For some people with an under active thyroid, the struggle to stay in control of their weight can be a real challenge. In certain instances, this challenge can often be what brings a person to seek medical help to start with.
Despite their conscious effort to lose weight, they feel unable to achieve the weight loss or indeed at times, feel they have no control and continue to gain weight.
How Hypothyroidism Affects Weight
An under active thyroid lowers our metabolic rate and so reduces our energy (calorie) needs. Our metabolic rate is the energy required for us to function. A lower rate lowers our energy (calorie) requirements for our daily functions.
Once hypothyroidism is treated appropriately, the metabolic rate returns to normal and weight changes should become manageable.
In our experience, for some people, challenges with weight can continue to persist and further individualised support needs to be put in place. If this sounds familiar to you, do get in touch with us to hear what we can do to support you.
Everybody needs to consider what is right for them, given there are so many factors that affect our food choices and our reasons for eating. Here we provide you with the key points to remember for a healthy balanced eating pattern, with particular considerations for hypothyroidism.
Dietary Considerations for a Healthy Balanced Eating Pattern
- Incorporate vegetables, salads and fruits into meals and snacks
Fresh, frozen, tinned or dried – it all counts. Not only does this food group give us vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fibre which are helpful to our overall health; they are also a low energy density foods, meaning they are low in calories in a large volume so can fill out any meal or snack.
As part of any approach to support weight loss, fruits and vegetables offer us fantastic nutrient quality for optimal health and can reduce the calorie content of meals and snacks to aid successful weight loss.
Most of us do not eat enough of this group. Typically, 80 grams is a portion which is the equivalent of:
- 3 tablespoons of cooked vegetables
- A bowl of salad
- A 5cm piece of cucumber, 1 medium tomato or 7 cherry tomatoes
- For pulses, it’s 3 heaped tablespoons (think baked beans, kidney beans, cannelloni beans, butter beans or chickpeas). Pulses only count as one portion of your 5-a-day (more on them in the protein section)
- For fruit:
- 1 medium-sized – apple, pear, orange, banana
- 2 small fruits – satsumas, plums, kiwi
- A handful of berries
- A chunk of larger fruit, for example, 1 slice of melon or pineapple
- Tinned fruit still counts, make sure to choose fruit canned in natural juice, rather than syrup
- For dried fruits, this is where there is a big difference in portion size. It is 30grams for dried fruit. This is because it has water removed. A heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas; 3 prunes or 2 figs
- Fruit juice should be limited to 150ml at most per day; it can only contribute to one of your 5-a-day
- Choose lean protein sources
Good sources of protein include beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and non meat alternatives
Protein is essential for the body to grow and repair itself. We also rely on this food group for a range of vitamins, minerals and fats. For example meat is an excellent source of iron; fish is a fantastic source of omega-3 (a healthy oil linked with heart health). Aim to include to 2-3 portions of this food group each day.
Protein rich foods are the most satisfying food group, helping us to feel fuller. These are helpful in any weight loss journey.
- Aim to eat at least 2 portions of fish a week and make at least one of these a portion of oily fish. Oily fish includes salmon, mackerel, pilchards, kippers, trout, herring, kippers, sardines, sprats. A portion size is approximately 140grams of cooked fish
- Pulses, including beans (haricot, kidney, cannelloni beans), peas and lentils, are naturally very low in fat and high in fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals. And remember, they also count as one of your 5-a-day.
- Nuts are high in fibre, and healthy fats. It does means they are high in calories, so take note a portion is about 30grams.
- Aim to keep our intake of processed meat like bacon, ham and sausages to a minimum.
- Milk, dairy and dairy alternatives
Milk, yogurts and cheeses are a great source of calcium and also contribute protein to our diet.
Non-dairy alternatives such as soya versions of yogurt, cheese and milk are often fortified with calcium to match their dairy alternatives. Nowadays many calcium fortified nut-based milks exist and offer us the same calcium level. These can be a useful source of calcium for those who follow a vegan diet, or prefer these lower fat, lower calorie option. Double check that these alternatives are fortified with calcium.
