Study Finds You Can Drink Coffee With Your Thyroid Medication

Thyroid disorders can range from a small, harmless goiter that needs no treatment or is easily treatable to life-threatening cancer. Insufficient hormone production in turn leads to health hazards like hypothyroidism. According to a study, it's perfectly fine to drink coffee soon after taking a liquid thyroid medication.

Current product labels and treatment guidelines recommend patients to consume thyroid hormone replacement therapy on an empty stomach. However, according to the study absorption of liquid levothyroxine is not affected by consuming coffee even shortly after taking the medication.

Talking on the the study, Kris Washington, medical director of New Jersey-based Vertice Pharma, which makes the drug said, "The results demonstrate that the absorption of levothyroxine sodium oral solution was not affected by the consumption of coffee, potentially offering patients and providers more dosing flexibility."

For an accurate analysis, 40 adults were given a single 600 microgram dose of liquid levothyroxine two times. The first one was a few minutes before drinking 8 ounces of black, unsweetened coffee and the other one after under fasting conditions. The blood samples were collected to measure the participants' thyroid levels for 48 hours after the dose.

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The findings of the research confirm that drug absorption is the same whether or not the participants fast or drink coffee. The researchers said these results are potentially good news for the people who have been instructed to take levothyroxine 30 to 60 minutes before coffee to avoid any drug interaction.

"The lifestyle adjustment required to adhere to these standard recommendations are often burdensome to the patient which may lead to difficulty in achieving optimum thyroid hormone levels, which in turn may result in both patient and provider frustration," Washington said in a society news release.