Here’s Why Menopause Causes Weight Gain

Menopausal weight gain is inevitable and troubling for majority of the women. It is one of the Menopause symptoms that often pushes women to seek natural remedies and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

While majority of the women start eating right, they still find it hard to lose the belly fat and menopausal weight gain that starts accumulating in the mid life years.

Some questions definitely may be coming to your mind. In this post, we are going to address all of them and more.

We will talk about whether it is normal to gain weight at menopause?

Or does menopausal weight gain denote something is wrong with your body?

And why it is so hard to lose menopausal weight gain?

What is Menopause?

Menopause is defined as the permanent end of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Most of the time, it is natural, and happens as part of the aging process.

Sometimes however, menopause can also be induced by surgery, chemotherapy, or by radiation. All of these treatments stop the ovaries from producing eggs, or in other ways artificially stop the menstrual cycle.

Menopause can be categorized into 4 different stages based on the menstrual cycle. And here’s how your weight changes during these 4 stages of life.

1. Pre menopause

This is actually the fertile phase. or reproductive years of life. It is the period of active menstruation.

Pre menopause phase lasts between the first and last menstrual cycle, a period of 30–40 years long in the life of a woman.

During the reproductive years, there are generally higher levels of estrogen in the body as compared to any other phase of life.

Subcutaneous Fat

This encourages deposition of healthy fat around the hips and thighs as subcutaneous fat. This kind of fat is not really a problem.

It contributes to having that womanly figure. If your periods are regular, then mostly your weight will be stable.

Visceral Fat

However, if you have hormone imbalance problems, then you may struggle with belly fat or visceral fat. This kind of fat is unnatural and problematic. It induces multiple metabolic health issues in a woman.

2. Perimenopause

The prefix ‘peri’ means around. It is the period close to menopause. This is a 4–11 years long period that mostly takes place around 40 years of age.

Perimenopause is marked by fluctuating estrogen levels and declining levels of progesterone. Both of these hormones are involved in the regulation of the menstrual cycle.

Belly Fat during Perimenopause

This estrogen issue now encourages storage of fat around the abdomen. Also known as visceral fat, this belly fat is metabolically active. It leads to further hormone imbalances and weight gain.

That’s why, a woman often experiences the health symptoms of Estrogen dominance (high Estrogen levels compared to Progesterone). And one of these is belly fat or menopausal weight gain.

This type of fat is not good because it increases the risk of type-2 diabetes, heart diseases, and other overweight complications.

3. Menopause

Menopause is said to have set in if a woman does not see her period for 12 consecutive months. This happens around 51 years. It is kind of one point event in the life of a woman.

4. Post menopause

After these 12 months are over, then the woman has really entered into postmenopause. The term is used interchangeably with menopause however.

During post menopausal years, a woman naturally has lower metabolism as compared to what it was during her youth.

That’s why, she naturally gains weight during post menopause.

How much weight gain is normal for Menopause?

Women have been seen to gain 2.2 kg plus or minus 4.41 kg in perimenopause. That’s a wide range, because, again, it depends on nature and nurture.

However, some hormone imbalances such as insulin resistance and high Estrogen may predispose her to excess weight gain post menopause.

This kind of weight gain is dangerous as it may lead to obesity and other metabolic problems.

This post was originally published at Medhya Herbals on Ayurvedic Remedies for Menopausal Weight Gain. Check it out!