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Difficulty to lose weight - check your thyroid

Writer's picture: Gosia SojkaGosia Sojka

.....I remember a story of my friend. A slim person, who out of the sudden has gained a lot of weight in the short period of time. I think it took some time for her to investigate what was the cause but finally she found out she got Hashimoto disease.... Hashimoto disease is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid leading to hypothyroidism.

Have you heard similar stories of the sudden weight gain without knowing the cause?

Why does the thyroid have impact on the weight gain?


Thyroid plays an important role in thermogenesis, energy homeostasis and metabolism.

Metabolism is determined by measuring the amount of oxygen used by the body over a specific amount of time. If the measurement is made at rest, it is known as the basal metabolic rate (BMR).


There are couple of mechanisms of thyroid having impact on lower metabolism. If the thyroid is weaker the following processes are altered:

- glucose uptake into muscles and liver is reduced

- reduction of pancreatic insulin synthesis and secretion

Both points mentioned above can lead to high level of glucose circulating in the blood and further to insulin resistance which is a big driver for weight gain. This can also lead to accumulation of the fat in the middle part of the body around the waist

- lipolysis (the process by which fats are broken down in our bodies) is impaired so we are not burning the fat we would like to lose


Summarizing above if you are investigating on the cause of your sudden weight gain or why you cannot lose weight thyroid might play a role in it.




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