Losing Weight with Hypothyroidism

How an Underactive Thyroid Can Affect Weight Loss
By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide
Updated February 01, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Information adapted from the book The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss

Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. At first, if you'd gained weight before your thyroid problem is diagnosed, you were probably told you'd be able to lose it more easily -- or perhaps you were even told you'd lose all the extra weight -- once you started on your thyroid hormone replacement.

So you take your thyroid hormone, and the weight doesn't come off.

Later, despite "normal" TSH levels, and lower-calorie, low-fat diets and exercise, you find yourself still gaining, or not losing weight. You may also have high cholesterol levels. The doctor then tells you that your weight problem doesn't have anything to do with your thyroid.

Some of this site's visitors have reported to me that they were on a 900-calorie a day diet, walking 3 miles a day, and not losing weight, and the doctor says, "well, you just must be eating too much."

Losing Weight with Hypothyroidism

By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide
Updated February 01, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

(Continued from Page 1)

Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. When you eat foods that contain carbohydrates (which make up the majority of most of our diets), your body converts the carbohydrates into simple sugars. These sugars enter the blood, becoming "blood sugar." Your pancreas then releases insulin to stimulate the cells to take in the blood sugar and store it as an energy reserve, returning blood sugar levels to a normal level.

Carbohydrates can be "simple," high-glycemic carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, sugar, white flour and cakes, or "complex" lower-glycemic carbohydrates, like vegetables and whole grains.

Current theory claims that sugars and starches are far easily broken down than in our more prehistoric past, and today, many of us simply do not need and cannot process the amounts of carbohydrates that are considered "normal" by current dietary standards. For an estimated 25% of the population, eating what appears to be a "normal amount" of carbohydrates in fact raises blood sugar to excessive levels. The pancreas responds by increasing the secretion of insulin to the level where it will drive down blood sugar. For this group, consistently eating too many carbohydrates -- but remember, what is too many for this group is not necessarily too many for the average person -- creates a situation called "insulin resistance."

Insulin resistance means that cells have become less responsive to the effects of insulin. So you

Losing Weight with Hypothyroidism

By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide
Updated February 01, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

(Continued from Page 2)

And ultimately, if your adrenal glands are stronger than your pancreas, this can potentially lead to diabetes. If your pancreas is the stronger organ, which is more common, then you get fatigue, lowered body temperature, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

All these factors mean that insulin resistance is probably even more of a factor for overweight people with hypothyroidism than for the general population.

How to Lose Weight and Fight Insulin Resistance

Weight loss is the most important method of eliminating insulin resistance. So it's one of those chicken and egg situations. The less you weigh, the less insulin resistant you will be. But insulin resistance makes it difficult to lose weight.

Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure?

A Holistic Physician Looks at the Question
From Dr. Ken Woliner
Updated July 30, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Jul 30 2003

A note from Mary Shomon: The May 20, 2003 issue of the weekly newsstand publication, Woman’s World, featured a cover story “The New Thyroid Cure.” Since that article hit the newsstand about ten days ago, I’ve been inundated with emails from people who want to know if what the article seems to claim is true: Can coconut oil "cure" your hypothyroidism and ensure rapid weight loss? I asked holistic physician Dr. Ken Woliner to respond to this question for us.

Please note: Dr. Woliner has no financial relationship to any companies that sell coconut oil, and reports no conflicts of interest with the coconut oil industry, or with any other vitamin or pharmaceutical company.

by Ken Woliner, MD, ABFP

In their May 20th, 2003 issue (actually distributed around May 10th), Woman’s World published a cover story, “The new thyroid cure” describing how a low carbohydrate/high protein diet and coconut oil could cure thyroid disease. Though I have not been able to directly interview the authors or their sources, I have done my best to make a reasonable assessment of the validity and reliability of this article. My opinion is based upon my review of this article, information available on Tropical Traditions (one major supplier of coconut oil), independent research published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and my own personal medical school training and clinical experience. For simplicity’s sake, it is perhaps best to split my comments into two: a discussion of the article itself and a balanced discussion regarding coconut oil and its relation to thyroid disease and weight loss.

Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure? Page 2

Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure?
From Dr. Ken Woliner
Updated July 30, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

(Continued from Page 1)

Dr. Donald Layman, Ph.D., is a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois. He quotes that dieters receiving only 15% of their calories from protein have lower thyroid hormone levels but does not pay attention to the fact that they also have lower levels of thyroid binding globulin. He did not measure "Free T3" nor "Thyroid Binding Globulin". (See Understanding Thyroid Lab Tests) Dr. Layman's article was in reference to different diets and weight loss, and the data regarding thyroid hormone levels was reported only as an incidental finding. Somehow, the writers at Woman's World heard about this "incidental finding" in this article and interviewed him. Dr. Layman realized that they were misinterpretting his data and said to them, "Any extrapolation of our data to thyroid would be inappropriate." He did not intend to link Tyrosine (as quoted), nor weight loss diets (which he studied) with the ability to regulate thyroid function. (Layman DK, et al. "A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women." J Nutr 2003; 133:411-417)

Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure? Page 3

And Can it Help You Lose Weight?
From Dr. Ken Woliner
Updated July 30, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Medical Review Board

(Continued from page 2)

Does coconut oil cure thyroid disease and lead to weight loss?

