As of: March 9, 2024, 6:23 p.m
By: Natalie Hull-Deichsel
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Those who live with thyroid disease often only manage with medication.
The hormone thyroxine can interact with food.
Underactive thyroid, so-called hypothyroidism, is a mostly chronic disease that is diagnosed in around five out of 100 people in Germany.
In many cases, the reason is bad habits and poor nutrition, which can damage the thyroid.
The endocrine gland is only the size of a thumb and takes on complex and important tasks in the body.
Your hormones have a significant influence on our metabolism.
If the thyroid gland cannot produce triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) for certain reasons, disease symptoms arise that can only be controlled in the long term with the help of drug therapy using the hormone thyroxine.
A third of patients can stop taking the hormone thyroxine in the medium term, ask your doctor.
In connection with your diet and certain foods, you should pay attention to interactions when taking thyroxine.
Thyroid hormone: L-thyroxine interacts with nuts and cabbage
It is best not to consume peanuts if you have previously taken your thyroid hormone thyroxine.
(Symbolic image) © Dieter Heinemann/Imago
“Artificial” thyroid hormones called thyroxine, so-called L-thyroxine, can help prevent symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue, constipation, depressive moods and weight fluctuations.
However, interactions with certain foods must be taken into account when taking the medication.
The challenge: Many patients are not aware that treatment with thyroxine is prone to disruption.
Very often, due to ignorance, errors in taking the medication occur, which significantly jeopardize the success of the therapy, as
described on the
My Health portal.
Neither patients nor the treating doctors can explain why the symptoms and values fluctuate depending on the day.
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In many of these cases, food is actually the reason.
Prof. Dr.
Martin Wehling from the Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, therefore urgently warns against underestimating the interactions between certain foods and thyroid medications.
Thyroxine: Do not take thyroid hormones with coffee
Dr.
Wolfgang Wesiack, President of the Professional Association of German Internists (BDI) and practicing internist, explains to the
Internisten im Netz
portal : “Coffee delays the absorption of the hormone and reduces its bioavailability.
For this reason, patients should definitely adhere to the recommendation to use water - and not coffee - as the liquid to be taken. Therefore, there should be at least 30 minutes between drinking coffee and taking medication.
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Thyroxine: Thyroid medication does not mix with nuts
Nuts are a popular snack among Germans, as an ingredient in sweet things such as cookies or as part of dishes.
But for people with thyroid disease who are receiving drug therapy with L-thyroxine, nuts are not entirely unproblematic because they interfere with the absorption of the hormone.
Cabbage and soybeans also reduce the effect of thyroid hormones
The thyroid gland primarily needs iodine to produce thyroid hormones.
Thioglycosides and cyanogenic glycosides influence iodine metabolism and reduce hormone concentrations.
Thioglycosides are mainly found in cabbage, peanuts, mustard, horseradish and radishes.
Soybeans are also problematic in the treatment of hypothyroidism, which can always have side effects.
They are known to bind thyroxine in the intestines and thus reduce the thyroid hormone concentration in the blood.
The already low levels of thyroid hormones are then excreted unused in the stool.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.