Exercise & Eat Right To Reduce Menopausal Weight Gain

While many women can probably attest to the fact that they gain weight after menopause, there has been some scientific debate about whether the weight gain and changes in body composition that take place during this time of life are related strictly to menopause or are just another unwanted part of aging in general.

A new research study in Chinese perimenopausal women attempted to clarify this debate.  For this menopausal body composition study, researchers collected data from 438 perimenopausal women between the ages of 44-55 years who took part in a large bone health study.  Body composition information was collected at the beginning of the study and after 9, 18, and 30 months.  Changes in body fat and lean muscle mass were compared between women who remained premenopausal, those who transitioned through menopause and women who were already in menopause at the start of the study.  The study investigators reported that:

• A decrease in lean muscle mass and an increase in total fat mass and trunk fat mass were observed overall during the 30-month follow-up period.
• Age was negatively linked to central obesity (belly fat), such that belly fat increased as the women got older.
• When the information was adjusted for age, menopause was specifically shown to be linked to a decrease in lean muscle and an increase in percent body fat and trunk fat mass.

Overall, this new body composition study showed that though aging in general is related to weight gain, the transition to menopause itself is linked to an increase in body fat, particularly belly fat.  Like many other aspects of the menopausal transition, these changes in body fat distribution have been reported to be due to the loss of estrogen during the menopausal transition.  While hormone therapy has been reported in some studies to decrease obesity in postmenopausal women, hormone therapy comes with its own set of risks.  Developing healthy diet and lifestyle habits remains the best approach to preventing or reducing the impact of menopause on body weight gain and body composition.  Eating healthy foods in appropriate portions and getting plenty of exercise are core to preventing menopausal weight gain.  Starting during the premenopausal years and developing life-long healthy habits is the best approach to maintaining a healthy body weight throughout life.

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Lose Belly Fat - Support Normal Blood Vessel Health

Just a few days ago, I mentioned the fact that excess belly fat is dangerous to our health.  These research studies have reported that excess belly fat (also called abdominal obesity) has been linked to poor heart health, poor blood sugar health, and overall mortality.  Previous studies have implied that belly fat gain might be linked to poor heart health by inducing changes in blood vessel health and the ability of blood vessels to stretch normally.  However, this potential link between belly fat and blood vessel health was unclear.

In an attempt to start better understanding the potential interaction between belly fat and normal blood vessel health, heart health researchers examined changes in blood vessel health during a short-term belly fat study (free to download).  For this study, the investigators recruited 43 healthy volunteers with a normal body weight and assigned them to either (1) maintain their weight for 16 weeks or to (2) gain weight for 8 weeks and then lose weight during a second 8-week period.  Changes in the ability of arm blood vessels to stretch and relax were measured at the beginning of the study, after weight gain and at the end of the study.  The heart health researchers reported that:

• Volunteers assigned to gain weight gained about 9 lbs on average over 8 weeks with over 80% of the weight gained as fat.
• In study volunteers that were asked to maintain their body weight, blood vessel health remained normal and unchanged.
• Volunteers who gained weight and belly fat developed poorer blood vessel health with substantial loss of blood vessel stretchability.
• Weight loss after the short-term weight gain resulted in a return to normal blood vessel health.

This is a fascinating study indicating the importance of maintaining a normal body weight or losing excess belly fat  for the support of normal blood vessel health.  According to these current study results, even a modest belly fat gain like seen during vacations or around the holidays can negatively impact blood vessel health.  Fortunately, losing this excess belly fat helped support normal blood vessel health.  While this study shows the possible impact of belly fat on normal blood vessel health, it also raises some interesting questions that will likely be the focus of future research studies.  For example, what happens to normal blood vessel health during long-term (over several years) weight gain, which is typical in many of us?  Also, can losing weight after years of carrying around excess belly fat still help with the support of normal blood vessel health and if so, to what extent?  And, how does weight cycling effect normal blood vessel health.  I look forward to seeing the answers to these types of questions in the future.

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Reduce Children's Obesity Risk - Control Pregnancy Weight Gain

Numerous obesity research studies have reported that weight gain during pregnancy and birth weight are both linked to one's risk for becoming overweight or obese during both childhood and as an adult.  However, it has been unclear if these links between obesity risk and pregnancy weight gain and birth weight are confounded by genetic factors.

In an attempt to clarify the associations between future obesity risk, birth weight, and weight gain during pregnancy, researchers from the Children's Hospital Boston and Columbia University teamed together to conduct a population-based study of pregnancy weight gain and birth weight.  For this study, obesity researchers analyzed vital statistics birth records from over 500,000 women and over 1 million births. Analysis of the information in these records showed:

• A consistent relationship between greater weight gains during pregnancy and greater birth weights
• Women who gained more than about 53 lbs during their pregnancy had heavier babies than women who gained only 18-22 lbs.
• Gaining more than 53 lbs during pregnancy more than doubled a woman's chances of giving birth to a baby weighing more than 8 lbs 13 oz.

By using such a large population, the researchers were able to omit factors that might have altered the impact of pregnancy weight gain on birth weight like short or long pregnancy lengths, maternal diabetes, and more.  By reducing these potentially interfering factors, these researchers showed that excessive weight gain during pregnancy directly effects birth weight.  This is important because previous research has shown that a large birth weight substantially increases a person's risk for obesity both as a child and later in life as an adult.  In fact, some studies have reported that a birth weight of more than 8 lbs increases a person's risk for obesity by about 50-70%!

