Should You Take Your Thyroid Hormone With Food vs. An Empty Stomach?

Question: Should You Take Your Thyroid Hormone With Food vs. An Empty Stomach?

Answer: Food may delay or reduce the absorption of many drugs, including thyroid hormone. Food can often slow the process of the stomach entering, but it may also affect absorption of the drug you're taking by binding with it, by decreasing access to absorption sites, by altering the rate at which it dissolves, or by changing the stomach's pH balance. This is why many doctors recommend that for best absorption of your thyroid hormone, you should take it first thing the morning, on an empty stomach, one hour before eating.

Many doctors recommend that for best absorption of your thyroid hormone, take it first thing the morning, on an empty stomach, and wait one hour before eating, and at least two hours before taking any vitamin with iron.

However, if you cannot take it this way, consistency becomes the key. If you're going to take your thyroid hormone with food, take it every day with food, consistently. If you've changed from taking it on an empty stomach, then around six to eight weeks after you start taking it with food, you should have another TSH test to ensure you're receiving the proper amount of thyroid hormone. Taking the drug with food might inhibit absorption somewhat, but this safety check will make sure your dosage gets tweaked if it needs to be changed slightly. But again, CONSISTENCY. Don't take it some days with food, some days without, or you're sure to have erratic absorption, and it will be harder to regulate your TSH levels.