Weight Gain

An enormous percentage of women crave sugar, carbohydrates, or alcohol. In most cases, these are not true eating disorders, but, instead, are signs of hormonal imbalance.

Why am I gaining this weight?  We hear this question every day. And no wonder. Despite their best efforts, most women gain weight in perimenopause — especially around the waist and hips — even when dieting!

The aging process can bring with it a decline in your hormone levels, and changes in your physiology. Perimenopause and menopause have long been considered high-risk times for weight gain in women. It is not unusual for a woman to gain between two and five pounds during these hormonal transitions, with some women gaining even more. In the perimenopausal years a women’s body produces less estrogen and starts trying to find it in other places of the body like the skin and fat cells.  Fat cells produce estrogen so the body starts to store fat. At the same time the body is also losing testosterone (which is usually associated with men).  When women lose testosterone however, they lose their best internal fat burners; their muscle tissue and their lean body mass.  The more fat burning function the body loses the more fat is likely to be stored and the more weight is likely to be gained.  There is also a hormonally related redistribution of fat that occurs during perimenopause and menopause - a shift from peripheral to abdominal weight gain, which gives many menopausal women a more ‘apple shaped’ torso.

An apple may be good for you, but an apple figure with excess weight in the middle isn’t. The risk for heart disease rises eightfold for women with diabetes and this shape. Studies show that obesity and abdominal fat gain are related to low levels of Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). Bioidentical estrogen replacement increases the body’s production of SHBG.

Along with its many proven health benefits, bioidentical hormone therapy can also help you with weight management. The most common reason women forgo synthetic hormone replacement therapy during perimenopause and menopause is a fear of weight gain. Numerous studies demonstrate that BHRT does not increase weight. In fact, research shows that women on natural bio-identical hormones gain less weight during menopause than women who are not taking bioidentical hormones.

By helping your body maintain balanced hormone levels, hormone replacement may prevent weight gain, encourage weight loss, and support your body’s insulin response, energy levels, and lipid profile. Topical, or trans dermal, androgen supplementation has been shown to reduce abdominal fat, and overall body weight in postmenopausal women.

It is a proven fact that you have to get healthy before you can lose weight. You can't lose weight to get healthy. But if you heal your body and try to balance your life, you will then find you achieve and maintain your ideal weight.  Restoring hormone levels to a well-balanced physiologic level that is individually suited to you can help your body function the way it did when you were younger. A salivary assessment of hormone levels and monitoring of your natural bio-identical hormone program can serve as an effective tool for managing weight.

BioHRT has more than one option for patients looking to lose weight. Please call us today at 480-629-8882 to find out what option may work best for you.