What To Eat And Why
The first thing women should do is to take a look at the foods that make up their diet.
âMany factors influence how a personâs body responds to different foods and dietary patterns, such as genetics, underlying health conditions, weight history, gut bacteria and more,â said Emily A. Callahan, a registered dietician nutritionist and member of HealthyWomenâs Womenâs Health Advisory Council. âThat said, some research has examined how certain foods may contribute to weight gain.â
A 2011 study from Harvard University confirmed what most people already knew: Starchy foods such as French fries and potatoes, refined grains, like cereal and cookies, and sugary drinks lead to increased weight gain.
âThat doesnât mean that these foods have to be completely avoided, but itâs a good idea to limit how often you eat them and keep portion sizes small if you do,â Callahan said. âDietary patterns that emphasize whole grains, fruits, and vegetables seem to protect against weight gain.â
Callahan says itâs a good idea to check out the USDAâs Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association for suggestions on what to eat. Both emphasize plant-based foods including fruit, legumes, nuts, whole grains, plus lean protein and fish.
âOne of the key messages from the Dietary Guidelines is to make half of your plate fruits and veggies, which I think is an easy visual cue that can help people reap all the benefits of these foods,â Callahan said.
Can Hormone Balance Supplements Help Lose Weight
Yes, hormone balance supplements can help you lose hormone imbalance related weight by regulating hormones such as estrogen, insulin, cortisol, and thyroid. If any of these hormones is out of whack, you may experience weight gain. By rebalancing these hormones through hormone balance supplements, you can tackle the excess weight.
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Are Midlife Women Doomed To Gain Weight
by The North American Menopause Society
Weight gain is a common complaint of midlife women, with more than two-thirds of midlife US women being over the ideal weight threshold. Aging-related metabolic changes promote weight gain in both sexes, but women face additional challenges because of menopause. A presentation at The North American Menopause Society Annual Meeting in Atlanta, October 12-15, will discuss the effect of age and menopause and strategies for managing weight.
It is a simple fact of lifethe human body’s metabolic rate drops with age because of a loss of muscle mass and reduced activity in the brown adipose tissue. Sleep disturbances and mood disorders, possibly related to the menopause transition, can additionally interfere with the adoption of healthy lifestyles, further promoting weight gain.
The loss of ovarian hormones after menopause leads to altered body composition, with reduction in lean body mass and an increase in visceral fat mass. In addition, menopause-related alterations in the gut microbiome can promote midlife weight gain.
All this added weight can worsen hot flashes while increasing a woman’s risk of cardiometabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and coronary artery disease. Obesity also increases the risk of cancer in women, including breast and endometrial cancer.
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Hormones And Weight Gain: How To Fix The Hormones That Control Your Weight
Did you know that your weight is directly related to your hormones? This is a fact many of us forget as we travel along the often slow and frustrating road to weight loss. To maintain a weight thats healthy for our unique bodily makeup, a delicate balance of hormones is required. If certain hormones are off-kilter, weight gain often results.
In order to lose weight and keep it off we must understand the intricate inner workings of our many hormones. Once we understand the relationship between hormones and weight gain, we can take the proper steps to balance these hormones and lose weight in a sustainable, healthy way.
Want To Learn More About Your Weight And Hormones
To make an appointment with Drs. McDonald or Wilson at OB/GYN Specialists, call 940-202-0566 today. You can also send us a message here on our website.
Our Denton, Texas, office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5pm to offer our patients the chance to ask questions, get informed, and start living the lives they most desire.
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Good Exercise Choices After Menopause
What types of exercise can best help you lose and maintain weight after menopause?
- Strength training, or a weight-resistance exercise program, helps build muscle mass and improve metabolism. Strength training also helps you maintain bone mass. Because you lose muscle mass as you age, add strength training to your workouts, if you haven’t before. Aim for two or three times a week. Examples of strength training include weight machines, dumbbells, exercise bands, yoga, and gardening.
- Low-impact aerobics are good for your heart and lungs. Walking, for example, is one of the best choices, because you can do it anywhere, anytime. Other examples of aerobic exercises include swimming, cycling, aerobics, tennis, and dance. Exercise moderately for at least 30 minutes most, if not all, days of the week.
- Whenever you can, add activity to your day. Wash the car, play hide and seek with your kids or grandchildren, get in a game of ping pong, etc.
Youre Not Eating Your Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables are in the Brassica vegetable family and include Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, bok choy, broccoli, and other similar green vegetables. Not only are they good for you because of the feeling of fullness you get from the fiber, but theyre also good for estrogen metabolism through a compound called indole-3-carbinol . It is a natural source of DIM that helps promote estrogen balance AND helps clear the body of the toxic xenoestrogens we pick up from the environment. This is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to get your hormones and your weight in balance.