Therefore, it is important to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight gain during pregnancy.  The following tips from the Weight-Control Information Network might help prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy:

• Consume only about 300 more calories per day than normal during the last 6 months of pregnancy.  For normal weight women, this would equal about 1,900 - 2,500 total calories per day
• Eat breakfast every day
• Be sure to include high fiber foods
• Keep healthy snacks handy
• Consider cutting back on large amounts of caffeine
• Exercise at a moderate intensity on a regular basis.

Keeping weight gain during pregnancy to a healthy level is an important step for reducing childhood and adult obesity.

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High Fat, Energy Dense Foods Can Be Addictive

Our dietary habits are influenced by many, many factors.  Among those factors are the availability and palatability of food.  New obesity research examined how the availability of high fat, energy dense foods (cheesecake, pound cake, chocolate, bacon, and sausage) affected eating behavior and brain changes in rats.

In this new study, free to read online or download, researchers divided rats into the three following dietary groups for 40 days:

1. No access to the energy dense food and fed only standard rat chow
2. Restricted access to energy dense food for 1 hour per day with access to rat chow for the rest of the time
3. Extended access to energy dense food (> 18 hours per day)

During and after this 40-day test period, rats were examined for changes in eating habits, body weight, and brain biology.  Some of the changes the researchers observed in these rats included:

• Body weight increased dramatically in the rats with extended access to energy dense food compared to the two other groups of rats.
• Caloric intake nearly doubled in the rats with extended access to energy dense foods.
• Rats given access to energy dense foods for one hour per day developed binge eating habits such that about two-thirds of their caloric intake occurred during their one hour access to the high fat foods.
• Rats given extended access to these foods consumed nearly all of their calories from these foods and nearly ignored the laboratory rat chow.
• Brain measurements of pleasure/reward from eating these energy dense foods showed that over time it took consumption of greater amounts of the food to get the same level of reward.
• The decrease in the brains ability to feel reward from consuming high fat foods was related to a decrease in the number of receptors for a specific brain chemical called dopamine.

These results suggest that unhealthy eating can become habit forming.  In fact, the researchers report in their paper that the decrease in dopamine receptors seen with eating these unhealthy foods was similar to changes seen in drug addiction.  Overall, these study data suggest a self-perpetuating process where regular, long-term consumption of high fat, energy dense foods over-stimulates the brain's reward system and reduces its ability to derive pleasure from these foods, which causes us to eat more and gain weight. In this study, binge eating habits did not appear to disrupt this system nor effect energy balance; however, it is uncertain how binge eating would have effected these systems in a longer study.  While it remains uncertain how these results translate to people, they do provide some potential insight into at least one possible cause of overeating.  These study results emphasize the need for developing healthy eating habits.  If we get into a habit of giving in to our cravings, this habit of unhealthy eating can become difficult to break over time.

Eating healthy doesn't have to be difficult.  My easy plan is a great way to start developing good eating habits and help to better manage one's weight.

Physical Activity Requirements for Maintaining Body Weight

We are all aware of the importance of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.  Getting regular exercise can help with weight loss, building muscle, supporting healthy bones and more.  The numerous benefits of exercise have been explained in good detail by places like WebMD and the Mayo Clinic.  However, the amount of exercise for which we all need to strive isn't always as clear and might vary based on our goals. 

In regards to obesity and preventing weight gain, recommendations for exercise tend to vary from about 150 minutes per week to about 420 minutes per week (60 minutes per day).  A new research study in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined the relationship between 3 different amounts of physical activity (less than 150 minutes per week, 150 - less than 420 minutes per week, and at least 420 minutes per week) and body weight changes over time.  This study was done in over 34,000 women with an average age of 54 years and consuming a usual diet.  The results of this study showed:

• Over an average of 3 years follow-up, all three groups of women gained weight over time, but weight gain was less in the group exercising at least 60 minutes per day.
• Women exercising less than 150 minutes per week were 11% more likely to gain 5 lbs over the 3 year follow-up, while women exercising between 150-420 minutes per week were 7% more likely to gain weight.
• Body mass index (BMI) effected this relationship between exercise and weight gain prevention such that only women with a normal BMI (< 25) were able to prevent weight gain with higher levels of physical activity.
• Among women who successfully maintained their weight over the long term, the average amount of physical activity was 420 minutes per week (60 minutes per day).

These are interesting results that might impact future guidelines for physical activity in regards to maintaining a healthy body weight.  Based on this study, women who are at a healthy body weight will need to participate in moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes per day in order to maintain their body weight over time.  Interestingly, this level of physical activity had no benefit in regards to weight maintenance in women who were overweight at the beginning of the study or who were over 65 years of age.  It is important to remember that this study was done in women following their normal dietary habits, so it might be necessary for some women to not only increase their physical activity, but also to modify their eating habits to prevent further weight gain over time.  The lead author discusses this study in the JAMA video below.



Finding your right combination of healthy eating and physical activity is an important part of developing a healthy lifestyle.  My easy diet plan is a great place to start!