2024-02-12 02:26:41
11/02/2024
In the various debates regarding the privileges of men and women, there is always a heated discussion regarding the excessive way in which women must take care of our bodies, mainly due to cultural factors. This time, science might side with this hypothesis, but not for the same superficial reasons.
It turns out that women should take better care of our bodies, since it has been scientifically proven that upon reaching menopause there is a greater risk of gaining weight and suffering from obesity.
In fact, these risks appear much earlier, when we enter the perimenopause stage, which is the transition to menopause; This is when we must take care of ourselves the most to prevent obesity and other related diseases that arise, such as the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea, among other diagnoses.
According to figures from a report carried out by the Spanish Association for the Study of Menopause, in which 1,750 women were surveyed, 8.3% were perimenopausal, that is, they had an irregular menstrual cycle, and although they menstruated less than a year ago, year, they present characteristic symptoms of menopause such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes, chills, night sweats, etc.
Daniela Hurtado Andrade, endocrinologist and obesity expert at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, spoke with EL COLOMBIANO regarding the importance of women taking care of their bodies due to this natural stage that appears between 40 and 50 years of age. Although care must start long before.
“Weight changes are not only characteristic of middle age or menopause. Data has shown that weight gain begins early in adulthood. Around age 30, muscle mass begins to progressively decrease as part of the natural aging process, and this worsens in middle age due to menopause,” says Hurtado.
Everything indicates that the decrease in muscle mass – which might be diagnosed as sarcopenia – will lead to a lower metabolism, which is one of the risk factors for gaining weight. What else happens?
The transformation of the body
Cisgender women have a biological fat distribution: as they grow, it begins to lodge in the hips, a fat associated with a positive, beneficial metabolic profile. However, as we age and menopause arrives, this fat changes its distribution and lodges in other regions of the body such as the abdomen, producing what is known as abdominal or central obesity.
“As we age our body and body composition changes. When a woman goes through menopause, the loss of estrogen exacerbates the decline in muscle mass and also changes the distribution of body fat by stimulating the deposition of fat from the hips toward the abdomen. From a scientific point of view, the metabolic profile of abdominal fat is negative as it is associated with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver and metabolic complications associated with obesity,” adds the expert.
Something similar can happen even with transsexual women who started hormonal therapy with estrogens (female hormone), so they must also take care of their body at this stage.
“We do not have a good understanding of what the changes are in the body composition of trans women where testosterone is suppressed and we start hormone therapy. It is something that is being actively studied. When we put trans women on hormone therapy we try to approximate what happens in a cis woman, so, if trans women are young they will follow this plan and when they reach 50 to 55 years old, the dose of hormone therapy will be reduced and it is It is likely that due to the loss of estrogen we can see a change in body composition, a decrease in fat on the hips and more accumulation in the abdomen,” he explains.
How to take care of your weight?
A combination of good eating habits—such as consuming calcium to prevent conditions like osteopenia—and physical activity will help prevent weight gain as women age.
The expert recommends a balanced diet and reducing calories: “Studies show that between 1,400 and 1,500 calories a day can help maintain weight. I recommend diets low in carbohydrates and bad fats; consume foods high in fiber and natural products and let’s not forget regarding protein, which is what will help us prevent the loss of muscle mass. The idea is 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram.”
She emphasizes healthy habits because several people have unhealthy lifestyle habits and it is small details of everyday life that affect health.
“For example, the abundance of processed foods high in sugar and fat; technology, such as escalators, elevators and vehicles, that allow people to get from one place to another without the need to walk and the difficulty of disconnecting from devices that keep people connected to work and sedentary for longer , with less time dedicated to physical activity,” says the endocrinologist.
Hurtado notes that both cardiovascular and resistance exercise are beneficial, but in order not to lose muscle mass it is more advisable to dedicate yourself to resistance exercise and thus maintain muscle strength. “The best option is a combination of both exercises.”
Finally, we must also focus attention on mental health, since with these types of goals it is important to be clear regarding why I want to maintain an adequate weight and not get carried away by frustration. You have to be patient and persevere.
“Many want to reach a weight on the scale, but as a doctor I always encourage them to think beyond that number; I can give them motivation so that they no longer have pain in their knees, hips, and to exercise more.”
Could I lose weight instead of gain?
Is there an option for the opposite to happen, for the woman to lose weight at this stage? “It’s an interesting question. It is not something that we see at the population level, the trend is towards weight gain, but when one ages they lose muscle mass, which weighs more than fat mass. I have seen patients who are losing muscle mass, gain fat mass and feel that their clothes are tighter but the weight has not changed, that is because muscle mass is lost and that compensates for it. You don’t lose weight, but your measurements are affected.”
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