Do you think estrogen causes belly fat? Are you worried jelly belly in inevitable. Belly fat and menopause go hand in hand for many women – but it doesn’t have to be that way.
And the confusion about the impact of estrogen on weight adds to the reluctance that many women have about taking estrogen. If you think taking estrogen will cause you to gain weight, you need to know about a recent report in the October issue of the journal Menopause by Dr. Shea and her colleagues at the University of Colorado.
The researchers studied seventy healthy women who were not in menopause to be certain that age was not a factor in weight control. All of the women received a medication to temporarily cause them to go into menopause for the duration of the study. Half were given the estrogen estradiol and the other half was given a placebo.
Neither group had a change in their Body Mass Index (BMI). But the half that took the placebo had a significant increase in belly fat and a loss of bone mass in their spines and hips, meaning their bones got thinner.
There was no change in belly fat or bone thickness in the half that received the estradiol. So if you are thinking of estrogen but avoiding it because you may gain weight, think again. And that’s the skinny on estrogen and belly fat.
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