Lack of estrogen may also cause the body to use starches and blood sugar less effectively, which would increase fat storage and make it harder to lose weight. Other age-related factors. As women age, many other changes happen that contribute to weight gain.
Overall, a combination of lifestyle changes, such as dietary modifications, exercise, stress management, and adequate sleep, is key to reducing hormonal belly fat effectively. In some cases, hormone replacement therapy or body shaping procedures may also be considered.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle through a balanced diet, regular physical activity, proper sleep, and stress modification can help with managing and reversing hormonal weight gain and decreasing the associated health risks that may result if it is not addressed.
Hormone replacement therapy can help in many ways with your weight loss goals if you're suffering from symptoms of menopause. Several studies have found that menopausal HRT can have a big impact not only on weight loss, but also how much fat your body stores and where.
A fall in estradiol, an estrogen hormone, may lead to weight gain or difficulty losing weight. Some forms of estrogen are linked with how the body controls weight gain.
However, it may offer another benefit. During menopause, you may notice that you seem to accumulate more fat in your abdominal area. Studies show that estrogen replacement therapy may help you avoid this issue.
Many women notice an increase in belly fat as they get older even if they don't gain weight. This is likely due to a lower level of estrogen because estrogen seems to have an effect on where fat is located in the body. Genes can contribute to an individual's chances of being overweight or obese too.
The hormone leptin is produced by fat cells and is secreted into our bloodstream. Leptin reduces a person's appetite by acting on specific centres of their brain to reduce their urge to eat. It also seems to control how the body manages its store of body fat.
Low estrogen levels also change where fat is stored. It's normally stored in the thighs and hips, but when estrogen production takes a hit, fat storage shifts to visceral fat in your belly. Not only is visceral fat deeper, but it's tough to remove and increases your risk for disease.
A recent study of postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 80, found that those who took hormones had significantly lower levels of belly fat than women who did not take hormones.
“Women also become more estrogen-dominant as we move into perimenopause and beyond. Estrogen dominance promotes insulin resistance, which causes the belly fat build-up,” she says.
Leptin is the hormone that controls your appetite and tells you when you're full, and high leptin levels or leptin resistance can lead to overeating and weight gain. Ghrelin is the opposite of leptin. It tells you that you're hungry, but low ghrelin can make you feel hungrier and cause you to overeat.
You don't get usable leptin from food, and there's no evidence that specific foods help boost the hormone. But a poor diet or extra pounds may make the hormone less effective (leptin resistance). A healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise may help keep this problem at bay.
Foods that reportedly increase estrogen include flax seeds, soybean products, chocolate, fruit, nuts, chickpeas, and legumes. Before we delve into why these foods are said to increase estrogen, we need to look at two important definitions; phytoestrogens and lignans.
Genes associated with follicle growth were not significantly altered by vitamin D3. However, it increases expression of genes involved in the estrogen-biosynthesis. Further, estrogen concentrations in porcine granulosa cell-cultured media increased in response to vitamin D3.