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.
Women (and men) with high levels of estrogen experience weight gain and the inability to lose weight. Estrogen levels naturally shift during menopause, but they can also become irregular due to environmental toxins or a poor diet rich in alcohol, added sugar, and processed carbohydrates.
Estrogen dominance causes several issues in the body, but most women will find that it can be extremely difficult, and almost impossible, to lose weight as a result of estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance causes fat gain, water retention, and bloating, and puts women at a higher risk for obesity.
Estrogen May Boost Your Metabolism
Metabolism is the rate that you burn calories at. There are many factors that affect your metabolism, including age and genetics. However, there is evidence that low estrogen levels can also slow down the metabolism, which can make it harder to lose weight.
Some evidence suggests that estrogen hormone therapy increases a woman's resting metabolic rate. This might help slow weight gain. 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.
Because estrogen affects how your body distributes fat, low estrogen levels can contribute to gaining fat in your belly area. However, estrogen replacement therapy can help your body redistribute this fat to different areas on your body, rather than your abdominal area.
“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.
The hormones leptin and insulin, sex hormones and growth hormone influence our appetite, metabolism (the rate at which our body burns kilojoules for energy), and body fat distribution. People who are obese have levels of these hormones that encourage abnormal metabolism and the accumulation of body fat.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, also influences weight. High cortisol affects metabolism and may increase your risk of overeating or make weight loss more difficult.
Estrogens promote fat deposition after sexual maturation and alter the lipid profile. However, fat also increases in menopausal women, which suggests that estrogens play an important role in adipocyte differentiation.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
Studies have found that a pear-shaped body is related to excessive oestrogen. This condition is called oestrogen dominance. Too much oestrogen has been linked to fat accumulation in the abdominal area, leading to more weight at the hips and, thus, a pear-shaped body.
The high levels of estrogen in the body stresses the cells that produce insulin. This makes your body insulin-resistant and leads to high glucose levels, which in turn, causes weight gain.
Estrogen
Estrogen levels that are too high or too low can cause weight gain. High levels of estrogen in the body can irritate the cells that produce insulin in your body, making you insulin resistant and blood sugar levels rise, leading to weight gain.
When the ovaries start to produce and release (secrete) estrogen, fat in the connective tissue starts to collect. This causes the breasts to enlarge.
Leptin is a hormone produced naturally in the body that helps regulate feelings of satiety (fullness or hunger). Because of this, marketers commonly promote leptin supplements as a weight-loss aid. But these supplements don't actually contain leptin, which means they're unlikely to lead to weight loss.
That's true, but did you know there are actually six hormones that impact fat loss? This is the group I refer to as "the fat-loss six": thyroid hormones, adrenaline, glucagon, adiponectin, the androgenic hormones (DHEA and testosterone) and the growth and rejuvenation hormones (growth hormone and acetylcholine).
Additionally, improving dietary choices, increasing physical activity, getting more sleep, managing stress levels effectively, quitting smoking, and limiting alcohol are all ways to decrease and avoid hormonal weight gain.
Estrogen actions in pancreatic islet β-cells also regulate insulin secretion, nutrient homeostasis, and survival. Estrogen deficiency promotes metabolic dysfunction predisposing to obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.