Managing Menopause: Tips To Help With Weight Gain Sex Hair Loss And More
Its something natural, but many people dont like to talk about: menopause.
Menopause is the natural end to the menstrual cycle, when the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone. Some will experience menopause naturally, and for others, menopause will result from surgical removal of the ovaries, or because of medical treatments or genetic disorders that stop ovarian function.
The decline of those hormones in the body can cause unpleasant side effects ranging from night sweats to weight gain. No experience is the same. Some will have severe symptoms, while others will only experience mild changes.
The menopause transition doesnt have to be horrible. Because of the bothersome symptoms, often menopause is feared however, it shouldnt be. Its just a different phase of life. Menopause isnt good or isnt bad, it just is. And for those struggling with symptoms, they shouldnt be afraid to ask their doctor about treatment options. At the University of Chicago Medicine, a custom care plan is created for each individual based on their symptoms, medical history and personal preferences.
Here are answers to some common questions I hear from patients about menopause.
How Does Estrogen Impact Weight Gain
Produced within the ovaries, estrogen is responsible for optimal functioning of all female reproductive organs. Estrogen promotes the storage of fat for healthy reproductive years. When estrogen is balanced, the right amount of fat helps carry out female reproductive functions. However, when theres too little or too much estrogen, weight gain often results.
Overweight women typically have high amounts of estrogen, as do women in the first half of pregnancy. Then theres perimenopause and menopause, which are characterized by a notable decrease in estrogen. Its during this time that some women opt for hormone replacement therapy to replace declining estrogen levels.
Can Bioidentical Hormones Cause Weight Gain What You Should Know Before Starting Bhrt
Patients seek bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for a multitude of different reasons. Perhaps you feel sluggish, fatigued, or unmotivated. Maybe youre experiencing hot flashes. Or perhaps youve run up against a wall when it comes to weight loss, and youre wondering if hormones have something to do with your inability to lose weight.
Bioidentical hormones can be a powerful contributor to weight loss for some individualsthough that isnt their primary purpose. In fact, because hormones heavily impact metabolism, minor weight fluctuations are a common side effect that patients experience when starting bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. If youre determined to lose a few unwanted pounds, the possibility of medication-induced weight gain could be a major concern.
So, can bioidentical hormones cause weight gain? Possibly. It might take a while for you to find the right dose of hormone medications and reach equilibrium, especially if your hormone levels arent being monitored appropriately by a qualified practitioner. But with proper maintenance and a comprehensive treatment plan designed to meet your unique needs, BHRT is more likely to help you reach a stable, healthy weight than to put on pounds. An expert hormone health practitioner will be able to provide you with the customized medication, diet, exercise, and stress management strategies you need to alleviate your symptoms and promote overall well-being.
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How To Lose Weight Successfully
Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly are the two main components of achieving a healthy weight, but these arent the only factors affecting your ability to lose weight. Hormonal imbalance could be playing a role too.
Hormonal imbalance can make weight loss difficult, and carrying extra weight can increase your risk of hormonal imbalance. Unfortunately, these factors work together to make weight loss even more difficult.
Its not easy to lose weight on your own, and our team at Medical Associates of North Texas provides the support you need to achieve success. If you have extra weight to lose, we offer comprehensive health evaluations to identify things that might hinder your progress.
We can help you identify potential hormonal imbalances, as well as other health conditions that may make weight loss more challenging for you. Then, we develop a customized weight loss program that may include regular doctors appointments, meetings with our dietician, and weight loss medication.
Achieving a healthy weight is possible. Plus, dropping those extra pounds can help regulate hormones, making it easier to maintain that weight loss over time.
Hormonal imbalance can create more challenges in your quest for better health, but lasting weight loss can still be a reality. Contact our team online or call our Fort Worth, Texas, office at 972-433-7178 for an appointment.
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What Are The Signs Of Hormone Imbalance
Hormone levels naturally change at various points during every persons life, including puberty, pregnancy, menopause, and more. Additionally, underlying conditions, certain medications, and other factors can impact hormone levels. Because the hormones play such a major role in the regulation of so many important physiologic processes, hormone imbalance can cause a number of frustrating and disruptive symptoms, including:
- Loss of bone and/or muscle mass
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Menopausal Women Taking Hrt Tend To Have Less Body Fat Especially Abdominal Fat
Visceral fat cells are what can make our shape change to a dad bod. Adding this type of fat to our waistlines can set off inflammation and increase insulin resistance. Visceral fat gets worse with depression, stress, poor sleep, smoking, and drinking fructose-sweetened beverages. If thats not enough, menopausal weight gain around your tummy can increase the risk of:
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Cardiovascular disease
Menopause And Hormone Therapy
Menopause is the transitional phase women experience one year after their last menstruation. It is the end of a womens menstrual cycle and thereby the closing of the reproductive years. Generally, women are between the ages of 45 and 55 when they enter menopause. Unfortunately, many women experience some uncomfortable symptoms during and leading up to Menopause. These symptoms may include hot flashes, chills, night sweats, sleeping problems and mood changes. As a womens reproductive years come to an end, the levels of the primary female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, fall. Hormone replacement therapy uses prescribed medication to boost or replace these plunging levels.
