Why You Should Never Mix Your Thyroid Medication With Dairy?

Dairy is a part of a regular diet for many people around the world. But if you’re taking thyroid medications, mixing Synthroid with dairy can be counterproductive. Synthroid, as its name suggests, is a brand of medication used to treat hyperthyroidism. Levothyroxine, the key ingredient of the medication, works by producing thyroxine in people who don’t otherwise produce enough thyroxine on their own. Using Dairy or its product can reduce Synthroid’s absorption, leading to lower levels of thyroxine production.  While this isn’t a death sentence for your dairy diet, you need to be careful about when you take it. In what follows, we will go into all of this detail: why you shouldn’t mix Synthroid with dairy, how you should take it, where you can buy Synthroid online, and so on. So let’s dive in right away.

What Happens If You Mix Synthroid With Dairy?

Dairy is as ubiquitous a part of diet for most people as is brushing. Be it milk, butter, cheese or even ice cream, unless you’re lactose intolerant, dairy is probably a part and parcel of your life as well. But if you’re soon going on or are already on a Synthroid prescription, you might have to tweak a few things.

Dairy products—including everything from milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.—generally come with high calcium content, which doesn’t mix well with Synthroid. Briefly put, a calcium rich diet can cut down your body’s ability to absorb the Synthroid medication, significantly tanking its potency. As Juan Brito Campana, M.B.B.S puts it at Mayo Clinic, “Calcium supplements — or antacids containing calcium — can interfere with how the body absorbs those medicines.”

So why precisely is mixing Synthroid with dairy such a problem? And what exactly will happen if you continue to consume Synthroid medication along with dairy? Let’s find out.

Side Effects of Taking Synthroid With Dairy

As we said above, consuming calcium rich food like all the dairy products can impact your ability to absorb Synthroid effectively. Calcium rich food, in this case Dairy food, can interfere with the absorption of Levothyroxine into your bloodstream, leading to a subpar effect of the medication on your body. 

As this 2018 study by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. puts it, “Many foods and medications, including calcium supplements, can interfere with levothyroxine absorption.” While it doesn’t mean that you should immediately stop all your dairy products—you need a minimum amount of daily calcium intake for healthy functioning—it’s best to keep an interval of four hours before you take any dairy or calcium rich food.

But if you’re taking calcium supplements, it might be best to stop for a while. As Juan Brito Campana, M.B.B.S takes this even further and suggests that you shouldn’t take any additional calcium supplements while you’re on Synthroid. “Don’t take calcium supplements or antacids at the same time you take thyroid hormone replacement.” he puts it. 

If you continue to take a dairy product along with your Synthroid medication, be ready for complications. For one, since calcium cuts down your ability to absorb the medication, it won’t have the desired effect on your body. It will fail to produce enough thyroxine in your body, worsening your symptoms of hypothyroidism. 

Best Way to Take Synthroid

Ideally, Sythroid should be taken on an empty stomach early in the morning. This ensures the best absorption of medication and makes sure it does what it says on the tin. As per the FDA, you should keep a gap of at least four hours before you take on dairy products of any kind.       

Other Things You Should Steer Clear Off While Taking Synthroid

While mixing dairy along with Synthroid directly cuts down the absorption of your medication, there are other things you need to keep off of as well. Let’s take a quick look.

1. Antacids and Proton Pump Inhibitors

Antacids are common medications used to treat heartburn and indigestion in adults. Available as over the counter drug, they block enzymes from creating acid that breaks down the food in your stomach. Some of the popular Antacids include Magnesium Oxide and Calcium Carbonate. But if you’re taking Synthroid tablets, you need to be careful. Antacids are known to interact with Synthroid, making its absorption difficult. So make sure you keep a four hour gap here as well. 

On the other hand Proton Pump Inhibitors, or PPI, are another class of drugs that inhibit production of stomach acid. They are used to treat acid reflux and ulcers. While they are necessary for people suffering from acidity, using them alongside Synthroid might reduce the absorption of the latter.  

3. Untreated Adrenal Gland Issues

Your adrenal gland produces hormones necessary for maintaining healthy aspects for your body. These hormones then regulate everything from blood pressure to heart rate. Untreated problems with adrenal gland usually come with the deficiency of these necessary hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, etc. Taking Synthroid on top of this can worsen the problem, as it reduces these hormones in your body. So if you’re taking a treatment for adrenal gland problems, it’s crucial that you mention this to your doctor. Doing so will help your doctor draw out an appropriate plan for your Synthroid treatment.

4. Antidepressants       

Antidepressants are generally effective if you’re prone to regular bouts of depression. But depending on the type of antidepressant—SRIs, TCAs, and so on—their interaction with the Synthroid can reduce the latter’s efficacy. Taking tetracyclic or tricyclic antidepressants along with Synthroid, for example, dial up the toxicity of both drugs. Similarly, antidepressants like sertraline can reduce the potency of Synthroid and you may even have to increase your dosage of Synthroid. 

5. Weight Loss Medication  

Weight loss medications like Orlistat can also impact the working of Synthroid. It reduces the efficacy of Synthroid by getting attached to it and prevents it from fully absorbing into your bloodstream. There are some other medication you should avoid taking with this thyroid medication and they are:

• Antibiotics
• Iron Supplements
• Osteoporosis Medication 
• Lithium Salts 
• HIV Medication

Best Time to Take Your Synthroid Medication 

The general medical consensus is to take Synthroid on an empty stomach early in morning. You also need to take it at the same time for most effectiveness. Another popular option is to take it in the evening, usually three-four hours after you have taken any food.

Read Also – What Are the 9 Best Thyroid Support Supplements in 2024?

Can You Take Synthroid at Night?

While morning is the standard recommended time, you can also take Synthroid in the evening as well. But the only condition is to take it 3-4 hours after you have your last meal.

Why? Because an empty gut is best for proper absorption of Synthroid. Similarly, you also need to avoid eating or having anything—even coffee—for about 45-60 minutes after you have had the medication.

Get Your Synthroid Online

Another thing to keep in mind is the quality of the medication itself. To make sure you’re getting the most authentic quality of medication, make sure that you’re buying Synthroid from the best Canadian online pharmacy. Polar Bear Meds is your best option for this, providing you with the cheapest and best quality of medication. 

Read Also – Is It Safe to Mix Your Thyroid Medication and Coffee?

Tying It All Together

And that’s all you need to know about mixing your dairy and Synthroid. Remember, dairy in itself is not the problem. Rather, it’s the calcium found in all dairy or its derived products which can severely inhibit its absorption process, leading to failure of the medication in doing its job well.  

Also make sure you’re taking the medication with the relevant time interval; this usually means taking a four hour gap before or after you take anything related to dairy. And as far as buying Synthroid online is concerned, Polar Bear Meds will be your most reliable partner, giving you access to the best and genuine prescription medications.