50+ Low Iodine Diet Snacks

If you are looking for a list of low iodine diet snacks, you are undergoing treatment or monitoring for thyroid cancer.  You may be stressed, confused, depressed, tired, overwhelmed, not feeling well, and more.

You have come to the right place.  By filling out the information here, you can have this list of over 50 snack ideas emailed to you.

But before grabbing your list and moving on, there are important things to consider about snacking while on the low iodine diet.  

This article will help you understand when you may need low iodine diet snacks during treatment, why to be careful with snacking, and how to incorporate low iodine snacks within a balanced diet PLUS your list of over 50 low iodine diet snack ideas.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning I may receive a commission at no cost to you if you click on them. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What is the Low Iodine Diet?

A low iodine diet (LID) is used before radioactive iodine treatment to make the body “iodine hungry”. (1) The basic idea is if you deprive your body of iodine, any remaining thyroid cells (specifically thyroid cancer cells) will be very hungry and aggressively take up the radioactive iodine when you receive treatment.  This should make the treatment more effective.

For more on the low iodine diet and foods low and high in iodine, read the Low Iodine Diet Basics post.

Do I need Low Iodine Snacks?

Not everyone is a snacker naturally.  Maintaining your typical eating pattern during the low iodine diet can be beneficial for weight maintenance as well as feelings of normalcy in your life.

However, there are a couple reasons why you may want or need snacks during the low iodine diet, even if you normally don’t like to snack.

  1. Decreased appetite.  If you are withdrawing from your thyroid hormone, you may experience decreased appetite.  Large meals seem overwhelming when you are not hungry.  Snacks throughout the day can maintain your overall calorie intake when you don’t feel hungry for meals.
  2. Fatigue.  Similarly, being hypothyroid makes you very tired.  Cooking a whole meal is exhausting.  Having quick snacks ready can make sure you eat when too tired to cook as well as give you a good boost of energy for your day.
  3. Depression and/or anxiety.  Being diagnosed with cancer is enough to create depressed or anxious feelings in people.  While you are hypothyroid, you may feel even more emotional or not yourself.  Some people turn to snacking during these times.
  4. Nausea.  Many people experience nausea after taking radioactive iodine.  Small snacks eaten frequently are better for nausea than eating larger, less frequent meals. 
  5. Difficulty finding foods to eat.  The low iodine diet is not particularly easy to follow.  Finding a few snacks you can eat regularly may be easier for you than figuring out regular meals.  
  6. Good for social gatherings.  Going to parties or getting together with friends can be difficult while on the low iodine diet.  It is often easier to bring your own food.  A few small snacks is easier to bring along rather than a full blown meal.

Being Careful with Snacks

Snacking, especially excessive snacking, can easily lead to eating too many calories and weight gain.  You should always listen to your hunger and fullness cues as much as you can.  

It is also best to find other ways of coping with your emotions than with food.  You are experiencing valid feelings.  Seeking out counseling, journaling, positive affirmations, and talking with trusted friends and family can be beneficial ways to deal with emotions rather than eating.

If you are withdrawing from your thyroid hormone, you may be at risk of weight gain.  So keeping track of your hunger and fullness cues will be important. It will be difficult to assess if you are eating a normal amount for you. Also, if you are hypothyroid, your normal diet may be too high in calories.

With that being said, many people lose weight due to the strictness of the diet and not feeling well being so hypothyroid, so it really is a balancing act.

Balanced Low Iodine Diet with Snacks

So how can you eat a healthy, balanced low iodine diet while eating snacks?

Like your regular diet, you will need to really listen to your body for hunger and fullness cues.  If you feel “hungry”, evaluate if there are other reasons behind that feeling, such as:

  • Thirst
  • Anxiety
  • Boredom
  • Increased needs from exercise
  • Distracted
  • Depressed
  • Previous meal was low in protein or fat or high in sugar
  • Tired

Next, decide if you need a meal or snack.

Balanced Low Iodine Meals

Eating balanced meals is key to avoiding excess snacking.  You should try to have all of your meals include a good source of protein, carbs, fat, and fiber.   Here are a couple example meals.

Sample Low Iodine Breakfast:

  • Oatmeal with berries
  • Toast with unsalted nut butter

Sample Low Iodine Lunch/Dinner:

  • Whole wheat pasta tossed with olive oil, basil, pine nuts, and roasted veggies
  • Roasted chicken breast
  • Side salad with homemade dressing

Healthy Low Iodine Diet Snacks

A good snack includes protein and fiber, as both of these will keep you feeling full longer. 

Protein rich foods include:

  • Egg whites
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Nut and seed butters
  • Beans
  • Dairy free yogurt

Fiber rich foods include:

  • Whole grains
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Dried fruit

Here is your list of low iodine diet snacks.  You will notice I indicate which groups are high in protein or fiber.  But even in the high fiber groups, I try to give suggestions to add protein, such as a nut butter sandwich.

