At that point, many women wonder whether their thyroid is to blame. That's completely understandable. After all, the thyroid plays an important role in your metabolism.

Yet the answer is less black and white than people often think.

An underactive thyroid can certainly contribute to weight gain, but it's far from always the explanation for why your weight changes. Usually, several factors play a role at the same time.

Your thyroid helps regulate your metabolism

The thyroid is a small gland at the front of your neck. Despite its modest size, it has a big influence on your body.

The thyroid produces hormones that reach almost every cell. They help your body use energy, keep your metabolism going and influence things like your heart rate, body temperature and energy levels.

You usually don't notice any of this. It's only when the thyroid produces too little or too much hormone that symptoms can develop.

An underactive thyroid slows down more than just your metabolism

When the thyroid produces too little hormone, this is called hypothyroidism.

Your body, as it were, shifts down a gear. Many women feel tired, feel the cold more easily, notice their concentration declining or become constipated. Weight gain is also common.

However, this weight gain is often not only due to storing more fat. Part of it is related to changes in the body's fluid balance.

That doesn't make the symptoms any less real. Many women clearly notice that their body feels different when their thyroid is underactive.

An overactive thyroid gives a very different picture

Sometimes exactly the opposite happens.

With hyperthyroidism, the thyroid produces too much hormone. As a result, the metabolism runs faster than normal.

Some people lose weight without consciously eating less. At the same time, they often feel restless, have palpitations, sleep poorly or feel constantly on edge.

Although weight loss often gets the most attention, most people find this situation anything but pleasant.

Does weight gain automatically mean your thyroid isn't working properly?

No.

That may well be the biggest misconception about the thyroid.

We regularly see women who are gaining weight and think their thyroid must be the cause. Yet in many cases, blood tests show a normally functioning thyroid.

That's not so strange.

Your weight depends on much more than just your metabolism. Hormonal changes, muscle mass, diet, exercise, sleep, stress and genetic predisposition all determine together how your body handles energy.

So the thyroid is an important part of the whole, but rarely the only explanation.

That doesn't mean you should ignore your symptoms. If weight gain goes hand in hand with tiredness, feeling cold, dry skin or other symptoms that fit an underactive thyroid, further testing can certainly be worthwhile.

What if you're already being treated?

Many women feel clearly better once an underactive thyroid is treated with thyroid hormone.

Yet some women still experience tiredness, difficulty losing weight or a feeling of not being quite themselves, even though their blood values are normal according to the guidelines.

That can be very frustrating.

Often, several factors are at play at the same time. Think of the menopause transition, stress, poor sleep, diet, iron deficiency or other hormonal changes. Health simply can't be summed up in a single lab value.

Not everyone feels their best at the same blood value

There's increasing attention on the individual optimum.

Laboratories compare your results with a reference range. This shows which values occur in the majority of the healthy population. But people aren't averages.

Two women can have exactly the same blood values and still feel very different.

That's why healthcare providers increasingly look not only at the results, but also at the story behind the numbers. How do you feel? What symptoms are you experiencing? And does the overall picture fit the lab results?

That doesn't mean everyone has their own ideal blood value. It does show that good care goes beyond assessing a number alone.

The key message

Your thyroid plays an important role in your metabolism and can certainly affect your weight. Yet a thyroid problem is far from the explanation for every change you see on the scales.

Weight is the result of an interplay between hormones, diet, exercise, sleep, stress and health. That's why at Flouria we always look at the bigger picture.

Do you have symptoms that fit a thyroid condition? Then targeted testing can bring a lot of clarity. Ultimately, good care isn't just about normal blood values, but above all about how you feel and what your body needs to come back into balance.