Green tea does not suit everyone!

[Janee]

Hi my husband has been hypothyroid for over 17 years. For the last 5 or 6 years has been very lethargic and lacking energy to such an extent that he has had to reduce his working to two days a week.

I (not hypothyroid) was recently advised to drink green tea by a dermatologist to help scar healing after facial skin graft surgery. I began to feel unwell - almost as if poisoned, I went for my regular Reflexology who found that my liver and digestive systems were much more congested than normal, we discussed what I had done differently since my last visit and came up with the only change being the green tea. She told me that green tea does not agree with everyone and pregnant women are strongly advised not to drink it at all! After stopping the green tea I now feel back to my normal self and will be interested to see what my Relexologist says when I go back.

Discussed all this with my hypothyroid husband, who only drinks green tea and who has been seeing every specialist under the sun to try and get to the bottom of his lack of energy with absolutely no affect. He has cut down to one green tea a day and the rest of the time he is drinking water and herbal teas i.e. nettle and mint, mint, fennel, etc. Has only been about 10 days so far, but there is definitely a big difference, he does still get tired but his rate of recovery is much quicker, he is more alert and does not keep falling asleep!

Just thought this might be worth sharing with you all, I know a lot of people drink green tea thinking it is the healthier option. If you drink green tea It might be worth giving it up for a couple of weeks to see what happens.

[charliecooper]

Thanks for that, i didnt realise any of that. And guess what im drinking at the mo, yep decaf green tea ! Decaf cos theres iron in the cereal im having and normal would impair the iron.

[Janee]

Give it a go, you won't lose anything by trying. Green tea may well suit a lot of people but everyone is different and have different reactions to things.

[greygoose]

One thing to remember is that green tea is a goitrogen, so it definately wouldn't suit a lot of hypos. It also contains high levels of fluoride, I believe.

Grey

[nursey]

I have been drinking green tea every morning for about 3 years. I am struggling to get diagnosed at moment as my gp thinks I am depressed as my sister died of cancer last year. I though I was doing good by drinking this. I first went to my gp in 2008 and was told to lose weight. I went back in 2010 and was told to look at my diet as I struggled to lose weight. Hence the green tea in an effort to cut downing caffeine. Now myb12 is 300, tsh 3.76 and my t3 4. I will stop the green tea immediately as see what happens. I am back at gp Monday and hope to start meds. Oh, and sti'll not lost weight. Was sent to physio cos of joint pain and was told, yes you've guessed LOSE WEIGHT!!!!!!!!!

[frenchreikimaster]

Hi everyone just thought that I would say that I avoid green tea because of the fluoride problem but drink Red Tea ( or roobosh) without any problems and it is also full of antioxidants as I understand it.

[Janee]

Thanks, I check that out. Do you drink the green variety or the other one.

[frenchreikimaster in reply to Janee]

I live in france so I buy loose red tea also known as roobosh or red bush tea which may have chamomile or lavander with it but no green tea in it.Enjoy, there are some lovely flavours out there. My understanding of the problem with green tea is that the leaves absorb fluoride as they grow and it is not destroyed in the drying process. I do not think this is the case with red bush tea.

[Janee]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[PoppyRose]

Green Tea is not normally recommended for people with Hypothyroidism. I would do a check on any herbal/natural foods as they can react differently if you have health problems and put you in a far worse position health wise.

[Janee]

I know that when you have health problems one tends to look for magic solutions but I honestly can't beleive the change in energy levels and recovery powers since my husband has cut out the green tea. Here's hoping!