Low Iodine Bread and Grain Based Snacks (Fiber Rich):

  • Unsalted nut butter and jelly sandwich 
  • Toast with nut butter and banana
  • English Muffins
  • Bagel with Kite Hill Cream Cheese Alternative
  • Popcorn, unsalted with no butter.
  • Cereal (plain or with non dairy milk)
  • Matzo crackers with hummus, guacamole, unsalted nut butter, or Kite Hill dips
  • Rice Cakes (Quaker)
  • Quaker Instant Oatmeal packets
  • Corn tortilla chips (homemade) with hummus, guacamole, homemade salsa, or Kite Hill dips
  • Muffins (Vegan Zucchini Muffins)
link to kite hill cream cheese alternative on amazon
link to manischewitz matzos on amazon
link to quaker instant oatmeal flavor variety box on amazon

Low Iodine Fruit and Vegetable Snacks (Fiber Rich)

  • Fresh Fruit
  • Canned Fruit
  • Applesauce
  • Dried Fruit
  • Fruit Leather
  • Orchard Valley Harvest Dark Chocolate Dried Fruit
  • Fresh veggies with hummus, guacamole, unsalted nut butter or Kite Hill dips
  • Wholly Guacamole
  • Juice

Low Iodine Protein Rich Snacks

  • Sabra Hummus
  • Rosarita Refried Beans with corn tortilla chips (homemade)
  • Scrambled Egg Whites on an english muffin
  • Unsalted nuts
  • GourmetNut Power Up Trail Mixes
  • Orchard Valley Nuts and Trail Mixes (select flavors)
  • Unsalted sunflower seeds
  • Enjoy Life chewy bars and protein bites
  • Energy Balls (Healthy Apricot Almond Butter Energy Balls)
  • Dairy Free Coconut Milk Yogurt Oui by Yoplait
  • So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Yogurt
  • Forager Project Organic Cashewmilk Yogurt
  • Cocoyo Coconut Yogurt
  • Kite Hill Yogurts

Low Iodine Candies and Sweets

  • Jolly Rancher candy and gummies
  • Mott’s fruit snacks
  • Smarties
  • Great Value peach rings
  • Skittles
  • Black Forest gummy bears
  • Haribo gummy bears
  • Mike and Ike
  • Starburst
  • DOTS
  • Swedish Fish
  • Oreos
  • Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels

Low Iodine Frozen Treats

  • Ben and Jerry’s Non Dairy Ice Cream (select flavors)
  • So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert (select flavors)
  • Talenti Sorbet (select flavors)
  • The Frozen Farmer Strawberry Sorbet
  • Great Value Sorbet
  • Outshine Frozen Fruit Bars
  • BlueBell Bullets
  • Popsicle Brand Ice Pops with Natural Colors

Conclusion: Low Iodine Diet Snacks

Snacks can be an important part of your low iodine diet.  They can help you deal with side effects of thyroid hormone withdrawal, cancer diagnosis, radioactive iodine, and isolation.  

It is important to eat a balanced diet to prevent gain during the low iodine diet.  Remember, focusing on hunger signs and eating snacks with both fiber and protein will help you maintain your weight.

If you’d like more specific recipes for snacks, check out our Simplified Low Iodine Diet Toolkit, which has a bonus section of snack recipes.

If you’d like a free PDF list of snacks, enter your email below.

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Easy, No-Knead Dairy Free Bread

Want an easy homemade bread recipe?  Look no further.  This dairy free bread uses one bowl and requires no kneading.

Whether you are looking for bread for someone with a dairy, egg, or soy allergy, a vegan diet, or for the low iodine diet (LID), this bread will work for you.

I preferred to make homemade bread when I followed the LID rather than scour bread labels for ingredients or figure out which brands use noniodized salt (LID Life was not available at the time.)

If you are the same way but don’t have any experience making homemade bread or access to a bread machine, this recipe is for you.  

What You Need to Make It

This recipe only requires 5 ingredients.

  • Flour – you can use all-purpose, white whole wheat, or a mixture.  I like to do half and half.
  • Salt (noniodized for LID) – Bread without salt has NO flavor. Milk is used to add more flavor to bread, so you don’t want to skip this.
  • Sugar – to feed the yeast
  • Instant yeast – Instant yeast is also sometimes called bread machine yeast.  For more about instant yeast, read in the FAQ below. 

How to Make Dairy Free Bread

This dairy free bread is also incredibly simple.

