Your Thyroid May Be to Blame For Your Weight Gain

Have you been noticing unaccounted for weight gain? Your diet and activity levels have remained the same, yet you’re gaining weight at a suspicious level? Believe it or not, your thyroid could be the culprit for your weight gain. 

At Balance Hormone Center, we take pride in working with our patients from Norman, OK, and the surrounding areas to determine the cause of their weight gain, and Gordon Hart, PA-C, specializes in treating thyroid disorders. 

What is a thyroid?

Your thyroid is located at the base of your neck in front of your windpipe and is uniquely shaped like a butterfly. It’s an organ that releases specific hormones that control your metabolism and regulate a number of your body’s vital functions, including but not limited to: 

• Breathing
• Body temperature
• Weight gain and weight loss
• Muscle strength
• Cholesterol levels
• Menstrual cycles
• Heart rate
• Peripheral and central nervous systems

Your thyroid is a crucial part of your endocrine system, which is the system responsible for transporting your hormones through your bloodstream and into your body’s cells.

Your thyroid and weight gain

There’s a complex connection between your body weight, metabolism, and thyroid. The hormones that are released from your thyroid gland work to regulate your metabolism and manage how effectively your body uses the food you eat for energy. 

So when your body produces less of these hormones, known as hypothyroidism, your metabolism slows down, and your body burns off less of the food you eat. This ultimately leads to weight gain.

You can suffer from a mild case of hypothyroidism, that you might not even notice, or you can suffer from a severe case of hypothyroidism, where your weight gain will be substantial. What’s interesting is that only some of the weight gain you’ll experience is from fat. The majority of it, in most cases, is fluid buildup due to underactive kidney function associated with hypothyroidism.

How is hypothyroidism treated?

The first step that Dr. Hart and the team at Balance Hormone Center will take in treating your hypothyroidism is assessing the severity of your case. Depending on your severity level, you could benefit from treatments like hormone replacement therapy or in-office IV therapy sessions. 

If you think your weight gain could be caused by hypothyroidism, call us today or schedule an appointment online for a consultation. Dr. Hart and his team will work closely with you to develop a plan to get your thyroid back into proper working condition.