The thyroid gland has a great job: hormones it secretes help regulate heart rate, maintain healthy skin, and play a crucial role in metabolism.
When the thyroid gland becomes inactive ( hypothyroidism ), it can weaken your activity, your skin becomes dry, you will suffer from joint pain, also cause weight gain, and may cause depression.
Thyroid and Weight Gain in Women
When thyroid gland becomes overactive ( hyperthyroidism ), it produces too much hormone, so it causes heart palpitations, sleep disturbances, and weight loss.
This is a great function for a small gland with the size and shape of a butterfly.
Most people with thyroid disease, about 80 percent, have hypothyroidism.
If the symptoms drive you to go to the doctor, one of the first things the doctor will ask is if you have a relative who suffers from the same disease, since thyroid disease tends to run in families.
Your risk also increases as you get older. It is also increased if you are a female (the disorder is more common in women about eight times higher), in addition, having another autoimmune disorder such as type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis can worsen your odds.
Because patients with hypothyroidism have a very low basal metabolic rate, one of the most obvious symptoms in hypothyroidism is weight gain and the difficulty of losing extra weight. (Sometimes hyperthyroidism can be similar to hypothyroidism by causing weight gain, although this is less common). A minority of women with hypothyroidism do not gain weight. The difference arises from the individual biochemistry, the quality of the calories you consume, and how to use those calories.
Thyroid in women
Women suffer more than men from hypothyroidism, and many more women than men with thyroid issues have problems with weight gain. Most thyroid problems occur within the gland itself and often do not reveal themselves until a broader pattern of hormonal imbalance develops. That is why thyroid issues, menopause and weight gain often appear together.
So why do women suffer from hypothyroidism and weight gain ? The causes are multiple, but primarily: hypothyroidism and weight gain depends on the food.
Women spend much of their lives dieting, usually in the cycle of fluctuation of feasting and then fasting. This undermines metabolism and reduces your metabolic rate, a compounding factor for the thyroid gland, especially during perimenopause.
Women tend to internalize stress, which affects the functions of the adrenal glands, brain and thyroid gland, and leads to increased cravings for sweets and simple carbohydrates to provide instant energy and feel good hormones. Women also experience monthly hormonal fluctuations that affect their biochemistry.
What You Can Do About Hypothyroidism And Weight Gain
The first thing to do if you are experiencing stubborn weight gain is to talk to your doctor. He may request a thyroid test or measure TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). I have found through practice that many women who have TSH measurement within the "normal" range of traditional medical standards still need to support thyroid. TSH may be just slightly elevated, but enough to affect the metabolism and cause weight gain.
These women can be treated with supplementary nutrients such as selenium with a regular meal plan that balances a proper ratio of proteins to carbohydrates which increases the metabolism and begins to lose weight. In some cases, a low dose of thyroid replacement hormone is also needed.
There is a lot of controversy in the endocrinology world regarding the treatment of hypothyroidism. There are those who believe that patients who test within normal range but have very low basal metabolic rates and very low basal temperatures need thyroid supplements. Others say that only patients with significant abnormalities need to be supported by thyroid hormones.
In women we look at the individual needs of each patient and treat them accordingly - sometimes using medication, sometimes not.
Weight gain is not enough evidence to conclude that someone has thyroid abnormalities, but is one part of the picture we try to focus on. Efforts to lose weight without addressing the related thyroid issues are doomed to failure.
The greatest success is found through a holistic approach, that considers thyroid function as an integral part of your overall hormonal balance.