No one therapy has the potential to cure all thyroid disease because there are many different causes of hypothyroidism. Deficiencies of minerals such as selenium, zinc, and iodine are common (iodine less so since the fortification of salt with iodine). A relative deficiency of tyrosine caused by low iron, tetrahydrobiopterin, or NAD inhibiting its conversion from phenylalanine is another cause. A patient could be exposed to the toxicity of heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury; fatty acids such as oleic acid and trans fats; stress; infections; autoimmune disease; radiation; and trauma (thyroid surgery, other surgeries in the neck, whiplash during a motor vehicle accident). Other causes include imbalances of other endocrine glands and the hormones they produce such as estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, insulin, TRH (hypothalamic hypothyroidism), TSH (pituitary hypothyroidism)), and the thyroid itself (benign adenoma or cancer squeezing out healthy thyroid, status post thyroid surgery, radioactive ablation).

The Woman’s World Article Recapped

The New Thyroid Cure - - May 20, 2003
From Dr. Ken Woliner
Updated July 30, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

(Continued from Page 3)

The article’s cover says, under the title "The New Thyroid Cure," that there are "2 miracle foods that will: restart your sluggish thyroid, make your body melt unwanted fat, and triple your energy!”

The first miracle food they claim will help lose weight is protein in general. Here, they cite Cristina Saralegui’s weight loss, after switching to a diet the limited the amount of starchy simple carbohydrates, with more emphasis on lean proteins (like fish).

Second, they claim that "regular consumption of coconut oil effectively reverses hypothyroid problems, compensating for a slowed metabolism and other system failures as it stimulates the production of more and more thyroid hormone." They quote a few women who claimed that weight just "melted off" when they added large amounts of coconut oil to their diet.

Reprinted with permission. Article originally published online.

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Dr. Bruce Fife's Positive Review of Coconut Oil

Dr. Bruce Fife's Positive Review of Coconut Oil
From Bruce Fife, ND, CN
Aug 2 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

A note from Mary Shomon: The May 20, 2003 issue of the weekly newsstand publication, Woman’s World, featured a cover story "The New Thyroid Cure." Since that article hit the newsstand, I was deluged with emails from people who want to know if what the article seems to claim is true: Can coconut oil "cure" your hypothyroidism and ensure rapid weight loss? In May, I asked holistic physician Dr. Ken Woliner to respond to this question, which he did in his article, Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure? A Holistic Physician Looks at the Question. There are some practitioners and experts who believe that coconut oil is extremely beneficial for the thyroid, and Dr. Bruce Fife is one of the more well-known figures who has spoken out in favor of coconut oil. Dr. Woliner discusses Dr. Fife in his article, and here Dr. Fife offers his thoughts on coconut oil for the thyroid, and a rebuttal to Dr. Woliner’s position.

In May of this year, Woman’s World published a cover story titled "The New Thyroid Cure."It described how protein and coconut oil can help improve thyroid function. In response to this article many people started asking if coconut oil can really improve thyroid function and promote weight loss. Mary Shomon published an article written by Ken Woliner, MD to answer this question. Although I’m sure Dr. Woliner is a competent physician with a great deal of experience treating thyroid problems, this doesn’t make him an expert on coconut oil. Judging from his article, he apparently knows little about the relationship between coconut oil and thyroid function, and frankly, few people do. Unfortunately, his article contained many inaccurate and misleading statements.

Is Coconut Oil Really a Thyroid Cure?

Dr. Bruce Fife’s Reply to Dr. Ken Woliner
From Bruce Fife, ND, CN
Updated August 02, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Testimonials aren’t the only evidence behind coconut oil. There are plenty of published studies on the relationship of coconut oil with metabolism and weight loss. My books The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil and Eat Fat, Look Thin contain references to numerous studies. Research shows that coconut oil contains a unique form of fatty acid that stimulates metabolism, gives you more energy, and promotes weight loss, among other things. Researchers are recommending it as a means to prevent and even treat obesity. An excellent study that reviewed all previous studies on this topic was published last year in the Journal of Nutrition (Vol. 132, pages 329-332). This study was conducted by researchers at McGill University. They reported that several different studies have shown weight loss equivalent to 12 – 36 pounds a year simply by changing the types of oils used in everyday cooking and food preparation.

My book Eat Fat, Look Thin explains how I discovered the relationship between coconut oil and improved thyroid health. It explains how to use coconut oil and incorporate it into a sensible diet. It provides most, but not all, of the details of my current thyroid program. I am still working on the program, but expect to publish my results next year. Readers who are interested in learning about the program can contact me at the address below and I will send them information when it is available.