[butterfly55]

I have a thyroid disease (hyper) Can I drink green tea? Some say yes others say no.Please help

[Thomas1970]

Hi Butterfly55,
This is an interesting subject, I have never heard this before. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information. One obvious concern in your case could be a degree of added physiological stress produced by high levels of caffeine intake, as well as the normal issues of fluid balance subtly altering body chemistry. It's something to consider.
But I guess the greater issue is that green tea often contains high amounts of fluoride, and fluoride can have the effect of competing for thyroid iodine receptors. This can result in decreased thyroid hormone production. Though in your case, I fail to see how this is necessarily harmful.
I myself suffer from hypothyroidism, and there are many "goitrogenic" foods that can inhibit thyroid function, but I'm not as aware or well versed of foods that could actually aggravate a hyper condition such as yours. I referenced a book I have just to double check, and can find no evidence of any food actually boosting thyroid function, beyond the normal effects of iodine.
I periodically drink green tea with no noticeable effects, along with certain other goitrogenic foods, though I know certain things such as cayenne pepper do affect me greatly energetically the next day.
I'd say, just let your body be the judge. In moderation, it is likely to be far more beneficial than harmful. It would be good to poll other peoples opinions though.
Take care. :)

[butterfly55]

Thanks for the info Thomas1970.

[cazort]

Green tea does contain caffeine. I'm not a medical expert, but excessive caffeine intake often has similar symptoms to hyperthyroidism. Heavy caffeine use is not good for you anyway. So it's good to be cautious either way.

But the amount of caffeine in tea is fairly moderate. You're probably going to be safe drinking a few cups of tea, especially if you space it out throughout the day. And contrary to a lot of the marketing out there, green tea does not "speed up your metabolism" -- this is a myth promoted by people trying to sell green tea at high prices as some sort of weight-loss scam. However, I'd ask your doctor or get another authoritative medical source.

It's also worthwhile to pay attention to how you feel. Modern medicine over-emphasizes medical tests, and under-emphasizes how you feel. Thyroid function manifests itself in very real, directly measurable physical symptoms that you can feel in your body and your mood. It affects your metabolism and energy level, your mood, your weight, even things like your heart rate, your sense of temperature. Different people experience different symptoms. You are probably already intimately familiar with the symptoms that you feel in association with your condition.

If you want to drink green tea, start drinking moderate amounts gradually. Start with one cup a day. If it makes you feel good, then keep drinking it. It if makes your symptoms worse or makes you feel bad in some other way, or makes you feel like your body is being thrown out of balance, then stop. If you still feel good, you might consider moving up to 2 or maybe 3 cups a day, but do this gradually. And if anything goes wrong, ease off or stop.

Good luck. Each person's body is different. You can read all the medical stuff on the net and talk to experts, but ultimately, you need to find what works for your individual body's chemistry and biology.