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How Does Obesity in Menopause Affect Your Overall Health?

Learn About Menopause

Perimenopause and menopause are confusing concepts. Actually, these are two completely different stages.

For perimenopause, it is understood as the period occurring before menopause. This is the beginning to show signs of decline in the levels of estrogen and progesterone, leading to impaired ovarian function, leading to a hormonal imbalance in the body.

As for perimenopause, it is understood that at the end of the menstrual cycle, a woman will enter the menopause stage. Usually, after 12 months there is no return of menstruation, then the case will be diagnosed as menopause (except when pregnant women).

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Menopause usually begins in women 40 and older, but most people usually start menopause by the time they turn 51.

Menopause is an inevitable law of nature, but there are other causes that lead to premature menopause as follows:

Hysterectomy: When a hysterectomy will lead to no longer menstruation. With the surgical removal of one ovary, the other ovary is still able to ovulate and produce estrogen and progesterone. But in the case of surgery to remove both ovaries, the patient will fall into menopause immediately.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy: Chemotherapy and radiation are often used to kill cancer cells, but in many cases, they will cause side effects that lead to premature menopause.

Primary ovarian failure: This is also one of the typical causes of menopause because the hormone production in the ovaries does not meet the body's needs, most often due to genetic factors or autoimmune diseases.

Obesity at Menopause

When entering menopause, unlike men, women tend to store more fat, which can be seen clearly that the weight does not increase, but the amount of excess fat, especially in the abdomen, is significantly more.

Entering menopause, fat storage is mainly visceral fat. The places where excess fat is usually concentrated are the hips, and when entering menopause, more fat will appear in the abdomen.

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Visceral fat is the layer of fat found in the abdominal cavity, which tends to fill the gaps of vital abdominal organs such as the liver, intestines, and stomach.

However, these fats are often not evenly distributed, forming a layer of fat coating around the abdominal organs, also known as subcutaneous fat.

Do many people wonder what is the sign of disease fast weight gain? For premenopausal women, rapid weight gain and excessive buildup of visceral fat cause the following risks:

  • Increased insulin resistance: Increased insulin resistance is common in patients with diabetes, but when it comes to menopause, middle-aged women can still experience increased insulin resistance and effective use. the body's insulin results are reduced.
  • Fat hormone inhibitors: Causes high blood pressure, besides, blood vessels are narrower than normal.
  • Activate an inflammatory response: When visceral fat increases, the inflammatory response by cytokines in the released adipose tissue activates the inflammatory response, and the elimination of toxins in the body is also difficult.
  • Increased risk of cancer.
  • Is one of the factors that contribute to sexual dysfunction in women.

Why Do Women in Menopause Easily Obese?

Between the ages of 20 and 50, women usually increase their body weight by an average of 11kg. However, when entering menopause, many people are quite surprised because of sudden weight gain, uncontrolled weight gain process, many people worry about what is the cause when maintaining the same diet.

Explanation of the reasons why women are obese in menopause often come from the following reasons:

Due to the decline of hormones, the body's energy needs are no longer needed as much as before, which often tends to decrease, causing the accumulation of fat in the form of visceral fat.

Estrogen is responsible for increasing muscle mass, but when estrogen levels decline due to menopause age, bodyweight tends to decrease while increasing fat intake causes obesity.

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As the age increases, the functions are increasingly reduced, the metabolism will slow down, along with that the fat burning process also lasts longer.

In the case of middle-aged women who are sedentary and keep the same diet, visceral fat will increase more and less muscle mass, if eating is not strictly controlled. it causes menopausal weight gain.

This is a problem that every woman faces when entering menopause, but for those who have the habit of maintaining a regular workout, the same scientific diet weighs. Not a problem at this stage as well controlled.

How to Avoid Accumulating Belly Fat?

When entering menopause, women face many problems, not only in terms of health but also in mentality and eating habits.

Women often change temperament, get irritable, in some cases, many people often have cravings for snacking constantly, if the eating habits are not controlled, weight loss will be very difficult.

If before menopause, women can overeat but still control their weight well, when entering menopause, it is no longer the same as before, easily at risk of rapid weight gain while maintaining the diet. Drink the same way, and weight loss is often more difficult, requiring effort and perseverance in the long run.

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Menopausal obesity leads to many negative effects on the body, increasing the risk of diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis … Or, more dangerous than, breast cancer. 

Although in many cases, the amount of weight does not increase significantly or based on the formula for calculating BMI is still within the safe range, but when the waist size is too large, usually over 90cm, middle-aged women should Pay more attention to the body as well as actively reduce belly fat storage by:

Change Your Diet

As age increases, the amount of fat that has accumulated will be harder to lose. Therefore, menopausal women need to change their diet by reducing the diet less than usual, adding a variety of green vegetables, low-fat foods to the meal.

The daily calorie intake should be less than 200 calories and regular maintenance will help improve fat accumulation significantly.

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A scientific diet is very beneficial for menopausal women, such as limiting foods high in fat, fast foods, cheese …

Avoid fried foods that are too greasy, so boiled or steamed instead. Adding foods high in nutrients but low in calories is better at this stage.

Practice Mode

The older you get, the more you have to exercise regularly to limit excess fat.

Besides diet, regular exercise and exercise also need to be focused on. This is a way to help strengthen muscles, support metabolism, reduce excess fat effectively.

Simple but highly effective ways to exercise are to maintain the habit of walking every day for at least 30 minutes, preferably at a speed of 4-5km / h. Walking not only helps to burn excess fat but is also very good for health such as reducing the risk of diabetes, good for the cardiovascular system and spine.

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When there is more time, when women enter menopause, they should choose a sport suitable for their health status or exercises at home such as push-ups, rubber bands, or yoga. meditate…

If you are having difficulty changing diet and exercise, it is best to see a doctor have a health check, from which to advise on the weight loss route through diet. exercises that are suitable and most effective in each stage.

Thus, menopausal obesity is a major risk many people face when there are no preparation and unreasonable eating and living habits over time.

Understanding the causes and harms of menopausal obesity is an extremely essential job from which to change the bodyweight accordingly, helping menopausal women to protect their health and improve their health.

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The site cannot and does not contain medical advice. The medical information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information. We encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals.