Can anyone tell me if there is a specific weight loss diet to help lose weight when you have hypothyroidism?
I am going to get bloods etc done but have been struggling with an extra couple of stone and been oh Thyroxine for 30 years.
I have recently bought books etc but they seem to contradict each other over what to eat and not eat!
I always ( well nearly always! 🤣 ) eat healthy food and avoid junk foods. I have read that Keto or Paleo diet is good and then I heard that if you have thyroid problems you shouldn’t do Keto?
I’m confused and fed up with eating so little and not losing weight…..I don’t have any appetite so can’t be bothered to cook complicated things.
Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.
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I am not medically qualified but levothyroxine - which is the commonest thyroid hormone replacement prescribed - is also called T4.
Levothyroxine is an inactiving hormone and If we have difficulty converting levo (T4) into T3 (liothyronine) we might well gain weight as it hasn't raised our metabolism sufficiently.
We know from your previous posts that you were taking your Levo incorrectly and were going to start taking it away from your other medication.
We also know that you are only on 75mcg which is only one step up from a starter dose.
You were going to gather together previous results and post them, have you got them now so that we can see whether or not your are anywhere near optimally medicated?
There is no specific diet for Hypo patients, if we are optimally medicated then theoretically we should start to lose the extra weight. But it's low T3 that makes weight loss difficult so the first step is to see your results for TSH, FT4 and FT3. It may be that you haven't had your FT3 tested with the others at your surgery (it's very rare it gets done by the NHS) so you may want to do a private test with one of our recommended labs as suggested by SlowDragon last week.
If all you want is the basic TSH, FT4 and FT3 then MonitorMyHealth (an NHS lab which offers fingerprick tests to the public) is the cheapest. If you want the full thyroid/vitamin panel then do one of the others she suggested here:
Thank you. Yes, I’m in the process of taking my medication correctly now and will then after a while get some full blood tests done …… I had never even heard of T3 until last week!I’m also waiting for an appointment date for a referral by GP although I don’t hold out much hope for that as she was very rude and said I might be rejected!
I feel that I should have chased things up years ago but just took the Thyroxine and took their word that I was normal despite suffering lots of symptoms for 30 years.
I was 30 when it started and just over 60 now and don’t want to spend the next 30 years feeling the same. Thanks for your help
You need to know if cause of your hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto’s diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies
So testing including antibodies if you don’t know
About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, so it’s likely
If you have high antibodies this is known by medics here in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease.
Technically it’s Hashimoto's (with goitre) or Ord’s thyroiditis (no goitre). Both variants are autoimmune and more commonly just called Hashimoto’s
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working, hence important to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 and supplement to maintain optimal vitamin levels
Poor gut function with Hashimoto’s can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal
Before considering trial on gluten free diet get coeliac blood test done FIRST just to rule it out
If you test positive for coeliac, will need to remain on gluten rich diet until endoscopy (officially 6 weeks wait)
If result is negative can consider trialing strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months. Likely to see benefits. Can take many months for brain fog to lift.
If no obvious improvement, reintroduce gluten see if symptoms get worse.
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Eliminate Gluten. Even if you don’t have Hashimoto’s. Even if you have “no adverse reactions”. Eliminate gluten. There are no universal rules except this one.
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