Diet & Lifestyle

It is a common concern of women that HRT will make them gain weight but there is no evidence that HRT leads to weight gain. In fact HRT can have a positive impact on weight and metabolism. A small number of women will experience fluid retention which may be seen as weight gain but this often settles within 4-6 weeks.

No its not. Adding to our more sluggish metabolism in midlife is the fact that around the menopause women become less sensitive to the energy storage hormone (insulin).  This changes the way we handle glucose in the body and causes more energy to be stored as fat. This fat is mostly stored around the middle (hence the term ‘middle aged spread’) which unfortunately is the type of weight gain that is most associated with developing high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Fat around the middle also contributes to insulin resistance and insulin resistance itself can make it more difficult to lose weight so you can see how a vicious cycle may ensue.

HRT can partly help to reverse this process and there are changes that can be made to diet that can help to improve our metabolic profile and increase overall metabolism.

Basal metabolic weight decreases as we get older- so every calorie we eat will be a little bit harder to burn off. Unfortunately this means that unless we eat less or move more we are likely to gain weight at this time.