)
