Maybe…I know that’s not a definitive answer because it’s very individual. The great new is that there are steps to assess it and determine the best course of action! Even those of us with hypothyroid can eat gluten and dairy from time to time. The key is to structure a diet with foods that supply the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for optimal thyroid function. Medications containing T4 and T3 will help with thyroid function but it’s rare that they will help you lose weight without dietary changes.
So what are the steps?
The first step is to assess your gut health. You can do that by evaluating what you eat most of the time. Are you eating foods that cause you to feel bloated, sick or tired? Are you eating more calories per day than you burn? Are you currently stressed out more than usual? Do you exercise? If so, do you exercise consistently? It may be more than you need. These factors could be negatively impacting gut health.
You’ll need to identify those foods that cause possible gut health issues. Why is that important? If your gut cannot absorb nutrients or process them properly, you’re likely going to have issues with digestion and feeling bad. If you feel bad it could lead to overeating, sugar cravings, and overall low energy. Try reducing or removing a certain food that you eat daily and write down how you feel after that meal. If you feel improvement try to replace that food with something else..Something else would be replacing a protein like milk with another protein like lean meat. Replace a carb like bread with a carb like potatoes/sweet potatoes. Replace a fat like vegetable oil with a fat like avocado or olive oil.
Once gut health is assessed it’s time to evaluate if you are eating in a calorie deficit or surplus. The best way to assess that is tracking what you eat for 7-14 days. This will give you an idea of the number of calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats you’re consuming as well as vitamins and minerals. If you’ve been trying to lose weight recently and removed certain foods that were nutritious it could have an impact.