"What's the best thyroid diet plan ?....."

Thyroid Diet Plan - why simple is best....

If you want to lose weight with an underactive thyroid then the most successful way is to use a very simple, easy to follow plan.

The key is to eat the right foods to help your thyroid, combined with following a diet plan that will also help boost your energy levels.

The thyroid diet plan we recommend contains 4 key elements :

  1. Select foods to help your thyroid

  2. Focus on low GI index carbs and protein

  3. Eat the right amount of calories

  4. Exercise

Easy tip !

thyroid diet plan and soup

Simply switching to a 'high protein' soup can make a thyroid diet plan really enjoyable.

When you use a simple thyroid diet plan, containing these 4 elements, you will achieve the best possible results and as a 'side-effect' feel great !

Taking these 4 elements in turn...

1. Select foods to help your thyroid

The starting point is to eat foods which will help your thyroid as much as possible.  Your doctor might have prescribed medication but by eating a healthy balanced diet focussing on certain foods you will help your body as much as possible.

Try to add some of the key 'iodine' producing foods to your diet,  such as kelp, beetroot, radish, parsley, potatoes, fish, oatmeal and bananas.

And in addition try to avoid foods like rapeseed, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, maize and lima beans.

 

2. Focus on low GI index carbs and protein

All carbohydrates (like potatoes and pasta) convert to blood sugar-some fast, some slow - and the Glycemic Index (abbreviated to GI index) simply measures the rate the conversion takes place.

When you eat high-glycemic carbohydrates (ones that turn to sugar quickly) this will hinder the fat burning process and decrease your energy levels.

Especially if you have an underactive thyroid you need to give your body as much help as possible by switching to low GI index carbs..

Here's why:

When you eat high-glycemic carbs, your blood sugar levels soar ; when this happens your pancreas produces insulin. One of the roles of insulin is to keep your blood sugar levels regulated - but it's also a storage hormone. When your sugars go up, your body produces the storage hormone to clear the excess sugars. Those sugars end up in fatty tissue. Ultimately, your gaining fat, because internally, you are telling your body to store 'calories'.

Here's how it relates to energy levels:

  • When you overproduce insulin, you clear the sugars out of your blood-the end result is that you are now hypoglycemic.

  • What does that mean?

  • Blood sugar levels are lower than they should be,

  • "you crash" or get lethargic, and now your body craves sugars.

  • So what next? You end up overeating , and the cycle continues

By switching to low-glycemic carbs, the energy release is gradual and long lasting which is ideal because you do not tax your pancreas, you do not over-produce a storage hormone, you feel better and you're in a better position to lose weight or more accurately, burn body fat.

 

Protein, Thyroid and Weight Loss

Linked to this the key in your thyroid diet plan is to make sure you are eating the right amount of protein.

One of the reasons is that protein is digested slowly helping to slow down the release of insulin (see above).

In addition protein tends to 'fill you up' which will prevent hunger between meals.

 

3. Eat the right amount of calories

One of the key elements to a good thyroid diet plan is to eat exactly the right amount of calories. For example in most cases the starting point is to reduce your daily calorie intake by about 500 calories but you should never go below 1000 calories per day.

As a very rough 'rule of thumb' women should eat about 1400 to 1800 calories per day, and men about 2100 to 2500 calories per day.  But do note this needs to be adjusted for your resting metabolic rate and what you do during the day.

 

 

Background information

What is Metabolism / Metabolic rate ?

Metabolism is the process whereby your body converts food into energy (or uses it for bodily repairs) or stores it as fat for future use.

In particular it is the minimum amount of energy your body needs to maintain life. It is measured (often called the Resting or Basal Metabolic Rate) when you are awake but resting, and includes the energy required to keep the heart beating, sustain breathing, repair tissues, and keep the brain and nerves functioning. The rate will vary depending on your height, weight, age, and activity.

In simple terms:

  • If you have a faster metabolism you will burn calories more efficiently and store less fat.

  • If you have a slower metabolism you burn calories less efficiently and therefore store more calories as fat.

If you have an underactive thyroid one of the effects is to slow down your metabolism which is why your thyroid diet plan should focus on providing as much help as possible (whilst at the same time helping you lose weight)

 

 

One of the reasons why a meal replacement plan (like the herbalife weight loss plan show below) is so effective is that you will have a calorie controlled diet using low GI index foods (with extra protein)

As a result this not only helps boost your metabolism but also increases energy levels.

 

4. Exercise

Exercise is essential for losing weight with an underactive thyroid.

