Fat Loss and Menopause....

 Today's Post:  Thursday, 9-29-2015

 1.  Women’s experience of menopause varies incredibly in almost every way.

Some women gain fat at menopause when they weren’t fat to begin with.  Some women do not.

Some women get severe hot flashes and become irritable; and both are much milder for some women.

Some women lose their libido because for them it was hormone driven and the hormones have left.

Other women who have a libido more anchored to nerve development from favorable experiences and Kegels done on purpose or as part of their response AND who no longer have pregnancy worries have their libido go up instead.

2.  But some things tend to always happen unless women know how to prevent them.

They gain fat and do so mostly around the belly where it is most noticeable and most tends to increase heart disease risk.

Research recently found that the protections women have more than men from heart disease vanish quickly at the beginning of menopause.

And, women who aren’t doing the things that keep their bones strong or worse ARE doing the things that weaken their bones, other recent research found drop bone strength and lose breakage protection faster than women who do the reverse.

3.  The good news is there IS a great deal you can do to prevent these issues AND many of them help each of these issues at the same time!

Best of all, most of these things also tend to cause fat loss or prevent fat gain!

Many of the things that help you lose belly fat also reduce inflammation that helps you overcome the increased risk of heart disease.

Reducing inflammation also protects you against bad health effects from any excess fat you now have even before you get rid of it.

In fact, other studies show that reducing inflammation makes it safe to do even the old fashioned HRT or hormone replacement using manmade hormones. Done well it cuts the risk of both heart disease and cancer that much.

AND, there is an FDA approved bioidentical estrogen.  I’ve not seen the data; but the indications I have seen suggest:

A low or moderate dose of this plus strong inflammation reduction is very likely to be safe.

A low or moderate dose of this plus strong inflammation reduction will very likely STOP hot flashes.  

Between the estrogen and the fact that hot flashes are a kind of inflammation, this looks very likely.

A low or moderate dose of this plus strong inflammation reduction plus stopping the other causes of osteoporosis and doing the things that actually stop or prevent osteoporosis looks extremely likely to prevent bone loss or weakening.

Here are three previous posts on these subjects:

How to lose belly fat....Thursday, 9-22-2016

Lower inflammation to lose fat and stay healthy....Thursday, 9-8-2016

Prevent bone loss during menopause....Tuesday, 6-28-2016

Many of the things you can do that are in one of these are in all of them!

So, besides the bioidentical estrogen, it really helps to do them all.

4. But before cover that, there is another problem that fattens women that tend to develop about the same time as menopause begins.

It’s thyroid issues.  Because a low thyroid or even a somewhat low thyroid reduces your metabolism and energy you burn less calories 24 hours a day and because you feel you have a bit less energy, you may be less active or exercise less.

And THAT means if you eat the food that you once were free of excess fat when eating, every week you’ll get a bit fatter.

There are three cures and two of them are most effective.

a) MSG is both proven to make the people who ingest it fatter even on the same number of calories than in people who have none.

And, regular ingestion of MSG causes lower thyroid levels!

There are a number of ways to avoid it.  Eat out less and never eat at fast food places because one study found MSG in almost everything on their menu.  Only eat at Chinese restaurants that state clearly their food is free of MSG. 

The hard one is that you must read labels on everything you buy and eat that has them. 

A small handful do list MSG.  But because it is not yet mandatory to list it the most common label listing is “spices”.   And almost every mustard and ketchup and salad dressing in supermarkets has “spices” on the label!

Organicville Yellow Mustard Whole Foods carries is one of the few normal yellow mustards that only lists things that belong in a yellow mustard and does NOT have “spices” as an ingredient.

Whole Foods 365 version of Ketchup also has no “spices” in it.  But to get the normal ketchup taste without the MSG it may take blending in a tiny bit of horseradish or simply using it as a mix with the Organicville Yellow Mustard.

Virtually all commercial salad dressings contain soy oil or canola oil which cause inflammation and most have “spices” too.

Balsamic Vinegar or apple cider vinegar with a good quality extra virgin olive oil plus some spice YOU add one at a time by contrast can be exactly to your taste; does NOT boost inflammation; and has ZERO MSG.

b) If you go to a doctor who knows how to measure the exact levels of each of your forms of thyroid, you can see if any are at all low.

If so, the Armour thyroid in the correct amount will bring it back to what it should be.

(The synthetic drugs are less effective and have more undesirable side effects.)

Note that the very low level most doctors treat is even lower than the somewhat lower level that will make you fat.  So, if any of your measures are lower than high normal range, this may be causing fat gain or preventing fat loss.

Dr Mark Hyman’s work has details you can look up before you see your doctor.  I don’t list them here.  But I suggest you look up his recommendations online to take with you to see your doctor.

5.  Here’s a fast list of things that are on one or more of these approaches:

a)  Doing heavy strength training for your legs and hips twice a week is surprisingly possible for women.  Unlike their arms and shoulder which tend to be less strong than men, women are as capable in their hips and legs as men to build up to heavy weights.

The leg press on the machine with your feet in the high position on the pedal and the deadlift where you simply pick up a bar you bend your knees to grasp and then standing up and repeat—are both exercises women can do in many gyms. If you begin with what you can do at first and simply add 5 or 10 pounds a week until you can do double your bodyweight, that will work.

This helps you lose fat and keep it off because the muscle you ADD instead of losing burns three times as many calories 24 hours a day as fat!

It also has been proven to reverse mild osteoporosis by itself over 50 years ago!

b)  Completely remove all soft drinks both regular and diet and all hybrid wheat and high fructose corn syrup and any hydrogenated oil and all soy and corn oils.  Cut back to only eating real sugar in moderation a few times a month or less.

That lowers inflammation; and stops a major cause of osteoporosis; and protects your heart.  It reduces cravings for sugar foods. It will enable you to be healthier faster than you can lose fat.

But it also tends to cause fat loss with no added hunger and prevent further fat gain!

c)  Eat abundantly of organic vegetables and fruit.

d) Learn what sources of animal protein are low in omega 6 oils, the naturally fed ones; where to buy them; and only use those.

e) Use mostly extra virgin olive oil or eat avocados or if you aren’t allergic to tree nuts eat raw tree nuts in moderation.

Some butter from grass fed cows; coconut oil from sustainably harvested coconuts; and Brain Octane MCT oil is also OK in moderation.

This is a BIG subject; but between what we cover here and in the other 3 posts, you can stay leaner and feel better and stay healthier at menopause than other women do!