Illinois Weight Loss Practice Discusses Thyroid Related Weight Gain and Solutions

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Due to more advanced screening mechanisms, more and more people are being diagnosed with thyroid disease at earlier ages. People with diseases of the thyroid gland may suffer from a variety of symptoms, ranging from fatigue and weight gain to anxiety and heart palpitations. The diseases can develop quickly, possibly in months as half of the estimated 27 million Americans with thyroid disease remain undiagnosed, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Fortunately, many effective treatments are available for thyroid related issues.

Thyroid Background

The thyroid is a gland located in the front of the neck. This gland makes thyroid hormone and controls many functions and organs in the body. The most important of these functions is metabolic rate — how quickly a person metabolizes food and nutrients. The thyroid also affects the body´s temperature and bowel control. The most common thyroid problem (80%) is an under-active thyroid, or hypothyroidism. The symptoms of an under active thyroid include fatigue, generalized weakness, problems with memory and mental concentration, weight gain, constipation and feeling cold all the time.

The most common cause of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism is autoimmune disease, in which the body produces an antibody that attacks the thyroid. The type of antibody produced determines the form of thyroid disease that you have.

Thyroid Related Weight Gain

Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. There are a variety of causes of this weight gain, including decreased metabolic rate. Among the primary causes of thyroid related weight gain however is insulin resistance. Simply put, your body´s cells don´t respond to the same level of insulin as it did in the past.

Given that hypothyroidism has an ability to slow down everything else in our system, right down to the cellular level, it also seems natural that it slows down our body's ability to absorb blood sugar. Hence, the carbs we could eat pre-thyroid problems now are too much for our systems to handle. So excess carbohydrates leads to excess insulin which leads to excess weight.

To make the situation worse, the liver mediates between the activities of the insulin-releasing pancreas and the adrenal and thyroid glands, which are supposed to "tell" the liver to release glucose. If the adrenals and thyroid aren't working properly, or if the liver is stressed out, toxic and not working on communicating, the system goes out of balance. Either way, the result is elevated excess insulin and hence a propensity for cells to become less sensitive to its presence. All these factors mean that insulin resistance is probably even more of a factor for overweight people with hypothyroidism than for the general population.

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. Fortunately there are unique physician supervised weight loss programs with a strong track record of reversing insulin resistance and helping patients with thyroid related weight gain.

A customized diet should be created to the individual that helps to reduce insulin spikes. Low glycemic diets is the first place to start, but they can sometimes be difficult to sustain. Patients should seek low glycemic recipes or seek advice from a nutritionist on how to incorporate some easy-to-follow low glycemic tricks into their every day diet. There is also help on its way from fitness enhancing technologies such as the Cyclic Variations in Altitude Conditioning System ("CVAC"), which has been demonstrated in research studies conducted at Stanford University to positively affect insulin resistance and has been helping patients in a number of unique weight loss programs. The CVAC pod simulates high altitude environment and helps patients harness the science of high altitude adaptation, which has been a sought after physical state by many professional athletes.

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