To find you thyroid gland you need to feel for it on top of your wind pipe, just underneath your Adam’s apple. That small bump you feel is your thyroid and checking its size regularly will let you know the minute it is swollen – a condition that may indicate a problem.

The thyroid became a very popular scape goat with overweight people, blaming it’s diminished functioning for their weight gain. Not every body may stake this claim successfully, but a large part of the over weight population may be spot on with their diagnosis. The thyroid plays an enormous role in weight management and metabolic rate is determined by the thyroid.

Apart from metabolic rate, the thyroid also helps in protein being changed into muscle mass. Muscles burn fat, so should this process slow down, your body will store excess energy taken in as fat, rather than to use it to fuel your muscles. A slow thyroid may cause even body builders to loose all their muscles in a short time.

Your thyroid acts like the head boy at a school by keeping all the other glands in check. This explains why a sick thyroid may cause severe reactions like impotence, fatigue and nervous problems elsewhere in your body. Every hormone controlled function in your body gets regulated by the thyroid.

But how can such a small gland in your neck influence every part of your body? By using its special messengers called T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxin) -which are hormones themselves – then thyroid can stimulate any body part by sending T3 and t4 trough the blood system to these parts. These two cause a chain reaction in the body as more and more hormones are released on their command.

When things go wrong with your thyroid it may secrete too little or too much of the T3 and T4 hormones. Too little is called hypo thyroidism and too much, hyper thyroidism. To counter any of these problems you should take medicines orally to either stimulate or calm down your thyroid – but only a doctor can determine the dose and the frequency you should follow.

The thyroid is not a gland that functions completely on its own accord, but gets its stimulation from the brain, and more specifically from two parts of the brain – the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. Any medication that has an influence on these brain parts will have side effects attached to the thyroid. Talk to your doctor about this to sooth your concerns.

Only fools borrow medication from somebody else, and unfortunately fat people are very guilty of taking thyroid stimulants as they believe their weight problems are caused by a lazy thyroid. What they are actually doing is damaging a healthy thyroid and this may lead to permanent problems you never should have had.

If you are concerned, have your thyroid checked by drawing some blood for tests. Even if you do not suspect any problems a regular checkup from the age of 27 is advisable.

There are many causes for weight gain so maybe it isn’t your thyroid gland, but then again maybe it is. The reason it may still be your thyroid gland that is making you overweight is because even though the standard THS tests may show you are in a normal range, you need further testing.

Any time there is a decrease in thyroid function there will be a corresponding decrease in the consumption of energy. Weight gain can be the result of an under-active thyroid. Many women are overweight because of this under-active condition and do not even know that the reason for their weight gain is their THS imbalance. You can be eating significantly less than those who are lean and yet still gain weight because your thyroid imbalance is not allowing you to use energy, instead it is storing it in the form of fat.

If your TSH test results have come back in the normal range, ask your doctor to check your T4 and free T3 levels. Seeing an endocrinologist may be better person to go to for testing your thyroid gland problem than a regular MD.

However, once you have been diagnosed as having this and have been prescribed the proper medication for your condition, you may still gain weight. The problem may be because after having gone for years with an under-active thyroid, your metabolism set point has lowered. A lower metabolism set point means it will be hard to lose weight. It is a good idea to have your blood sugar levels tested to see if you are insulin resistant now which may be the cause of your weight gain also.

The good news is that there are natural cures for hypothyroidism that you can learn about. These cures make use of natural herbs and foods that feed the thyroid gland and can nourish your body back to good health.

1. Doing nothing. Some people think they can stabilize or get over having an under active thyroid by doing nothing. They do not take medication or seek out natural cures, hoping it will just go away. The truth is, only treating your thyroid condition will bring about weight loss and bring back your energy levels so that you are not so fatigued.

2. Taking Synthetic medication may not be working for you and this can slow down or delay weight loss. Thyroxine is not going to help everyone who has a thyroid disease. Sometimes the dosage is wrong or the patient can be helped with an alternative medication or natural supplementation. Make sure you talk with your doctor if you are already on synthetic medication and you are still not losing weight. Especially speak with your doctor if you are experiencing listlessness, slow movement, memory problems, and depression.

