Love your cafecito? It can help with this condition that affects women, study shows

While writing this column I am sipping on my morning cup of 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine.

For the non-chemists reading this, that is the scientific name for caffeine and I’m enjoying my morning coffee. Everything is made up of chemicals. You, your food, plants and air are made of chemicals. Most chemicals in food are harmless and some like caffeine can be desirable. So the next time you hear someone say they don’t eat anything with chemicals, you can quietly chuckle to yourself.

I often write about caffeine since it is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug. Every day, about 90% of Americans consume caffeine in some form. Clinical and epidemiological evidence has shown an association between caffeine consumption and decreased risk of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic liver disease. I recently came across an interesting article on caffeine and thyroid function that I want to share.

Reported on in Nutrition Journal, this research reviewed information from the 2007-2012 NHANES study. This observational study analyzed data on 2,582 participants. The focus of this article was the impact of caffeine on thyroid levels.

This is important information since hypothyroidism affects up to 5% of the general population, with an estimated 5% being undiagnosed. In the older population, the estimate is 2-20% might have hypothyroidism. (Hypothyroidism is when your thyroid does not make enough hormones, slowing many of your body’s functions, including your metabolism.)

The first thing I found of interest was a correlation between caffeine intake and dietary habits. People with the highest caffeine intake had higher intake of calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat. Not surprising, as coffee and pastries or bread go together.

This study showed that drinking fewer than two cups of coffee per day reduced the risk of subclinical hypothyroidism and drinking 2-4 cups of coffee reduced serum TSH concentrations. TSH stands for thyroid-stimulating hormone. A high TSH can be an indicator that your thyroid isn’t making enough thyroid hormone.

And the final good news for coffee drinkers is that coffee consumption was not associated with the risk of hyperthyroidism.

Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami. Contact her at srarback@hotmail.com