• Question: Why does thyroid affect humans body weight?

    Asked by 754mcrk42 to Emma, Ananthi on 15 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Emma Stevenson

      Emma Stevenson answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      Hmm, that’s a good question. Unfortunately I don’t know enough about the human body to answer that. Really sorry!

    • Photo: Ananthi Ramachandran

      Ananthi Ramachandran answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      So I had a little google for you as I don’t know the answer off the top off my head. It turns out that an over active thyroid can increase your BMR (basal metabolic rate) so that’s the amount of calories you burn by doing absolutely nothing, the amount your body needs just to function. So when that is an increased value you may experience weight loss. If your BMR is 1500 a day, and you consistently eat that number of calories and you continue your day to day life, walking about, going to school, hobbies etc you will definitely be burning more calories than you are taking in. However if you have an underactive thyroid and you have a lower BMR e.g 800 then chances are that despite you moving around a lot, your intake of calories may exceed your calories burnt and you’ll end up gaining weight!

Comments