Middle-Age Spread: A Double Whammy

Women have about thirty billion fat cells.  (I thought that would get your attention right off the bat. LOL!) These fat cells perform various functions in the body and one, in particular, is to produce estrogen. Prior to perimenopause, your ovaries provide the estrogen fuel that your body needs. But, the birthdays seem to speed up and the ovaries slow down.  Your fat cells basically increase their production to pick up the slack for the ovaries poor performance.  It's simply your body's way of trying to maintain balance. 

To increase estrogen production, the fat cells multiply and get bigger to be able to store more fat.  (Can I get a witness? I see those hands.)   The fat cells in the belly area are usually the largest and best equipped to produce estrogen than those in the buttocks, hips, and thighs.  Therefore, the fat tends to find it's way right to the mid-section area where we need those pants to button.  (How convenient right? NOT!) This is what we call "The Middle Age Spread".

And as if it couldn't get any worse, its does (Murphys's Law...) There's a Double Whammy problem here!!! Not only are the fat cells working overtime, but the metabolism tends to slow down at midlife.  (Get the kleenex quick)  In her book, Outsmarting the Mid-Life Fat Cell, Debra Waterhouse explains that from age 35 on, the average woman loses about 1.5 pounds of muscle a year while gaining 1.5 pounds of fat. Plain and simple, when you lose a half pound of muscle, you burn less calories in a day.  The more muscle you lose as you age, the less calories that you need and any extra calories are rerouted to, you guessed it, Fat Cells!! (sigh!) 

A weight gain of up to 10 pounds is generally considered OK and somewhat normal through menopause.  Any more than that and your chances become increased for breast cancer and heart
disease.  Boo!!!

Just sharing some little tid-bits of information here.  I hope it helps you to "Battle the Bulge" (so to speak).  I strongly suggest that every woman have their hormones tested if weight gain is a significant problem.  In consultations, weight gain is one of the biggies that come up in the complaint department by women.  With supplementation of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and other key hormones, the body won't have to work so hard to keep things in check.  Estrogen Dominance is running rampant these days as I review charts on women having their hormones tested.  And that number is growing by leaps and bounds.  BTW, men are also coming in too.  I can't tell you the number of couples that I've visited with in the last 6 months.  It's great to see.

Get tested!!!!

To your good health,
Dr. Sonja