Preparing for Thyroid Tests

Avoiding iodine foods
Iodine is absorbed by thyroid cells in your body and is contained in many foods. Your doctor may ask you to avoid certain foods and medicines that contain iodine for a few weeks before your test. This will deplete your body of its natural storage of iodine, allowing any remaining thyroid cells to better absorb the radioactive iodine given to you before your whole body scan.

Avoiding iodine foods can be challenging. However, there are several cookbooks now available to help you select and prepare healthy, low iodine meals before your testing if your doctor thinks this is important in your care.

X-rays
Be sure to let your doctor know if you've had any other x-ray procedures in the month before your whole body scan. Some of these x-ray exams use iodine-containing chemicals that could interfere with your test.

The resources section of Continuous Balance provides you with further information, including examples of low iodine foods.