What does your thyroid have to do with weight loss?

Hormone Health

Mar 15

Weight loss is a very popular topic and also one of the biggest causes of negative self talk in women. If you feel like you’ve tried everything to lose weight and nothing has been working, it’s likely your hormones! And more specifically, it could be related to your thyroid function.

What is your thyroid and why is it important?

Your thyroid is a vital hormone gland that plays a huge role in your metabolism and your body’s growth and development. This hormone gland affects all of your organs and every cell in your body and helps regulate many bodily functions by releasing a steady amount of thyroid hormones into the bloodstream.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Hypothyroidism, and you may even think you have the symptoms of Hypothyroidism. You are not alone! Many women believe they have Hypothyroidism, even though their doctor has given them a test and told them their thyroid is fine.

The reason this can happen is that before tests can even pick up on Glandular Hypothyroidism you have what is called Cellular Hypothyroidism. Being diagnosed with Glandular Hypothyroidism means that your thyroid hormone gland is not doing what it’s supposed to be doing. Finding out that you have Cellular Hypothyroidism means that you were likely a few years, months, and possibly weeks away from reaching Glandular Hypothyroidism.

Cellular Hypothyroidism Explained

Your thyroid produces the hormones T4 and T3. T4 is the inactive thyroid hormone and T3 is the active thyroid hormone. In order for T4 to be converted into T3, you need carbs, your liver needs to be working well, your iodine levels need to be optimized, and your gut needs to be working well, because that’s where the conversion happens.

But when we talk about Cellular Hypothyroidism, what that means is that the T3 is not making it into your cells, or your cells aren’t receptive to it. This is where Hypothyroidism symptoms start showing up. You may experience hair loss, dry skin, you may have trouble losing weight, and you may even be constipated all the time.

Learn more about thyroid function in this podcast episode.

Why is Hypothyroidism not showing up on your test results?

I get this question all of the time! One of the most common reasons that Hypothyroidism is challenging to diagnose is because most of the time doctors only test your TSH. If your TSH levels are considered “normal” they don’t investigate further.

The problem with this is that first of all, TSH isn’t technically a thyroid marker at all. It's only indirectly related to the thyroid, so this isn’t giving you the full picture of what’s going on with your thyroid. Secondly, when doctors run a thyroid panel like this, they’re looking for elevated TSH to indicate a problem. However, if you are under stress, have inflammation, or have heightened cortisol levels, all of these things actually LOWER the TSH in your body. So your test results may be showing that you are fine when in fact, your body may be dealing with quite a lot!

So, this is my nudge to you to trust your gut. If you feel like something is off, it probably is. Test results do not always show the full story of everything that is going on with the body. So, if you are struggling to lose weight, consider the possibility that your thyroid may need some support!