Hormonal heath and a healthy waistline link in complex ways. The balance of your hormones helps you have a healthy waistline. Hormones exert control of lean body mass vs amount and location adipose (fat) tissue, balance hormones to control waistline.
Hormones exert majority control the amount of lean mass and muscle vs amount and location adipose (fat) tissue.
An enlarging waist to hip ratio regardless of’ BMI, is correlated with poorer health, especially increased cardiovascular disease. Central obesity, as measured by waist circumference (men – greater than 40 inches [102 cm]; women – greater than 35 inches [89 cm]) confers extra heart disease risk..
BMI Alone is Not Enough To Predict Mortality Risks
BMI is weight relative to your height, regardless of gender or age. Gaining muscle adversely affects your BMI even though you may be getting both leaner and healthier! Gaining fat adversely affects BMI and your body shape. Added fat added to the deep organs of our abdomen is the least healthy. Just measuring the waist or measuring how your waist changes relative to your heart has traditionally been a good measure of your heart health.
Having a healthy waist to hip ratio and a low amount of fat around our inner organs is what we you like to see for the best health. Now there’s a new way to measure it called the SAD (sagittal abdominal height) or just the ‘abdominal height’. Its the measure of your abdominal thickness when you are laying down! To accurately measure your waist lay down on your back. Your best waistline measurement in this position about 3 fingers above your hipline.
Hormones are a more important factor when progressing thru perimenopause to post menopause induces signs of imbalance including poor sleep, fatigue, and both of those factors contribute to change in fat to muscle ratio in our body. It is especially important in perimenopause and postmenopause consider the balance of your hormones helps you have a healthy waistline. Some French Canadians realized subtle impairment to the metabolism seems to be the blame, more than the specific place you are in menopause.
In a new study young adults have increased risk of dying if their BMI is over 27.5, although age 65 and greater had about the same risk until their BMI was 34.5 or greater. These researchers coined the concept of body phenotypes to accurately predict risk.
Perimenopausal Hormone Changes Can Cause Insulin Resistance Identical to Prediabetes
In a report in Menopause in the winter of 2010, Dr. Andre Lemay and co-workers discovered that abdominal fat that menopausal women report also relates to increased triglycerides and decreased high density lipoprotein cholesterol, even fasting insulin levels were noted to be elevated in this group of women. In essence these women have some of the features of metabolism as those who are pre-diabetics.
Prediabetes can be measured a number of ways. Hba1c of greater than 5.6 and less than 6.5 indicates prediabes. A large percent of women with the abnormal Hba1c levels have significant insulin resistance. Fasting insulin level identifies those with insulin resistance and can be used to have a positive intervention on your diet.
Helpful interventions include taking diabetes medication, exercising more, exercising differently, controlling your hormones, and eating a fairly strict diabetic diet.
Conditions Such as PCOS or Your Genetics Exerts Effects on Your Waistline
PCOS suffers produce abnormal levels of hormones in their system which leads to the physiological changes causing increased weight in the waistline. We suggest following a PCOS diet.
Being Hispanic confers extra risk due to genetic predisposition to central obesity. Cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength are also important factors in predicting risk relative to your weight. For advice on how to minimize the hormonal changes that are inevitable call for an appointment at Women’s Health Practice.
