THYROID WEIGHT RESEARCH

I began my own weight record as a direct response to a patient that was "doing everything right," 1000 calories a day, four mile walk every day, and no weight loss over five years.

I went looking for the reason she could not lose weight, and I found that when you eat less than fifteen hundred calories a day, you affect your thyroid. Decreasing the thyroid decreases your body temperature, which decreases the number of calories you burn. Adding exercise decreases the thyroid further. This is well documented in the medical literature, and is very probably the missing link that results in so little long term weight loss with diet and exercise.

Metabolism. 1988 Aug;37(8):758-65.

Effects of aerobic exercise on energy expenditure and nitrogen balance during very low calorie dieting.

Aerobic exercise in addition to severe caloric restriction was studied for its effects on resting energy expenditure (REE), weight loss, and lean tissue preservation in adult women. A formula diet providing 1.5 g protein and 0.5 g carbohydrate (CHO) per kilogram of ideal body weight daily (mean intake 720 kcal/d) was given to 12 overweight inpatients for 4 to 5 weeks. Six subjects remained sedentary (group 1), while the other six subjects (group 2) performed supervised endurance exercise (a total of 27 hours)...Weight loss over 4 weeks in the two groups did not differ..."

My comment: twenty seven hours of exercise has no effect on weight loss even when the women were being starved (900 calories is starvation, they got 720 calories a day).

People on low calories developed T3-hypothyrosis reducing thermogenesis [Vopr Pitan. 1994;(3):45-9]

My comment: low calories=low body temperature.

"T3 could be responsible for the important reduction observed in the resting metabolic rate."[Horm Metab Res. 1990 Dec;22(12):632-5]

"Serum T3 decreased by as much as 66 percent in VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) patients during consumption of the 400 kcal/day diet, whereas rT3 increased by as much as 27 percent. T3 increased when patients were realimented with a 1000 kcal/day balanced diet but remained a significant 22 percent below baseline." [Int J Obes. 1990 Mar;14(3):249-58]

"The decreases in TSH and free T3 may blunt energy expenditure in response to long-term calorie restriction, thereby frustrating weight loss attempts of obese individuals." [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Aug;90(8):4659-63]

"After correction for multiple comparisons, there was no association between total energy intake and weight regain. Lifestyle factors were also not associated with weight regain"[ J Am Diet Assoc. 2002 Sep;102(9):1252-6.]

My comment: Calories in does not equal weight gain.
"Dietary/lifestyle therapy provides <5 kg weight loss after 2-4 y, pharmacologic therapy provides 5-10 kg weight loss after 1-2 y, and surgical therapy provides 25-75 kg weight loss after 2-4 y."[ Int J Obes (Lond). 2005 Oct;29(10):1153-67

My comment: Even stomach surgery results in less than 160 pounds of weight loss? But diet and lifestyle do nothing. Time for a different framework.