Your metabolism is very important when it comes to weight control. If you have a fast metabolism you are able to eat more without gaining weight, and if you have a slower metabolism you have to watch what you eat more carefully to avoid gaining too much weight. Thyroid function is one factor that affects your metabolism.
Thyroid Function
The thyroid is responsible for producing two hormones -- called T3 and T4 -- that regulate your body temperature, the production of protein, your heart rate, and how quickly your body uses carbohydrates and fats, according to the Mayo Clinic. Another hormone produced by the thyroid, calcitonin, helps to regulate calcium levels in the blood.
Thyroid and Metabolism
The thyroid hormones control both carbohydrate and fat metabolism, in part through their effect on basal metabolic rate, or BMR, according to the American Thyroid Association. This is the amount of energy your body uses when it is at rest. If you have a higher BMR, you have a faster metabolism and burn more calories through your normal everyday activities. However, BMR is not the only way the thyroid affects metabolism. The thyroid is also involved in producing the hormones responsible in part for synthesizing, mobilizing and degrading fats.
Warning
Low thyroid function, called hypothyroidism, has other effects on the body besides slowing down metabolism and increasing your risk of suffering from obesity. If you have this condition it may cause an increase in lipids in the blood, called hyperlipidemia, that can increase your risk for heart attacks, according to a 2001 study by E. Pucci published in the "International Journal of Obesity Related Metabolic Disorders." Other complications of hyperthyroidism may include birth defects in children born to mothers with this condition, nerve damage, infertility, depression and an enlarged thyroid, or goiter, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Considerations
Although the thyroid does affect metabolism, the American Thyroid Association points out that it is just one factor involved. Changes in metabolism and weight gain and weight loss are affected by numerous other hormones, chemicals and proteins, so it is impossible to predict changes in weight based on changes in the thyroid hormones alone.
Expert Insight
Correcting any imbalance in the thyroid hormones will restore a person's ability to gain weight and lose weight to that experienced by people without thyroid problems, according to the American Thyroid Association. Treatment involves using synthetic thyroid hormones to return your thyroid hormone levels to normal.
Member Comments