Backgrounds: Moderate caffeine intake decreases the risk of metabolic disorders and all-cause mortality, and the mechanism may be related to its ergogenic actions. Thyroid hormones are vital in metabolic homeostasis; however, their associationwith caffeine intake has rarely been explored.
Objective: To investigate the association between caffeine intake and thyroid function.
Methods: We collected data on demographic background, medical conditions, dietary intake, and thyroid function from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)2007-2012. Subgroups were classified using two-step cluster analysis, and sex, age, body mass index (BMI), hyperglycemia, hypertension, and cardio-cerebral vascular disease (CVD) were used for clustering. Restrictive cubic spline analysis was employed to investigate potential nonlinear correlations, and multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the association between caffeine consumption and thyroid function.
Results: A total of 2,582 participants were included, and three subgroups with different metabolic features were clustered. In the most metabolically unhealthy group, with the oldest age, highest BMI, and more cases of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and CVD, there was a non-linear relationship between caffeine intake and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level. After adjusting for age, sex, race, drinking, smoking, medical conditions, micronutrient and macronutrient intake, caffeine intake less than 9.97 mg/d was positively related to serum TSH (p = 0.035, standardized β = 0.155); however, moderate caffeine consumption (9.97-264.97 mg/d) showed a negative association (p = 0.001, standardized β = - 0.152).
Conclusions: Caffeine consumption has a non-linear relationship with serum TSH in people with metabolic disorders, and moderate caffeine intake (9.97~264.97 mg/d) was positively related with serum TSH.