What is Hypothyroidism?

Hypothyroidism (under active thyroid) is a condition where the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones (T3 & T4). This reduces overall metabolism, making people gain weight.

Inability to tolerate cold, tiredness, constipation, depression etc are other associated problems with hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism affects women more frequently than men & according to recent report, one in every three Indians suffer from a thyroid disorder!

The thyroid gland located on your neck produces two hormones – T3 (Triiodothyronine) & T4 (Thyroxine). Thyroid gland is intern controlled by another gland – pituitary gland, that lies underneath the brain by secreting yet another hormone called TSH (Thyroid Simulating Hormone). Pituitary gland senses the level of thyroid hormones (T3 & T4) in the blood stream and secretes TSH to regulate the thyroid gland. Hence is your thyroid gland is under-active, the TSH levels in your blood will be high.

A proper nutrition plan with right kind of exercise to improve the body composition (reducing body fat and improving lean mass) will improve the metabolism levels. Your diet should have right amount and kind of protein, carbs and fat – fat being the macronutrient that helps in maintaining the hormonal balance. Resistance training will help in improving the body composition which has great impact on metabolism. This has far reaching impacts on improving the health of your thyroid glands and making it more active and enabling it to secrete thyroid hormones by itself. In such a case, one need not provide synthetic hormone orally (thyronorm/thyroxine tablets) and can at least reduce the dosage (ONLY after your doctor’s advice).