Friday, September 05, 2008

Coffee and Thyroid a MUST READ

Mary Shomon, my thyroid friend and Goddess, who is the Thyroid Guide for About.com has this important new about coffee and thyroid--a must read because if your thyroid is not functioning optimally it's that much harder to get and stay pregnant, not to mention that hypthyroidism during pregnancy has been shown to lower IQ of babies:
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Attention Thyroid Patients: Coffee Can Interfere With Thyroid Medication Absorption

Wednesday September 3, 2008
Attention thyroid patients: your morning coffee may be interfering with proper absorption of your thyroid medication. I know, say it isn't so! You're already tired from being hypothyroid -- now they want to take away your coffee?

The findings were reported in a recent article in the journal Thyroid. What the researchers found is that in addition to some of the more commonly known issues with absorption of thyroid hormone (i.e., calcium, iron, and food taken at the same time as thyroid medication can interfere with absorption), coffee also interferes with the intestinal absorption of levothyroxine. In the study, patients took their levothyroxine (i.e., Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid, Unithroid), with espresso or coffee, and researchers found that the coffee/espresso reduced the rise of the T4 after taking the medication by at least 25% to as much as 57%.

read more on Mary's site here.

5 comments:

  1. hey... great blog! I'm totally onboard with your green fertility philosophy. I'm also hypothyroid and trying to give up coffee (even decaf) for good... waiting to see if I notice any difference. Do you know if this only applies to caffienated coffee?

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  2. Anonymous11:45 AM

    I have the same question as cowbella re: decaf vs. caffeinated coffee. I want to pass the info on to my grandfather but I also want to make sure I give him the whole story. Suppose I should go read those links...

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  3. Hi ladies,

    I *think* it has to do with something in the coffee PLUS caffeine (e.g., volatile oils); also most decaff uses chemicals, too...

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  4. I never knew coffee could worsen hypothyroidism. I had hypo for a year now and am taking bovine thyroid . Although I drink a few cups of coffee each day, I havent felt any side effects yet.

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