With the ovaries being the most prominent organ to produce these two hormones, it is not surprising that the estrogen and progesterone levels are low after the reproductive phase. Some women consider taking hormone therapy as a means to relieve the symptoms of menopause. While HRT can help with the discomfort of menopause, some women are worried about the side effects of hormonal therapy, such as weight gain.
Although there are rumors that hormone therapy could lead to weight gain, these claims remain unproven. Thus, if you are worried about putting on weight during hormone therapy, you will be happy to know that it will most likely not be caused by the therapy.
So how did this rumor start?
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What Do We Mean By Menopause
The menopause is the date of the last menstrual period. The average age is 51, but there is a wide variation, between the ages of 45 and 55. Many women are unaware that up to ten years before the final period, the levels of their reproductive hormone levels are undergoing a dramatic change. Levels of follicle-stimulating hormone increase, at the same time as levels of estrogen decline. In the two years before the last period, estrogen levels fall to around 90% less than their premenopausal values.
How Do Hormonal Changes And Menopause Affect Weight
Yes, these hormonal changes seem to have some effect on body weight, but the effect is small. They cause a small increase in appetite, as well as a reduction in your energy levels, and overall, this tends to culminate in reduced physical fitness. Because of this, a small amount of weight gain is likely to take place. But and I need to stress this the effect is small, because women tend to gain weight as they age anyway. Why? because in females, the metabolic rate slows by 10% for every decade of life from the age of 20.
During the perimenopausal transition, women gain an average of 4.5lb over 3 years. But this rate of weight gain is very much the same as the 1.5lb of weight gained each year in their 5th and 6th decade of life, which is normally experienced by post-menopausal women.
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Hormones And Weight Gain
Do your hormones actually make you fat? Ive been treating women for weight loss for over 13 years now, and most of my clients have been successful in losing weight once they started to control their calories and exercise on a regular basis.
However, every now and then I come across a client who is doing absolutely everything right, yet the weight simply will not budge. When the client has blood levels tested they are often told that everything is normal and they are at a loss as to where to turn next.
If you cant lose weight with diet and exercise and youre not taking any medications that may interfere with your metabolism, it may actually be a hormonal imbalance problem.
The Science Behind Hormones And Your Weight
It can be easy to reduce your weight to something as simple as exercise and diet, but in reality its much more complicated than that. Hormones, the chemical messengers of the body, play a major role in weight and influence everything from your appetite to where fat is stored in your body. Hormones help regulate almost all of your bodys functions, including weight.
Hormones like insulin, leptin, and cortisol all play a role in appetite, fat storage, and stress levels that can affect weight regardless of gender. However, for women, the interaction between estrogen and progesterone also play a big role. Estrogen and progesterone work in tandem and balance each other out and help maintain a healthy weight. A woman needs healthy and normal levels of estrogen and progesterone to maintain a normal weight.
Estrogen is a growth hormone that works to make your cells bigger and promotes storing energy as fat. Whether thats your breasts and hips as you go through puberty, or your uterine cells during your cycle, the impact of estrogens make your cells bigger.
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Bioidentical Hormones: An Introduction
Bioidentical hormones have been building towards mass production ever since their inception in the 1930âs. They are now widely used as a treatment for symptoms of menopause.
These miracle hormones are produced in a laboratory. Extracts are taken from plants and engineered to replicate the hormones found in your body. They can be made up of lots of different hormones, like estriol, estrone, testosterone, and progesterone. Read on to learn about how bioidentical hormones work.
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Your Low Testosterone Levels Are Slowing Down Your Metabolism
You are confronted with an astounding number of toxins each day, including pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified foods, and about six different synthetic hormones in meat. Toxins are lurking in face creams, prescription drugs, processed foods, your lipstick, the linings of tuna fish cans, the fire-retardant materials in couches, and even the air you breathe. The list goes on.
Many types of these toxins, such as pesticides, plastics, and industrial chemicals, behave like estrogen when absorbed in the body. Experts believe that our increasing exposure to toxins helps explain why so many girls are entering puberty earlier and why many boys exhibit feminine characteristics such as developing breasts. Xeno-estrogens, as these particular toxins are called, have been associated with an elevated risk of estrogen-driven diseases like breast and ovarian cancers and endometriosis.