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Excessive Hair Growth In Women
Excessive and coarse hair growth is a hormonal issue faced specifically by women. It occurs when there are high levels of androgens in the body. Even though women naturally produce androgens, as men do estrogen, the amounts are much lower.
PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome is a hormonal imbalance condition that causes womens bodies to produce far too many androgens. Fluctuating hormones during menopause can also trigger hirsutism and hormonal weight gain.
/65 Hormones That Are Related To Weight Gain And How To Maintain Them
Hormonal imbalance can be a result of various factors, such as puberty, pregnancy or certain medication. Impacting our mental and physical health, imbalanced hormones can also lead to weight gain. And losing weight when your hormones are not in balance can even be harder. Hence, its important to keep a check on such hormones that are responsible for gaining weight. So, how you can do it and what can be done to avoid it? Following is the list of such hormones and how you can manage their levels in your body.
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Does Hormone Replacement Cause Weight Gain
You may have heard that there is a connection between testosterone pellets and weight gain. In almost all cases, this is caused by temporary water retention, which is often mistaken for weight gain.
Once your doctor has dialed in the exact amount of hormones you need, this side effect should dissipate and you should find that you feel slimmer and healthier than you did before.
If your dosage isnt right, you could experience weight gain. This is one of the reasons why its so important to receive treatment by a qualified professional and keep up with all of your follow-up appointments. Eventually, youll achieve optimal balance and reach a stable, healthy weight.
For best results, youll want to combine your hormone therapy with a healthy lifestyle that includes diet, exercise, and stress management. Doing so makes it more likely that youll eliminate all or most of your unpleasant symptoms and experience overall better well-being.
Best Supplements To Gain Weight
The best supplements to gain weight are those that boost your calories intake while driving up muscle energy and protein availability. These include:
- Mass gainers or weight gainer supplements
- Protein, granola, and weight gain bars
Were going to go through each of these categories, why theyre useful to support your weight gain, and which are the best examples on the market.
This should give you some idea how to build a simple muscle growth stack, using a few of these dietary supplements to build the best bulking diet.
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Supplements To Balance Hormones
6. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is known to reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms. Taking this supplement can help alleviate the hot flashes and night sweats that result from menopause.
Additionally, vitamin E has natural antioxidants that can help relieve stress for all women, so for menopausal women this helps with insomnia.
7. Vitamin B3 Niacin
Another vitamin that helps aid stress and promotes sleep is Niacin, one of the B-complex vitamins. Vitamin B3 relaxes muscle tissue, promoting blood flow by widening the arteries this reduces blood pressure, and thereby, stress.
This reduced blood pressure and muscle relaxation also mean that Niacin can help reduce depression and anxiety, which are possible hormonal imbalance symptoms.
8. Vitamin B6
Another vitamin in the B-family that helps with hormones is vitamin B6. It is particularly useful with PMS symptoms, such as irritability, low energy, and mood swings.
Certain neurotransmitters in the brain impact these moods and symptoms, and vitamin B6 helps to synthesize these.
9. Vitamin D
Taking a vitamin D supplement each day can help regulate insulin and blood sugar so women can experience more natural and regular hormonal cycles.
Vitamin D is known to promote thyroid health because a deficiency of vitamin D can lead to thyroid disorders.
10. Fish oil
There is always fish oil for females who are not crazy about incorporating fatty fish into their diet. Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are used in hormone production.
How Does Estrogen Contribute To Weight
High levels: High levels of estrogen can trigger the pancreas to secrete more insulin. The body cells are constantly signalled by insulin to convert sugar in the blood to energy. After some-time, the cells become resistant to these insulin signals, and the condition is called insulin resistance. Sugar is not broken down or consumed properly now. The result is high blood sugar and weight-gain. Even over-weight women and women in the first half of pregnancy are high in estrogen. While estrogen levels will normalize after child-birth, overweight women go through a vicious cycle of weight-gain and high estrogen.
Low levels: During peri-menopause and menopause, estrogen levels start to drop. Since the ovaries are no longer producing enough estrogen, the body looks at other sources of estrogen. One source is fat cells in the body. To regain the estrogen balance, the body starts converting all energy sources into fat, which leads to weight-gain, especially in the abdomen area. This is compounded by the fact that with age, metabolism and the ability to exercise also reduces. Together, this creates a vicious cycle of weight-gain and reducing estrogen, after menopause.
While normal levels of estrogen cause weight-gain in the hips and thighs before menopause, after menopause, the dropping estrogen levels lead to weight-gain in the abdomen area with fat getting accumulated in the abdominal cavity. This increase in abdomen fat increases the risk of heart attack and brain stroke.
