Menopause has a bad rap—and topping the list of reasons, for many women, is the average 1.5 extra pounds gained each year throughout a woman’s 50s—much of it in the form of stubborn belly fat. “Menopause is associated with increased weight gain in the midsection and visceral adiposity—the term for when fat is distributed around the organs—along with a reduction of muscle mass,” Dr.
Jolene Brighten , a Florida-based naturopathic endocrinologist and author of Is This Normal? , tells Fortune . “In general, aging can be behind the increase in central fat distribution, but the loss of estrogen is strongly associated with this change in body composition.” The additional weight gain can also be due to changes in testosterone levels, diminished sleep , and muscle atrophy, says Brighten.
Those changes “could potentially cause things like cortisol and insulin to spike,” Dr. Karen Tang, a Philadelphia-based gynecologist with 460,000 TikTok followers , tells Fortune . And both can cause problems with weight gain and increased cravings, while cortisol, specifically, is associated with having more fat deposit in the abdomen.
“You also have a higher risk of things like insulin resistance and diabetes, which can sometimes contribute to some of the fat deposits,” she says. Further, explains Tang, also a menopause spokesperson for Centrum, the big change can create hormone-related bloating symptoms, including water weight gain. But the additional visceral fat that you.