Metabolism After Thyroidectomy

The thyroid is like a brain for hormones. Without a thyroid, hormones go out of whack. To compensate, people take a thyroid hormone replacement pill every day. The pill isn't as good as having an actual thyroid, but for those who have had their Thyroid removed? It is their only option.

The thyroid produces T3 and T4 which are hormones hat control how quickly your body uses energy and oxygen. That determines how fast your body burns calories. The less hormones, the slower your metabolism and the easier it is to gain weight. Combating this requires burning more calories through physical activity. Another way to combat this is to cut the amount of calories consumed. However, cutting below 1200 calories per day can send your body into starvation mode which will slow metabolism even further.

Vegetables are a great low calorie way to fill a hungry belly. When considering what foods to eat, the University of Maryland Medical Center recommends avoiding uncooked cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Cruciferous vegetables have been shown to interfere with thyroid hormones. Instead, focus on antioxidant-rich vegetables such as seaweed, tomatoes, squash, and bell peppers.  The National Cancer Institute recommends replacing deserts with fruits such as red grapes, plums, mango, cantaloupe, papaya, citrus fruits, kiwi, berries, and cherries. Other foods that can interfere include soy, walnuts, cottonseed meal, iron supplements, antacids with aluminum (taken within 4 hours of medication), and large amounts of fiber.

There are several reasons for having a thyroid removed including cancer, hasahimoto's disease, large goiters and more.  Controlling the diet can be different depending on what the underlining disease was. For example, some people that had Hashimoto's disease may have severe reactions to gluten. When looking at the Thyroid support groups, people will swear by various diet restrictions, however, you really have to understand your specific situation to understand what is best for it.

The best things to do is:
(1) Work with your doctor to get your medicine levels correct
(2) Increase exercise
(3) Decrease how many calories you eat
(3a) Make the calories you do eat - count! Make sure they are good and healthy calories.