Increased Waist Circumference Possibly Due To Hormones

Increased Waist Circumference Possibly Due To Hormones

Some people feel that exercising and adjusting their diet does not reduce their waist circumference. Especially with age. This is because changes in hormone levels interfere with belly fat management as you age.

Postmenopausal women, especially hormonal changes in weight, make weight management difficult. A study by the Swiss team published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that postmenopausal women who received hormone replacement therapy had lower levels of abdominal fat than women who did not. This means that hormone levels and body fat are related.

This doesn't mean that people with fat belly should be treated with hormones. Before receiving hospital treatment, it is a good idea to first try to manage it in a way that you can practice in your life. Adjusting blood sugar and insulin levels through diet management, etc., makes belly fat management easier.

So how do you know if the increased waist mass is due to eating or drinking, or a more fundamental cause such as hormone levels?

◆ Waist circumference that increases with an adequate amount of meal

The amount of meal you eat is the same, but if you suddenly start to abdomen at some point, there may be an increase in your abdominal fat due to hormonal changes. As you age, your body becomes more insulin resistant, which makes your body choose to store fat rather than burn it. In particular, post-menopausal women tend to easily increase abdominal obesity due to increased insulin resistance due to estrogen dominance.

◆ Increased appetite and difficult to control diet

Increased insulin resistance also has an effect on the level of the appetite suppressant hormone'leptin'. Leptin sends a warning signal to your body that your belly is full. However, as insulin concentration increases, the leptin concentration also increases, which decreases the function of the leptin receptor and prevents the signal of fullness from being properly transmitted to the brain. As a result, there is no signal to signal when it is time to stop eating, so you eat more food.

◆ Severe emotional relief

Estrogen levels often fluctuate before and after menopause, which leads to emotional relief problems and causes weight gain. Women have a higher risk of developing emotional disorders than men, as reproductive cycles and postmenopausal transitions cause changes in hormone levels. This is why depression, anxiety, etc. appear before and after menopause. In this period, if you blame yourself for the increase in weight and belly fat, your emotional disorder may deepen, so it is better to improve your eating habits and exercise habits with a more relaxed mind rather than blaming yourself.

◆ Continued stress

Another factor that promotes hormone-related increased belly fat is the stress hormone'cortisol'. When stress levels increase due to anxiety and depression, our body enters the survival mode and stores more fat in the body.

◆ Insomnia that persists even though you are tired

If you are tired and are unable to fall asleep, you may be affected by hormones. Lack of sleep, fatigue, stress, and insomnia are problems that can be caused by changes in hormone levels. As cortisol levels increase, thyroid hormone levels drop, which leads to weight gain.

◆ How to overcome weight gain due to hormonal changes?

To prevent weight gain caused by hormonal imbalance, you should improve your overall lifestyle. First of all, it is necessary to change the eating habits of including fresh and healthy vegetables in the daily diet in a state where the consumption of sugar, alcohol, and gluten is stopped or minimized. It's also helpful to have a moderate intensity workout or a steady workout for a short period of time. This improves your sleep quality and reduces the habit of overeating, making it easier to manage your weight.