Marine Foods for Treating Thyroid Enlargement: Traditional Chinese Medicine Approaches

The thyroid gland is the largest endocrine gland in the human body, forming a thin layer. It is located below the thyroid cartilage, close to the front of the third and fourth tracheal cartilage rings. It is composed of two lobes and an isthmus, with an average weight of about 20-25g, slightly larger and heavier in females. Behind the thyroid gland are four parathyroid glands and the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The blood supply includes four arteries from the upper, lower, left, and right, making the blood supply to the thyroid gland abundant. The gland is innervated by sympathetic nerves from the cervical sympathetic ganglia and vagus nerves.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, thyroid enlargement is called "Ying" disease. As early as the Jin Dynasty, there were records of using seaweed and other foods to treat Ying disease in the book "Zhou Hou Fang" by Ai Hong. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that these foods have the effects of softening firmness, resolving phlegm, reducing heat, nourishing yin, and promoting diuresis, which can treat thyroid enlargement. Modern scientific research has shown that marine animals and plants such as kelp, seaweed, jellyfish, sea eel, sea dragon, as well as shellfish and fish, have high iodine content. Therefore, the use of these foods to treat Ying disease by ancient doctors is scientifically reasonable.

Here are a few recommended dietary therapies mainly made from iodine-rich marine foods for patients with thyroid enlargement.

1. Steamed Lean Meat with Sea Star

[Effects and Indications]: Reducing swelling, resolving masses, and eliminating phlegm. Suitable for early-stage thyroid enlargement.

[Dietary Recipe]: 1 sea star, 60g lean meat, 5 red dates.

[Preparation]: Wash and chop the sea star, cut the lean meat into pieces, remove the pits from the red dates, and put them together in a pot to make soup. Add salt when hot, drink the soup and eat the meat regularly for effective results.


2. Mung Bean and Kelp Soup

[Effects and Indications]: Cooling and detoxifying, reducing swelling, eliminating goiters and tumors. Suitable for adolescents with hyperthyroidism and iodine-deficient thyroid enlargement.

[Dietary Recipe]: 30g kelp, 60g mung beans, 30g rice, 6g tangerine peel, 60g brown sugar.

[Preparation]: Soak and wash the kelp, cut it into shreds. In a sand pot, add water, rice, mung beans, kelp, and tangerine peel. Cook until the mung beans bloom, and then add the brown sugar to dissolve and serve. If you don't like sweet foods, you can add salt to taste.


3. Seaweed Soup with Scallop

[Effects and Indications]: Softening firmness, resolving masses, and treating goiter. Suitable for early-stage thyroid enlargement.

[Dietary Recipe]: 60g dried scallops, 15g seaweed.

[Preparation]: Wash the seaweed with water, soak the scallops in water until soft, then put them together in a clay pot with water and simmer. Season to taste and eat the meat and drink the soup.