Menopause Weight Gain
Diseases of Aging, Hormone Diets, menopause
Menopause is an agonizing period for most women. A small percentage of women do not experience any of the negative symptoms of menopause. However, most women do experience these negative symptoms. Besides the hot flashes, skin dryness, changes in mood and loss of libido, many women also put on weight. This menopause weight gain usually starts to develop in the early 40s and continues for the next decade. The majority of females complain that as soon as their cycles start to become irregular, they notice a perceptible change in weight. What is more puzzling is that women who gain this weight during menopause have always been active, adhered to a decent diet and yet the weight gain continues to occur. Finally, the weight gain during menopause is a lot harder to get rid of. Unlike the younger days, the weight gain during menopause tend to accumulate around the abdomen and not the hips or thigh. This is a difficult thing for most women and can become a struggle to find a new way of eating to combat this menopause weight gain.
Experts in the field of menopause claim that the weight gain usually starts a few years prior to menopause and on average a female will gain anywhere from one to two pounds per year. Reversing this physiological change in the body requires attention to eating habits, maintaining an active life style and remaining motivated. We have presented a few of the hormone balancing diets which will help you maintain your weight and take off the extra pounds. For more information on these diets, such as the Dr. Oz diet, Suzanne Somers Somersizing diet, Dr. Natasha Turner’s Hormone diet, the Okinawa diet or the Mediterranean diet, please visit these pages.
While it is easy to blame changes in hormonal levels for the weight gain seen during menopause, this is not necessarily true. There are many women who go through menopause and yet never gain any excess weight. Moreover, women who have a hysterectomy do not always gain weight. Most experts believe that the cause of weight gain is more likely related to changes in life styles, aging and emotion. Menopause weight gain can also come from thyroid problems such as low thyroid or hypothyroidism.
With age, many women cut down on exercise or find they do not have the time to exercise, with the demands of family and career. Many middle aged females work, have children, many work in the home and have precious little time for themselves. Exercising less has been a common theme which has been observed in women who gain weight during menopause.
While the decline in hormones does not directly cause weight gain, it is believed that the emotional changes that occurs during menopause may encourage women to eat more. With less exercise and a higher calorie intake, weight gain is inevitable.
The role of genetic factors is not understood but if one member of the family has gained weight during menopause, the siblings are more likely to follow the same pattern. This association does not hold true for all mother–sibling(s) but does occur in the majority.
Finally it is known that with the decline in sex hormones, the body also starts to slow down with the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. As less calories are used up, combined with the factor of less exercise this excess is stored as fat. Also, the body starts to compensate for lower estrogen levels and begins to generate estrogen in the fat cells, most especially around the belly.
Many women experience high levels of stress during premenopause and menopause and this chronic stress causes a surplus of the hormone cortisol and leads to insulin resistance – also another factor in menopause weight gain.The weight gain at menopause can have serious implications for health. Excess weight gain can lead to a number of complications including diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. These factors also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Now there is also evidence that weight gain during menopause can increase risk of breast and uterine cancers. Women who gain in excess of 20 pounds after menopause also increase their risk of cancer by 20 percent. Conversely women who lose weight, reduce their risk for many cancers.
At this point in life, it is time to start caring for yourself, start exercising and start a proper hormone diet which will help you balance your hormones and help you achieve weight loss. You should also be taking nutritional supplements to help your hormones and other nutritional requirements at this time in your life. Making simple lifestyle changes will improve the quality of your life immensely so that you can get on with the business of living.
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admin @ December 30, 2009