Hypothyroidism: Why Weight Gain Likely Isn’t Thyroid Related
Weight management is a prevalent trouble spot, particularly in the USA where obesity rate is over 40% [4]. With putting body fat on a leash being such a chief issue we tend to search for answers, nothing unordinary there. Why do I have high difficulty losing and keeping weight off? I’m doing what always worked in the past; why am I gaining weight? In this grey area where success doesn’t live a common thought is the problem may be beyond you, that the problem is out of your hands.. That the problem is your thyroid.
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What Is The Thyroid And How Does It Function
I’ll cut the suspense, any uncalled for weight gain or what seems to be an inability to lose fat is unlikely thyroid-related. Even if your thyroid is out of whack.. Its influence on the scale can be accounted for, but more on that later.
Now the thyroid.. Your thyroid is an integral gland that’s part of the endocrine system. The endocrine system manages your hormonal activity allowing you to grow, experience mood fluctuation, communicates a pace for physiological proceedings, and so on. A strong part of the ability to accomplish these tasks is the regulation of your metabolism, which is overwhelmingly the thyroid’s job.
![Thyroid Gland [6]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58cc17b9e6f2e17898b30e4e/1617923134072-GHNDO3FT61OWV1GKPKO7/thyroid+gland)
Thyroid Gland [6]
The thyroid gland sits beneath your Adam’s apple where it secretes hormones to influence your basal metabolic rate (BMR) as seen fit. Your BMR is the pace you burn calories for involuntary procedures while at rest.
When you hear metabolism your first thought is probably how easy it is to gain or lose weight, but it’s deeper than that.
Your metabolic rate affects how well your brain operates, how adept you are at sustaining a comfortable temperature, your heart rate, maintenance of bones, muscle building, cell repair, and more.
Time for a little science..
Your pituitary gland, which sits on the lower side of your brain, shoots signals in the form of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) to the thyroid gland with instructions to release hormones.
Your thyroid takes the cues and almost like a thermostat toggles the amount of thyroid hormones in your blood according to what your needs call for in the moment.
The hormones we’ll focus on that your thyroid gland secretes are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).
T4 has more than one job, but is mainly a precursor to the mover and shaker that is T3. Although T3 is a busybody the thyroid only produces about 20% of it compared to 80% T4 production [1]. This is so your body can convert T4 to T3 as needed.. Otherwise there would be excess and excess is another word for trouble.
Note: an alternate way for TSH levels to change is via the hypothalamus. It’s above the pituitary gland in placement, yet also influence. The hypothalamus can direct the pituitary gland to command your thyroid to do its thing. The hypothalamus’ method to dictate thyroid activity is thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH).
Together these three musketeers make up the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis aka HPT.
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What Are Common Thyroid Issues
Under normal conditions your thyroid gives you what your body calls for, for metabolic efficiency.. Permitting you to go out and Be Great.
In abnormal conditions it does not.
The abnormal conditions may not be common, yet exist? They do.
The aforementioned HPT axis tends to keep you on the good side of the BMR ledger, firing your engine adequately enough to perform without a deficit and without any extra slack, but it’s not always sunshine and sunshades.
When things aren’t so peachy keen your thyroid may emit too much or too little in the hormone department; this is where the ground starts to shake.
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What Is Hyperthyroidism
When your thyroid produces too much hormone your metabolism becomes overactive, this is called hyperthyroidism. When your metabolism is overactive all of your physiological activities take place with more vigor than requested, burning through consumed and stored energy at a rapid rate. This can lead to expedient weight loss, which can not only cut through fat stores, but spells danger for your muscle tissue, as well if your calories aren’t bumped up along with the BMR rise.
Symptoms Of Hyperthyroidism
Unanticipated weight loss
Elevated resting heart rate
Mood swings
Atrophy
Enlarged thyroid gland AKA goiter
Eye sensitivity
Excessive sweating
Insomnia
Muscle weakness
Tremors
Increased appetite
Note: with this increase in appetite there’s still a possibility of weight gain if your calorie intake sees too much of a boost.. The name of the game will forever be energy balance.
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What Is Hypothyroidism
When your thyroid fails to produce enough hormone your metabolism is underactive, this is hypothyroidism. Although hyperthyroidism has a stronger impact, the hypothyroidism happenings happen to be inversely related. A lazy metabolism will leave you lethargic and all daily doings of the body will occur with less luster.
