Hypothyroidism and Water Weight...What's the Link?

In my last post about hypothyroidism and water weight, I showed how retaining water can cause health problems. I think that those looking to really understand what is going on with their hypothyroidism want to know "Why?"

In a lot of cases, if you know "Why," then you know how to manage it.

So here we go...

First, people with hypothyroidism have problems polymerizing certain tissue structures into usable glycoproteins.

Translation: Your body makes different types of connective tissue by combining short strands into longer ones. People with hypothyroidism have problems doing this. You end up with more of these smaller strands that aren't linked together.

Theses smaller strands have a greater cumulative hydrophilic (water loving) charge, so they attract more water.

End result is an increase water weight.

Secondly, some people with hypothyroidism have problems with both allergens and toxic metals (which can be the actual reason for the hypothyroidism). These pollutant can really cause havoc in multiple areas in the body, including the thyroid.

Your body can handle a small amount of these toxins, but struggles when the amount gets past its breaking point. Your body needs to do something to defend against these toxins.

Your body's solution to pollution is dilution.

Let's say you had very tart lemonade, what would you do? Add water.

Your body does the same thing, by adding water (retaining water) to try to lower the effects of the toxins (it dilutes it).

End result is an increase in water weight.


So there are 2 reasons for retaining water in people with hypothyroidism. One cause of water weight is due to a shift in elcertochemical charge, and the other is a defense mechanism of the body.

(And yes, both can happen in the same person)

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Hypothyroid: Why is Weight Loss So Damn Hard?

If you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, you likely have heard the following from your doctor when discussing your weight?

• "Get off the couch and exercise"


• "No more pigging out"

It's easy to pass the buck. Assuming that an overweight person is that way because they are lazy is a mistake.

It is also very easy to give the poor advice of exercise more and eat less. While some need to do just that, for others it will actually make matters worse.

So why is it that someone that is diagnosed with hypothyroidism have such problems losing weight?

A person diagnosed with hypothyroidism (and many more who are not) has a problem with either their thyroid gland or thyroid hormone. Either way the result is symptoms of thyroid problems due to a slowed metabolism. If your metabolism is abnormally low, less calories will be burned at rest. This results in more energy to be stored on your body (AKA fat).

This is not the end of it. There are also contributory factors that can work as either the primary problem, or work synergistically to really mess things up.

Excess estrogen is a perfect example of this. As I explained in a previous post about symptoms of thyroid problems due to excessive estrogen, your body stores estrogen in fat cells. The more fat cells you have, the more estrogen can be bound. Excessive estrogen also binds to thyroid hormone and makes it useless, which further slows down your metabolism, which makes you gain more at cells, which binds more estrogen, which can bind to more thyroid hormone...you get the point.

This process can spiral out of control till it gets to the point where everything seems to fail. Whether a doctor has told you that you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism or not, you have to address the hypothyroid issue or you will continue to ask yourself, "Why is Weight Loss So Damn Hard?"

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