Next week I have to start my low-iodine diet or as I call it "The Diet of Sadness." This is so that when I take the radioactive iodine the cancer cells will gobble it up and die, basically. The "diet" is a list of things I'm not supposed to eat including:
- iodized salt/sea salt
- soy products (soy sauce, soy milk, tofu, etc.)
- dairy products (milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream)
- seafood (fish, shellfish, seaweed, kelp)
- cured or corned foods (ham, corned beef, sauerkraut)
- eggs
- chocolate
- molasses
- bread products that contain iodinate dough conditioners
- commercial vitamins
- food that contains red food dye (especially FD&C #3)
It also warns not to eat out at restaurants since you can't know what they put in it. This list basically excludes 95% of what I know how to cook. I am dreading a whole week without chocolate, ice cream, or cheese. Essentially what I can eat is fresh meat and poultry, and fresh fruits and veggies provided that I don't add anything from the restricted list (like store bought salad dressing).
The list they gave me seems remarkably sparse given the variety of foods people eat so I did some digging around and came up with this list from the NIH instead. There are some conflicts with the above list so I'm going to do my best to avoid anything in the "avoid" lists from both of them. I've started digging through all the recipes I've ever saved on Pinterest or Foodgawker in hopes of finding suitable recipes to replace my normal diet. The only good thing is that both my zucchini and yellow squash have started producing like crazy.
Other than panicking about the impending chocolate embargo, I'm doing okay most days. Last week my neck muscles hurt again for a couple of days and the incision is still tender. I'm still having to take a nap most days and I feel exhausted much of the time which is frustrating. More than anything I want to be well enough to exercise and feel healthy again.
Other than panicking about the impending chocolate embargo, I'm doing okay most days. Last week my neck muscles hurt again for a couple of days and the incision is still tender. I'm still having to take a nap most days and I feel exhausted much of the time which is frustrating. More than anything I want to be well enough to exercise and feel healthy again.
2 comments:
That is a very restrictive diet. I think it would be difficult to live without dairy since i am a milk drinker. And coffee! What would i put in my coffee? Not non dairy creamer. At least it won't be long. You have good support there tohelp
I'm going to try using coconut milk. I found a low-iodine cookbook online which has been helpful. So far for dinner this week I'm planning steak with roasted veggies, ground turkey goulash, and grilled chicken salad. I'm going to have oatmeal for breakfast with the coconut milk. I also bought a bunch of fresh fruit, salad fixings, and pecans. The cookbook also has recipes for making bread, and says that I can have egg whites, just not egg yolks, as well as cocoa powder but not chocolate due to the milk content in chocolate.
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