All this fake estrogen overwhelms your bodyâs testosteronewhich is vital for hormone balanceand contributes to estrogen overload. Testosterone contributes to muscle growth, which in turn supports metabolism. And, as we already know, estrogen overload raises insulin insensitivity. The combination adds pounds to your frame: A study from Sweden published in the journal Chemosphere showed that exposure to a particular type of pesticide called organochloride was linked to a weight gain of 9½ pounds over 50 years.
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How Estrogen Dominance Causes Belly Fat Bloating And Weight Gain
Learn how a liver detox can help you ease the signs and symptoms of high estrogen
Its super frustrating when youre doing everything right and you still cant lose your belly fat.
I get it! Ive been where you are. Even with a super healthy diet, staying hydrated, and moving my body I still struggled with stubborn belly fat. And then I learned about estrogen dominance.
I knew about low estrogen levels during perimenopause and menopause, and how the changes in my hormones cause my body to change and trigger a range of side effects. But no onetold me about estrogen dominance or high estrogen and this impacts how I look and feel.
The last thing I want is for you to struggle with the symptoms of estrogen dominance. In this blog I explain estrogen dominance, give you the signs and symptoms of high estrogen, and share the 6 steps I followed to lower my estrogen, detox my liver, and ultimately get my sexy back!
If you have questions about estrogen dominance or want to connect with people like you who put a priority on health, make sure you join the and .
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How To Keep Estrogen At Optimal Levels
To balance estrogen levels naturally and prevent the weight gain that happens with an estrogen imbalance, youll want to do the following:
- Commit to a regular exercise routine. Many studies, including this 2012 one, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, explain how exercise lowers estrogen levels in obese women.
- Eat your fiber. Fibrous foods help decrease elevated estrogen levels.
- Eat veggies in the cruciferous family. These include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and bok choy. Anything green and leafy is always a good idea, too!
- Reduce your exposure to endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with our natural hormones. Avoid plastic containers, cans, or water bottles made with BPA. Never microwave plastic.
- Choose organic foods when possible, and choose phthalate-free cosmetics and personal care products.
- Consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, which uses plant-based hormones identical to those produced naturally by the human body to keep hormones balanced.
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The Link Between Your Weight And Your Hormones
Weight gain isnt just an issue associated with the food you eat or how much you exercise. It can also be affected by your hormones and vice versa. If youve noticed that youre experiencing hormonal changes and/or weight fluctuations, it might help you to discuss these issues with your doctor.
Drs. Daniel McDonald and Marc Wilson, as well as the rest of our team at OB/GYN Specialists, want you to feel comfortable and confident in your body. One of the best ways to get there is to understand how your body works, especially how many of its functions, which may seem independent of one another, are actually linked.
Can Hormone Therapy Help Lose Weight And What Type To Prefer
Can hormone therapy help lose weight when one uses creams or gels? Scientific studies have tested different forms of HRT and claimed that shots, pills, and implants cause more negative variables compared to gels and HRT cream and weight gain. Health advisors prescribe stronger variants for surgical menopause weight gain because in that case, the body lacks organs that produce reproductive hormones. If a person wants to relieve some symptoms, one can turn to hormonal forms which give fewer negative reactions like creams, gels, and pessaries.
Clinical trials state that bioidentical hormone therapy for weight loss is safer compared to the traditional one. Such hormones are native to the human body because their composition is identical. The organism does not reject them and is more likely to cope with problems initiated by the transition period. Studies also assure the beneficial influence of bioidentical hormone therapy for weight loss. Can hormone replacement therapy help you lose weight? Yes, but only when treatment unites professionals, unique approach to medication, and the most suitable form of hormones with the right dosage.
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Understand Hormonal Weight Gain And What You Can Do To Lose It
Did you know there is a direct link between your hormones and your weight? This often slips our minds when were traveling the long and difficult road of weight loss. Our bodies need a delicate balance of hormones to maintain a healthy weight for our body makeup.
Its important to have a clear understanding of how your hormones work so you can lose weight and keep it off. Once you recognize the relationship between weight gain and hormones, you can balance your hormones and lose weight healthily and efficiently.
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How Hormones Affect Weight Loss And Retention
Hormones are chemicals within the body that are produced by the endocrine systems glands. These hormones travel throughout the body to the proper organs, systems, and tissues to deliver messages telling systems within the body what to do and when.
Research has shown that as we age, there are changes in hormones that occur naturally for example, an endocrine tissue may produce less of its hormone than it did at a younger age, or it may produce the same amount at a slower rate. This is followed by a drop in progesterone, DHEA, parathyroid hormone, and calcitonin. Without the right balance of hormones, your body loses the ability to regulate the processes that lead to weight loss. This results in a slower metabolism, an increase in abdominal fat, and less energy for exercise.
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