weight gain and menopause?
Yes, a strong interaction exists with fat and estrogen. Apart from your ovaries, fat is the second most potent manufacturer of estrogen in your body. Over-weight women get caught in a vicious cycle whereby increased body fat raises estrogen levels and then the increased estrogen instructs the body to store more food as body fat. One of progesterone’s functions is to turn fat into energy, countering the estrogenic message of ‘food-to-fat’. With the onset of menopause, many women gain 10, 15, or more pounds. Decreased progesterone with proportionately more estrogen is the reason. Estrogen promotes water retention too, while progesterone acts as a diuretic. Estrogen dominance causes lowered thyroid function conversely slowing down metabolism and therefore weight gain. Natural progesterone also normalizes weight by countering estrogen dominance. Progesterone re-sensitizes thyroid hormone receptors thereby boosting thyroid activity in the body.
