Читать книгу Menopause Without Weight Gain: The 5 Step Solution to Challenge Your Changing Hormones - Debra Waterhouse - Страница 18

If you are on the Pill or on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), another variable is added to the mystery of midlife weight gain.

Some women are on birth control pills to prevent pregnancy or add a little extra oestrogen during the transition (the Pill is sometimes recommended before HRT). That little extra oestrogen can cause a 1 to 2 per cent increase in body fat. If you’ve been on the Pill for years, you’ve already gained the fat associated with its use. But, if you’ve just started oral contraceptives, you can expect some increased fat in the buttocks, hips and thighs.

With HRT, the extra oestrogen can also cause storage in the lower body. Some studies have found that women on HRT gain more weight and body fat; others found no significant difference in the amount of weight gained, but a difference in where it was gained. Women on HRT gained more fat in the lower body because oestrogen feeds the fat cells of the buttocks, hips and thighs. In fact, a group of European researchers found that thigh storage increased by 50 per cent with HRT. This may not sound desirable to you, but larger thighs may be one of the reasons why HRT reduces the risk of heart disease. Being pear-shaped is good for the heart.

As one woman surmised, ‘I gained weight in the waist when I started the transition, then I went on HRT and I gained weight in the thighs. Now I have more fat everywhere!’

This woman also asked if going off HRT would lead to weight loss. Discontinuing hormone replacement might trigger some weight loss in the lower body, but it is beyond my realm of expertise to advise for or against HRT. We need to weigh the risks against the benefits, discuss the options with our GP and, if we determine that our bodies need hormone replacement to improve our quality of life, then any weight gain in the thighs will have to be accepted as part of the package.