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The Risks Of Weight Gain After Menopause
Many of the risks of weight gain are well known: high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes, to name a few. Extra fat at your waistline raises these risks more. Unfortunately, a bigger waistline is more likely after menopause. If you now have a waist measurement of more than 35 inches, it’s time to take steps to reverse this trend.
What Is Hormonal Weight Gain
Weight gain associated with underlying hormonal imbalances. For men, hormonal weight gain can be caused by high stress or cortisol levels in the body. The heightened levels of cortisol may make the body go into survival mode and induce the production of fat cells which will cause a declining metabolism to store food for later use. For women, a specific estrogen hormone called estradiol decreases at menopause helps regulate metabolism and body weight. The lower the levels of estradiol may cause weight gain. Throughout a womans life, they may notice weight gain around their hips and thighs.
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Youre Experiencing New Cravings
Hormones might cause your hormonal belly if youre experiencing some new cravings that are unusual for you, especially for sugary foods. If youre finding yourself with a constant sweet tooth, your body might be struggling with insulin resistance.
Due to your cells not properly absorbing insulin, high insulin levels will signal your body to store more fat. Elevated insulin levels can also cause increased amounts of the hormone leptin, which gives you a feeling of fullness after eating. High leptin levels combined with insulin resistance can lead you to start excessively eating sugary foods, resulting in lower belly weight gain over time.
Use The Best Exercises For Hormonal Weight Gain
The best exercises for hormonal weight gain should help you do two things: First, they should get your heart rate and metabolism going. Boosting metabolic function means that your food intake is processed much more efficiently.
Secondly, the exercises you choose as part of your hormonal imbalance treatment regime should help eliminate the excess build-up of these hormones through the liver and the brain.
As hormones return to balance, the right ones will start firing for example, exercise stimulates the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. But this also reduces your bodys stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline.
So, what should you do? Heres our list of exercises for hormonal weight management:
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How Do You Fix Hormonal Imbalance
Many health conditions that involve hormonal imbalances, such as diabetes and thyroid disease, require medical treatment.
Many nutritional supplements in stores claim to treat different hormonal imbalances, but few of them have been scientifically proven to have a beneficial effect. Its important to always talk to your healthcare provider first about taking supplements.
Aside from medical treatment, your provider may recommend certain lifestyle changes to help manage a hormonal imbalance, such as managing your stress levels and getting routine exercise.
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Is Remedies For Weight Gain Due To Hormonal Imbalance Worth It
We are, without a doubt, a disposable civilization. Were continually assaulted with ads advertising the latest and greatest remedies for weight gain due to hormonal imbalance. But are they remedies for weight gain due to hormonal imbalance worth our money? Some of them are if you pick wisely! Some, not so much.
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Youre Not Getting Enough Vitamin D
Possibly due to our awareness of skin cancer and the use of sunscreen, our levels of vitamin D are lower than they were decades ago. Not to mention that we are spending more time working indoors in front of computers, or exercising inside vs. in the great outdoors. Vitamin D, synthesized by the action of sunlight upon the skin, is converted to a vital hormone in our bodies, and deficiency has been linked to allergies including food allergies, asthma, weight gain, fatigue, diabetes, and even cancer. Vitamin D levels can be tested through your provider with our Weight Management Profile and if testing uncovers a deficiency, supplemental vitamin D is cheap and readily available.
Diet Exercise Primary Contributors To Weight
Calling hormones the true culprit behind womens weight gain isnt correct, according to Susan Davis, a professor of Chronic Disease & Aging at Monash University in Australia.
If they were, Davis said, everyone would be fat. Instead, she said diet is the primary culprit.
According to the National Institutes of Health, people gain weight when they take in more calories than they burn, and this imbalance is the greatest contributor to weight gain.
Davis added that diet is a crucial part of weight loss, as exercise alone doesnt always burn calories at the rate some might expect.
Twenty minutes of exercise is a glass of orange juice and three hours of exercise is a Big Mac, Davis said. And most people who eat a Big Mac don’t go out and do three hours of sustained exercise to follow that.
That isnt to say exercise is ineffective.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, physical activity is one of the most important things a person can do to improve their health. Regular physical activity is also associated with reduced weight gain and weight loss especially when combined with reduced calorie intake.”
Davis recommends those who try to lose weight do so slowly. For example, she said someone can think of one thing they eat on most days, and then cut that out of their diet.
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How Is Hormonal Weight Gain Diagnosed
An evaluation with an endocrinologist can help determine if a hormonal condition is the underlying cause of weight gain. Declining estrogen, adrenal disorders, hormonal resistance, thyroid imbalance, and several other hormonal imbalances can lead to weight gain. Laboratory tests give endocrinologists insight to hormonal imbalances when combined with your symptoms and presentation, but it doesnt always tell the whole story. Blood and urine results can be influenced by many things. For this reason, we suggest special evaluations to see how metabolic information relates to the lab data.