The reasons are 2 fold:

Firstly exercise stimulated the thyroid function.  Similarly to select the right foods (as mentioned earlier) you can help your thyroid by doing some sort of exercise daily.  For example even just walking 20 to 30 minutes each day (for example 3 x 10 minute walks.) will help.

Secondly if you exercise with weights (or the resistance equipment in the gym) you will build muscles.  You don't need to go for extreme 'body building' but doing the right exercise to help with shape will help.

The reason is that muscles naturally raise your resting metabolic rate i.e. you will be burning calories all day long.  The only way to get muscles is resistance training - other methods will simply take far to long and will be nowhere near as effective.

 

The ideal Thyroid diet plan..

As a quick summary therefore the ideal thyroid diet plan should tackle the 4 common obstacles to dieting with a slow thyroid :

  • Loss of good nutrition as a result of dieting

  • Loss of energy

  • Low metabolism resulting in slower results

  • Cravings for snacks

And that is why most plans (like those involving counting points, etc.) simply won't work if you have an underactive thyroid.

 

 

Background information

Items you can influence:

  • Health & Nutrition - Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is governed by thousands of separate chemical reactions. To perform this process efficiently, your body needs a constant supply of nutrients. Without these nutrients (like vitamins and minerals, esp. vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6 & vitamin C) BMR can become inefficient and sluggish. The best way to ensure good dietary nutrition is to follow a balanced diet.

  • Eating Frequency - Your BMR increases during digestion of food, a process known as the Thermal Effect of food. In simple terms, if we go too long without food (5 hours for men; 3 hours for women), our body thinks there is a food shortage and your body tends to slow down.

  • Muscle, exercise and physical work burn calories. - Muscle cells are about 8 times more metabolically demanding than fat cells. So the greater our proportion of muscle to fat, the faster our rate.

Items not easy (or impossible) to influence:

  • Age - As we age, our calorie needs decrease. Your BMR drops around 2% every 10 years.

  • Genetic makeup - Some people have a naturally faster metabolism. Of course linked to this an underactive Thyroid will affect it. Hypothyroidism affects 2 in every 100 women in the UK but is most common in women aged 40 to 50, although you can develop it at any age. 

  • The weather - Living in a cold environment can increase your BMR. You expend more energy while moving around in cold weather. It's a lot easier to move around in summer but more of an effort to "get going" in winter.

  • Conscious State - BMR slows down when you sleep and rises when you wake.

  • Hormones - Some surveys have found that BMR dips just before ovulation, and at menstruation, then it starts to rise when the body temperature climbs. Menopause causes the BMR to slow down.
 

 

 

Quick Summary

To get the best possible results make sure you...

  1. Don't starve.
    Even though you are reducing your calorie intake never go below 1,000 calories per day.  If you then this will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism.

  2. Eat smaller meals more frequently.
    Don't skip meals! Smaller, more frequent meals keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism.

  3. Make sure you eat breakfast.
    If you don't eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into "hoard mode," thinking it's starving because you're going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food. Try a shake packed with nutrients, hunger busting soy protein and complex carbohydrates instead of skipping breakfast.

    4.

  4. Top up with vitamins, minerals and nutrients

    Your body tends to look for all the essential 'building blocks' it needs to be healthy and survive.  By reducing your calorie intake there is a real danger of reducing all the essential vitamins and minerals you need. By "topping up" will you not only feel better, but you will also prevent hunger.

 

How can we help ?

We specialise in providing one to one advice, help and support.

Either follow the links at the bottom of this page for more information,

or the easiest way to get started is to visit our main product site ( click here ) and get a free recommendation.

All you do is simply fill in the questionnaire and we will email you with our advice.

Alternatively why not have a look at the popular method below ...

 

Easy to follow diet plan:

The most popular option is to download a step by step weight loss plan, specifically designed for slow metabolism or thyroid.

We especially like that one as it's very easy to follow and contains detailed information on how you can boost your metabolism and lose weight naturally.

It includes step by step plan on how to select the right foods, when to eat and what else you can do to boost results :  More details

 

 

More information

 

 

 

 

Thyroid Weight Loss

Step by Step Advice, Products and Plans

“All weight loss claims refer to the Herbalife Weight Management Programme which includes, amongst other things, a balanced diet, regular exercise, an adequate daily fluid intake and appropriate rest. The Herbalife products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The information and slow metabolism weight loss advice was prepared by and are the responsibility of independent Herbalife distributors:  Herbal Energy”  We hope you like the underactive thyroid diet plan !

underactive thyroid diet