Many women find they gain weight, especially around their waist and tummies, as they enter the perimenopause or menopause. We all change as we age and what ‘worked’ for you in terms of eating when you were younger may no longer work in mid-life.

Your diet (what and how you eat) may need to change to reduce excess fat and optimise your health for the future.

Our bodies change as our hormones change

Many things happen inside our bodies as oestrogen declines as all cells have oestrogen receptors and this is why the range of menopause symptoms is so large. There is almost no part of our bodies that isn’t affected by the menopause!

Testosterone also decreases with age, in both men and women, which causes a reduction in lean body mass, lower energy and a slower metabolism.

The main changes that affect weight, body shape and are relevant to nutrition are shown below.

We can become more insulin resistant

Insulin is the key hormone balancing our blood sugar and usage of glucose or fat for fuel. Oestrogen improves insulin sensitivity, meaning we are able to keep blood sugar levels low and our cells readily get all the energy they need, calling on our fat stores as required.

As oestrogen levels decline with age we become less good at dealing with sugar and carbohydrates in our diets.

If we have too much of these coming in via what we eat, insulin resistance can build up leading to more fat being stored in our bodies, typically around our middle. The body shape changes often experienced in the menopause can be like puberty in reverse, with a thickening waist and less pronounced curves.

Declining oestrogen levels can encourage more belly fat

Our body tries to help compensate for the declining oestrogen levels experienced in the menopause by producing more visceral, belly fat as these type of fat cells produce some oestrogen.

But this is a different type of oestrogen, called estrone, that is not our friend as it is pro-inflammatory. This is also the hormone responsible for man boobs in overweight men!

Oestradiol is produced in women of childbearing age, mostly by the ovaries and is anti-inflammatory. Interestingly women who take HRT are less likely to die of covid and autoimmune diseases are more common in women in their 40s and 50s, due to this declining anti-inflammatory effect.

Nurturing yourself

Middle age is a time of life when it is even more important to eat well, limiting your intake of sugar, carbohydrate and ultra-processed, junk foods. Summarised in my mantra of ‘eat real food’. Natural human food our bodies evolved to thrive on.

It is never too late to make positive changes that will help you be as healthy as possible, and minimise excess fat, by nurturing yourself with a nutritious diet.

Good nutrition for the menopause

The core principles of good nutrition at any age apply for mid and later life, but there are few things to double down on, that may not have been so important when you were younger.

Eating well can really help you through this period of change and build up good habits to help you have a healthy rest of life.

Lifestyle friends and foes

As well as what you eat there are other things that can derail the positive impact of a healthy diet, collectively bundled together under the term ‘lifestyle’. When I work with clients in my coaching practice we discuss all of these critical areas as well as reviewing their diets.

Do get in touch if you want to discuss where you are in your menopause journey and potential changes you could consider making to what you eat, how you eat and your lifestyle, to maintain a healthy weight and look after your future health.