3. You may not have found the right medication dosage. After about 3 or 4 months, if you are still not feeling better and starting to lose weight, you should have your T3 levels checked again. Also talk to your doctor about trying Armour Thyroid or Nature-Thyroid, to see if that will relieve your symptoms and allow you to begin losing weight.

4. You or your doctor may not know the current TSH level recommendations so you are not being treated for hypothyroidism. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists now recommends that TSH levels should not be above 3.0. If they are above this level, it is considered to be hypothyroid instead of being capped at 4.0 as it was in the recent past.

5. You may be mistakenly eating soy products thinking that will help. Too much soy in your diet can slow down your thyroid and make your condition worse. As result your weight loss will be stalled or even stopped. Talk to your medical doctor about the consumption of soy products and how they may affect your condition.

6. Too much stress during your lifetime has led to adrenal gland burn out and impair weight loss. If your have had a lot of stress or under stress now, you should have your doctor test you for adrenal gland function. Getting the proper treatment for your adrenals can help you get back on track for weight loss.

As you can see from the above 6 reasons how a thyroid problem can prevent your weight loss, it can also affect your overall health. It is important that you educate yourself on this condition for a happier and healthier lifestyle.

Common symptoms of hypothyroidism include weight gain, fatigue, feeling cold when others are comfortable or warm, brittle nails and dry skin, and hair loss. Irregularity of menstrual periods, constipation, depression, and swelling in the lower legs are other symptoms of hypothyroidism. As the thyroid gland works harder to produce more thyroid hormones it enlarges and becomes palpable in the neck. This is called a thyroid goiter. Hypothyroidism is diagnosed with blood tests measuring thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH from the pituitary gland along with thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) released from the thyroid gland. A sonogram of the thyroid will reveal whether the gland is diffusely enlarged or if there are nodules present. A thyroid scan using radioactive iodine will determine if areas of the enlarged gland are “cold” or do not take up the iodine. Cold nodules may indicate a thyroid cancer.

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is thyroiditis or an inflammation of the thyroid gland. Other causes include inadequate production of thyroid stimulating hormone from the pituitary gland, surgical removal of all or part of the thyroid gland, or drugs that affect thyroid function. Once hypothyroid disease is diagnosed thyroid hormone replacement usually in the form of levothyroxine is begun to reverse the effects of hypothyroidism.

A major symptom of hypothyroidism is weight gain. The mechanism of weight gain in people who are hypothyroid is two fold. As a hormone that controls cellular metabolism in every cell in the body it is easy to see that lack of thyroid hormone will cause a lower cellular metabolism. This leads to both a lower metabolic rate and slower burning of calories and also fatigue. By products of fatigue are lower activity levels resulting in fewer calories burned and increased consumption of glucose rich foods in an effort to increase energy.

Patients often feel that once hypothyroidism is diagnosed and thyroid hormone replacement is begun weight loss will be simple. This is not the usual case. It takes an average of three to four weeks for the thyroid hormone to reach a steady state in the body. As the patient begins to feel better both eating habits and exercise levels need to change in order to lose the excess weight.

Patients who have gained weight may also experience something called metabolic resistance. Even after thyroid levels have been corrected it is difficult for these patients to simply reduce calories and lose weight. Their metabolism needs to be stimulated. The easiest way to stimulate the body’s metabolism is with vigorous exercise consisting of at least thirty minutes a day five days each week of aerobic activity. Patients who have been hypothyroid need to begin slowly under a doctor’s supervision but persistence will pay off with weight reduction.

Other important aspects of reversing weight gain once the hypothyroidism has been diagnosed is to make sure that the thyroid replacement is adequate. Since the TSH level is used to measure the adequacy of thyroid replacement this level should be in the low normal range. The range is 0.5 to 5.5 but most experts suggest thyroid hormone replacement should keep the level between 1.0 and 2.0.