The only real treatment for thyroid disease, whether hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism or any other condition of thyroid gland, is cleansing of the system and adoption of a rational diet thereafter, combined with adequate rest and relaxation. To begin with, juices of fruits such as orange, apple, pineapple, and grapes may be taken every two or three hours from 8 am to 8 pm for five days. The bowels should be cleaned daily with lukewarm water.

After the juice fast, the patient may spend further three days on fruits and milk, taking three meals a day of juicy fruits such as apple, pineapple, grapes, papaya, with a glass of milk, at five hourly intervals. Thereafter, the patient may adopt a well-balanced diet consisting of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits.

The patient should take plenty of rest and spend a day in bed every week for the first two months of the treatment. More and more exercise should be taken after the symptoms subside.

The appetite of the thyroid patient is usually very large and the weight reduction cannot be prevented for some time. This is because until the heart beat slows down and the tremors stop, there will be incomplete assimilation of good.

But as soon as the balance is restored, weight will slowly increase. To help the absorption of food, a narrow waist compress and, later, a neck compress should be worn for five nights a week. As weight increases, the almost constant hunger will gradually disappear, on no account should any stimulants be administered to create an appetite.

Certain foods and fluids are extremely injurious for thyroid patients and should be avoided by them. These include white flour products, white sugar, flesh foods, fried or greasy foods, preserves, condiments, tea, coffee and alcohol.

No drugs should be taken as they cause irritation in the tissues. Iodine is undoubtedly most helpful in many cases, but it should be introduced in organic form all foods containing iodine should be taken liberally. These are asparagus, cabbage, garlic, onion, oats, pineapple, whole rice, tomatoes, watercress and strawberries.

Great care must be taken never to allow the body to become exhausted and any irritation likely to cause emotional upset should be avoided. The cure of thyroid disease is not a speedy one and there is often a recurrence of symptoms but these should gradually become less pronounced. Strict adherence to diet is essential for complete cure.

Half the daily intake of food should consist of fresh fruits and vegetables and the starch element should be confined to whole wheat products and potatoes. Potatoes are the most valuable form of starch. They should preferably be taken in their jackets. The protein foods should be confined to cheese, peas, beans lentils and nuts. All fresh proteins must be avoided.

The diet outlined here should be strictly adhered to for a year and the compresses on neck and waist applied for five consecutive nights in a week for two months and discontinued for one month. Water treatments should be taken to increase skin elimination. Application of sponge to the entire body before retiring and a cold sponge on rising will be very helpful. It is most important that the bowels are kept working efficiently to avoid danger of a toxic condition of the blood arising from that source.

All efforts should be made to prevent emotional stress. There may be slight recurrence of this extremely nervous complain for some times, but the attacks will become less severe and of shorter duration as the treatment progresses. And above all, there must be no lessening of the patient's efforts to help himself because success can only be attained by assiduous efforts.