Your thyroid produces a hormone that controls a number of metabolic processes, and if you have too much or too little of this hormone due to poor thyroid function, you may have thyroid disease. This disease could affect many body processes, but thyroid disease may also affect your eyes, a condition known as Graves' disease or thyroid eye disease. Knowing the different supplements you may need to avoid, such as maca root, may help you prevent additional complications.
Symptoms
Thyroid eye disease may cause discomfort on the surface of your eyes. You may experience stinging, burning or a foreign body sensation. Vision changes and altered color perception may also occur. In addition, inflammation in the tissues behind the eye may occur, and this swelling may push the eyeballs forward, resulting in proptosis. This condition causes your eyes to appear to "bulge" out, and the protrusion may not allow your eyelids to fully close. In such cases, you will have an increased risk for corneal ulcers, a wound on the front tissues of your eye that can result from dryness.
Maca Root
Maca is a plant native to Peru, and native Peruvians use the plant as a food source since it provides essential nutrients. The root of the plant contains potentially medicinal qualities, and people who use maca root as a supplement claim the product may help sexual dysfunction, infertility and symptoms of menopause.
Warnings
People who have thyroid conditions and complications such as Graves' disease should not use supplements or other products that contain maca root since this plant contains iodine. Iodine intake could result in a worsening of your condition. If you have Graves' disease or have thyroid complications, read the labels on any supplements to ensure the product does not contain any component of maca or the root of the plant.
Considerations
Good thyroid control may help prevent the condition, but people with thyroid disease, even if well-controlled, could still have some degree of Graves' disease. Once you have the condition you may continue to have eye-related problems, but, in some instances, the condition may go into remission and your symptoms will ease. However, those who experience proptosis, or bulging eyes, may always have this physical change.
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