Many studies have been done to determine what effect aging and menopause have on women. Middle-aged women not only experience hormonal changes, but the side effect can sometimes be extra fat in the abdominal area. The aging process, genetic factors, lifestyle changes, and dietary changes are all factors in this dreaded seemingly sudden weight gain. As in life, there are certain factors that can be controlled and others that cannot. The trick is to work with what you can change, to get the desired result.

Middle-aged women may experience a drop in estrogen level. Estrogen refers to three different sex hormones. Estrone, estriol, and estradiol are steroid hormones made from cholesterol, which form estrogen. It is produced by the ovaries, and its function is to stimulate ovulation. Estrogen affects the development and health of the reproductive system, as well as breast tissue. Middle-aged women experiencing perimenopause and menopause produce less estrogen. The body tries to make up for the decrease in estrogen by producing more from the fat cells. In order for cells to produce more estrogen, cells must store more fat, which slows down the body’s metabolism, leading to weight gain. When the body’s metabolism slows down, fat cells are not converted to energy as quickly and fat is stored in the cells. When you lose weight, you lose estrogen, and your body gets an alert that it needs to make more, starting the cycle all over again. That is why it is so difficult to maintain weight while dieting.

Weight loss also creates a fluctuation in the levels of other hormones like leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals to your brain, indicating that you’re full, and ghrelin stimulates hunger. Leptin will decrease with a drop in body fat percentage, while ghrelin levels will increase. So if you have less leptin, you will continue to feel hungry, and the increase in ghrelin continues to stimulate your hunger. Androgen is a hormone that also affects weight gain around the abdomen. Testosterone, a steroid from the androgen group, is the hormone that helps build lean muscle and increases metabolism. With weight loss, this hormone also decreases. Muscle mass decreases and the rate at which fat is converted to energy decreases due to lower testosterone levels. These hormone levels continue to fluctuate even a year after losing weight, so it’s important to maintain your dietary habits to prevent weight gain again.

Fat cells form a very complex tissue, to coordinate fat storage and regulate metabolic processes. These cells secrete hormones and proteins, regulate the reproductive system, and tell the body when it is time to make more, to maintain a constant number in the body. When you lose weight, you don’t reduce the number of fat cells, you just reduce their size. When fat cells shrink, triglycerides are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. Fatty acids and glycerols are absorbed by the liver, kidneys, and muscles. They break down further to produce energy for your body. The number of fat cells in your body is set during puberty. The more calories you burn, the more your body uses fat cells for energy. Therefore, reducing fat cells is the goal of any weight loss program. Then you have to deal with fluctuating hormones, which tell your brain that you’re still hungry.

The middle-aged woman’s bulge is not just a vanity concern. It has very pronounced effects on the body. Increased belly fat can lead to heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Metabolism slows with age, and that’s a normal aging process. Genetic predisposition to obesity is also a factor, so hormones cannot be said to exclusively cause midlife weight gain. However, it is a factor to consider, and while hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is available, it has been found to have potentially dangerous side effects. Many of the studies done suggest that long-term treatments are necessary to counteract the changes in hormones and reduce appetite. It seems that the best way to lose the extra pounds is with a sustainable lifestyle, physical activity and a healthy diet.