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.