Symptoms Of Hypothyroidism
Weight gain
Slow resting heart rate
Extreme fatigue
Low libido
Decreased sweating
Mental lapses
Tempered appetite
Constipation
Note: over time you may gain a marginal amount of adipose tissue that can be attributed to hypothyroidism, yet the initial jump in weight is simply water retention due to a change in fluid demands along with irregular bowel movements.
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How Common Is Hypothyroidism
The good news is hypothyroidism only grabs hold of 4.6% of the population over 12 years of age [2], however women are more likely to acquire this metabolic woe than men.
That’s one positive. Another is there being no clear association between hypothyroidism and obesity [3].
This is positive, for if you have been diagnosed or suspect you may be on the wrong side of the thyroid measure you need not feel a sense of defeat. Fitness goals are still within reach.
Your undesired weight gain or lack of weight loss progress is overwhelmingly likely due to something you can fix without a physician’s intervention. How immense your case is varies, however the metabolic damage hypothyroidism does tend to lay down is around 10% [7].
I’ll give you a tangible view of what that means in the real world.
For simplicity’s sake let's say your BMR is normally 1,000 calories per day.
With hypothyroidism your metabolism could drop to 900 calories burned at rest.
In this example if you remained untreated and consumed 1,000 calories per day, instead of maintaining weight, you’d be in a daily 100 calorie surplus leading to a gain of roughly 1 pound every 5 weeks.
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What Causes Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism can originate from a few possibilities:
Congenital hypothyroidism - born with the inability to produce enough thyroid hormone
Hashimoto thyroiditis - an autoimmune disorder disrupting thyroid function because the thyroid gland is assaulted by white blood cells and antibodies
Pituitary disorder - when the pituitary gland makes too much or not enough hormones
Partial or full thyroid removal
Thyroiditis - inflammation of the thyroid gland
Too much or too little iodine in the diet
Head and/or neck damage from radiation therapy
Note: most commonly the culprit is Hashimoto thyroiditis.
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How To Detect Hypothyroidism
The best avenue to determine how well your thyroid is functioning is a blood test. The test will evaluate how much TSH you have floating around. Naturally your initial red flags will be from putting check marks next to some of the previously mentioned symptoms. The reason those alone aren’t cut and dry indicators is that the bulk of those symptoms are the same for soooooo many other health issues including simply lacking sleep. Better to be safe and get a blood test if you strongly suspect thyroid inactivity, since when left untreated general health can be compromised to a great degree.
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How To Treat Hypothyroidism
After being diagnosed with hypothyroidism your doc is likely to prescribe levothyroxine. Levothyroxine adjusts for the metabolic gaps by giving your body the thyroid hormone it requires for normal functionality. Your body couldn’t care less if it’s naturally produced or synthetic, as long as the needed hormone is supplied. Stick to the script and you should be good to go.
How To Maintain A Healthy Thyroid
There’s no paint by the numbers method to keeping your thyroid gland favorable, but one element is iodine intake. Not too much or too little - a lot of salt is iodized so you’re likely okay in the iodine department, but in case you’re not.. Shoot for 150 mcg of iodine per day [5].
Otherwise you’ll lower your chances of thyroid trouble like you do with anything; exercise and a balanced diet. Control your weight, limit processed foods, get your vitamins and minerals in, drink water, eat your protein, exercise regularly, and sleep like you’re still a child.
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My Thoughts
The purpose of this column is to encourage. I’ve had over a few jacks and jills come to me with the belief their thyroid was keeping them out of Gainesville. I took this opportunity to spell out that, in the rare case you do have a thyroid issue, it’s manageable.
As it always has been and always will continue to be.. It’s about energy balance - calories in versus calories out. Consume more calories than you burn and weight is gained. Consume less calories than you burn and weight is lost.
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So, It’s About That Time
If the world were perfect we’d be able to avoid issues like hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, but we put our guard up and counter all punches thrown. Whether your thyroid is over, under, or properly active.. You can make your fitness goals notches on the belt if you lock-in, focus, and remain consistent. “no” isn’t on the table. Make “will it happen?” An emphatic yes. You know what to do, put those muscles and Be Great.
Sources:
[1] Yourhormones.Info/Glands/Thyroid-gland/
[2] Niddk.Nih.Gov/Health-information/Endocrine-diseases/Hypothyroidism
[3] Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/Pmc/Articles/Pmc6711558/
[4] Tfah.Org/Report-details/State-of-obesity-2020/
[5] Ods.Od.Nih.Gov/Factsheets/Iodine-healthprofessional/#H2
[6] Spineuniverse.Com/Conditions/Osteoporosis/Thyroid-disorders-can-raise-risk-osteoporosis-spinal-fracture