  1. Mix all the ingredients until there are no dry bits of flour.  The dough will be lumpy but stretchy.
  2. Let rise…
  3. Until double.
  4. Lightly shape into desired shape.  You can make this in a loaf pan or a pie pan or a glass bowl.  You choose your shape. (I double the recipe and made 2 loaves for the photo.)

Tips for Success

Use warm enough water.

You need the water warm enough to wake up the yeast and get it bubbling, but not so hot that it kills the yeast.  I have found that most people are so worried about killing the yeast that they do not get the water warm enough.  You want the water between 110 and 120 degrees F.  

Mix the dry ingredients first before adding the water.

You could just dump all the ingredients in the bowl and start stirring.  I prefer to gently stir the dry ingredients together first.  I think this helps distribute the yeast, salt, and sugar more evenly throughout the dough. 

Let it rise enough.

The time I suggest for rising is an estimate.  It will depend on how warm your kitchen is.  If you want the dough to rise quickly, turn your oven on while you make the dough.  Then turn it off and open the oven door to warm up the room.  You can also place the dough near a heat vent or in a sunny spot in your house.  

Shape it gently.

We all have heard of “punching” the dough.  But you don’t want to punch it as hard as you can and get rid of all the air you just spent an hour plus getting in there.   With this dough in particular, we want to gently shape it.  Bread gets its structure from gluten in the flour.  Kneading the dough develops the gluten and helps give that structure.  Since we didn’t knead this dough, that gluten structure isn’t as strong.  It won’t hold up as well to punching.

Cooking time will vary by shape.

Depending on if you make a loaf shape or a round shape, it will bake at different speeds.  I have found the loaf pan breads to bake faster.  Bread should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom if it is done.  You can also take the temperature of the bread like you would meat.  Bread is done at 195-200 degrees F.  

FAQ

What is instant yeast?

Instant yeast is a different strain of yeast and is ground finer so that it will dissolve faster into your dough than active dry yeast.  As a rule, recipes with instant yeast do not call for “proofing” the yeast in warm water with sugar, while those with active dry yeast do.  According to Epicurious, this step is unnecessary.  

However, I have heard of bakers liking to “proof” both kinds of yeast, just to make sure the yeast is not dead before they use it.  Yeast will keep in the freezer for up to 2 years, although I’ve had yeast in my freezer longer than that.  You can even use yeast straight from the fridge or freezer.

What is white whole wheat flour?

There are two common types of wheat grown:  soft white wheat and hard red wheat.  What we think of as “whole wheat flour” is made from hard red wheat flour.  White whole wheat flour is made from soft white wheat.  It has a less strong, bitter taste, and baked goods tend to more closely resemble their all-purpose flour counterparts.  

I like to buy King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour.  I buy quite a few and store them in the freezer until opening.  Whole grain flours can go rancid as they do have some fat in them if they are stored for a long time.

 

How to Store

Once done baking, turn the bread out of the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.  Once it is completely cool, you can wrap in plastic wrap or store in a resealable bag.  Air exposure will make the bread go stale.

Please note that homemade bread becomes stale faster than store bought bread, as it does not have the preservatives and conditioners added to the dough.

Other Recipes You’ll Love

Tahini Toast with Apples and Honey is a great use of your delicious bread.

Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread is great if you are up for more of a traditional bread recipe that is also dairy free.

two loaves of bread on a cooling rack with 2 slices of bread, one with jam spread on the surface
Print Recipe
4.43 from 7 votes

Easy, No-Knead Dairy Free Bread

This one bowl bread requires only 5 ingredients, no kneading and is dairy, egg, and soy free.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Rising Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 55 minutes
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dairy free, egg free, soy free, vegan
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 186kcal

Equipment

  • loaf pan
  • pie plate
  • glass bowl

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour can also use all or part white whole wheat flour
  • 1 ½ tsp salt noniodized or kosher
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp instant yeast
  • 2 cups warm water 110-120 degrees F
  • cooking spray for pan and your hands

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a very large bowl. Mix to combine.
  • Add water and stir with a wooden spoon until a lumpy dough forms. There should not be any dry flour, but the dough will be lumpy and sticky.
  • Cover the bowl with a dish towel or greased plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise. Dough should double in size in about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
  • Prepare your baking dish by lightly greasing with cooking spray.
  • Uncover dough. Grease your hands with cooking spray. Gently shape the dough into the shape of your pan, being careful not to deflate the dough. Carefully transfer to prepared pan.
  • Cover dough in pan with towel or plastic wrap again. Let rise for 15-30 minutes, until looking bubbly or puffy.
  • Preheat oven to 425°F. Once heated, place prepared loaf into oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 375°F, and bake until golden brown all around, about 15-25 minutes more.

Notes

You can bake this in a loaf pan, a pie pan, or a medium size glass bowl.  See links in equipment description.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 352mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 2mg
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