What causes underactive thyroid?
Hypothyroidism (having an underactive thyroid) occurs when your thyroid gland stops producing enough thyroid hormones. This happens for a number of reasons including thyroid disease, iodine deficiency, thyroid gland surgery, injury to the thyroid, and genetic predisposition. Hashimoto’s disease – inflammation of the thyroid gland – is the most common cause of hypothyroidism. This is an autoimmune disease which means that, for some reason, your body thinks your thyroid is a foreign invader and tries to destroy it with antibodies. The outcome is that your thyroid gland is inflamed and can no longer produce hormones effectively. Thyroid hormones are responsible for all aspects of your metabolism; from how quickly you burn calories, to how fast your heart beats. Without enough thyroid hormones, your metabolism cannot function properly. When your metabolism is sluggish from lack of thyroid hormones, it’s easy to gain up to 9 kg in weight. But weight gain isn’t the only worrying outcome. Und
