Your hormones - not your diet - can make you gain weight, say doctors

Bad eating habits and lack of exercise are not always to blame.


Eat less, move more. If we only had the discipline to do that , we would all look as beautiful as Jennifer Lopez done at 54. No? But we do not all have the discipline or the body of JLO (or very few of us do so, anyway). More than 40% of American adults are obese , according to the National Institutes of Health, and more and more Turn to drugs To try to move the needle on the scale.

Are we all lazy and addicted to Krispy Kreme donuts? Of course not. So why the hundreds of fashionable diets and training programs that burn fats that promise rapid weight loss failed so miserably to keep us thin? The answer is more complicated than you think. Read the rest to know why your hormones, not what you eat, could sabotage your weight loss goals - and what you can do about it.

Read this then: If you notice it on your nails, do your thyroid, doctors say .

Our metabolism changes as we age.

Older Woman on Scale
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If you are over 50 years old and notice the number on the rampant scale despite your diet and your exercise efforts, rest assured that you are not alone.

"As you get older, especially women, we have hit a wall; our hormones are starting to change and our metabolisms slow down and we start to put fat," explains the endocrinologist Florence Comitite , MD, the CEO of COMMITTE Centers for precision medicine & health . "As we hit our 1950s and our [menstrual] cycles stop, it is very difficult to lose weight."

You can ask your doctor to test your hormonal levels.

Doctor speaking with patient.
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If you have trouble losing weight, it is a good idea to ask your health care provider an in -depth exercise, including the test of your hormones. Committee says that doctors rarely test hormone levels, because little is taught on the balance of hormones at the school of medicine.

"When your hormones change, it can undermine your feeling of well-being and can cause aging disabilities such as weight gain, diabetes, low density, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease," said She, noting that women should have their progesterone and estrogen levels as well.

Muscle construction helps increase your metabolism.

Woman Flexing Outside
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So if we are over 50 and want to lose weight, what can we do? Weight training is a way to keep your silhouette young, says committee.

"The muscle is like the youth fountain," she explains. "This keeps you young and healthy. This is the main protection of your bones and your immune system, but it decreases with each year unless you take measures to reverse it." AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

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Hormonal supplementation can also help.

Woman Doing Hormone Replacement Therapy
SPP SAM PAYNE Photography / Shutterstock

Another possible way to maintain a healthy weight? Hormonal supplementation. "Consult a qualified specialist like an endocrinologist, a gynecologist or another qualified clinician to explore if Hormonal supplementation You suit you "" suggests Committee.

"The complement with Estradiol hormones, testosterone and progesterone will help rebalance your health," she said. And while testosterone has not yet been approved for use in women, Commites notes that "it is essential to keep muscles, lose fat and improve libido".

Diet and exercise can help you lose weight, even if your hormones are out of control.

Senior couple exercise together at home health care with dumbbells close-up
Viktoria Hnatiuk / Shutterstock

The appropriate combination of food and resistance exercise can really help you slide, explains Committee, which suggests a combination of regular strength training, eating a balanced diet and a lot of protein to keep your body to operate at its best. She suggests eating 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day.

"By [restoring our metabolism], we can reverse diabetes. We can stop heart disease in its tracks. We can reverse aging, your biological age, so you become younger even when you blow more candles on your birthday cake, "she said.


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