Full cream or fat versions do need to be considered in the context of your overall food intake. For most of us, we need to reduce our intake of saturated fat and switching to a reduced fat version can be a helpful way of achieving this to the benefit of our heart health.
The reduced fat version still provides us with the same level of other nutrients, including the same level of calcium and protein.
The reduction in fat makes for a lower calorie content and so can be helpful to weight loss.
Swapping from full fat dairy to a reduced fat alternative, such as switching full-fat milk to skimmed milk; or from standard cheese to a reduced fat cheese will reduce our calorie intake and support weight loss efforts.
- Starchy carbohydrates
Most certainly the food group that is getting the most attention these days. This group provides nutrients including B vitamins and fibre. They contribute to our calorie intake and do make up a large proportion of our energy requirements.
Where possible, opt for the wholegrain versions of this food group.
From a health and nutrition point of view, the wholegrain versions offer us additional value, through additional fibre, vitamins and minerals. They are also linked with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Wholegrains can also support weight loss efforts, as they are known to make us feel fuller for longer so can help as part of any weight loss plan.
- Fats & oils
Again, a food group that can get lots of press, some positive and some negative.
Whilst this food group carries the highest calorie amount per gram; in the right balance, they help our heart health. The Mediterranean style diet has lots of research to show its links with health benefits, especially heart health. One aspect of this is its high levels of plant based versions of oils such as olive oil or rapeseed oil.
Gram for gram where its butter, olive oil or lard, the calorie difference is insignificant; opting for the unsaturated version is linked with heart health and that is why it’s favoured.
When it comes to weight loss, portion control of this food group can be helpful for your goals.
Consider a portion to be approximately 50 calories, most people benefit from 2-4 portions per day.
Portion guide:
- 1 teaspoon on oil, butter or spread (5grams)
- 2 teaspoon of reduced-fat spread (10 grams)
- 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise (7grams) or 2 teaspoon of reduced fat mayo
- 2 dessert spoon of single cream or 1 dessert spoon of double cream
- 1 teaspoon of peanut butter
Nutrients of note in thyroid health
Iodine
This mineral is needed in the normal function of the thyroid gland. However, for those with thyroid issues including under active and over-active thyroid glands, additional iodine above what our body needs, can be harmful and needs to be avoided unless advised otherwise by a medical professional.
You should be able to get all the iodine your body needs from your regular food intake. Better sources of iodine are fish and shellfish; and dairy products (milk, yoghurts and cheese). Other sources include eggs, meat and chicken, as well as bread and fruits and vegetables. For those of us who eat a healthy, balanced and varied range of food we should meet our recommendations for iodine. Following a vegan diet does carry a risk of consuming less than the optimal intake of iodine & where a supplement should be considered.
Taking too much iodine can be harmful and should be avoided.
For some people with an underactive thyroid, too much iodine can worsen the condition. In fact, excessive iodine can cause thyroid problems.
If you are taking iodine within a multivitamin and mineral supplement, ensure it does not exceed 140 micrograms of iodine, this is the adult daily requirement. And for those with a thyroid problem, or have had many years of low iodine intake, always consult your doctor before taking an iodine supplement. Seaweed or kelp supplements should not be used for a source of iodine as they can provide excessive amounts.
Selenium
Similarly selenium is involved in making thyroid hormones and so gets some attention in thyroid dysfunction. This mineral is found in many common foods, which means for those of us who eat a varied and balanced range of food, consuming sufficient amounts for optimal health is possible.
Adult requirements for selenium are 60 micrograms for men & 75 micrograms for women per day.
Selenium is found in foods such as meat, fish, eggs and cereals. Brazil nuts are the one outstanding selenium-rich food; with 2-6 of these nuts per day providing adult requirements.
It is important to avoid excessive amounts of selenium, for that reason avoid high dose supplements.
If you feel you would benefit from personalised advice or support on hypothyroidism, please get in touch.