We have a lot of female clients in their 40s and 50s. A lot. And a lot of those ladies frequently complain “what used to work for me in my 20s and 30s doesn’t work anymore. My hormones must be messed up.” When we assess their hormones, sure enough, they really are messed up (frequently, but not always).

As I outlined in my article on professional development, my approach is very client-centered. So if lots of my clients have hormonal issues, I’ll do a lot of reading on hormonal issues. The latest book I re-read on the topic (I originally read it for the first time in 2010) is called “Women, Weight and Hormones”, by Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet.

Original source: here.

            I took 8 pages worth of notes on this book, but in this article, I’ll give you the highlights, so as not to bore you with technical information.

And hey, if you just want to skip everything, and apply the information directly to you, you can fill out this questionnaire, to see if you qualify to work with us.

Without further ado, here are some points I thought you’d find interesting:

 

  • There are more women than men with diabetes, and the complications of diabetes are more severe in women, compared to men.
  • Women gain weight when they are depressed, and men lose weight (exceptions exist, but this is the general tendency)
  • The ratio of estrogen to progesterone to testosterone determines where in your body fat is gained.
    • If testosterone is high relative to estrogen, fat is gained mostly in the midsection
    • If estrogen is high relative to progesterone, fat is gained in the buns and thighs
    • We do these measurements anyway to figure out what does the location of body fat tell us about your hormonal profile. That’s called “biosignature”. So we can see what’s happening, on an even deeper level.
  • There are 3 different types of estrogen:
    • 17-beta estradiol. This is the primary estrogen present before menopause. It decreases a lot during and after menopause. With its decrease come symptoms like depression, irritability, poor sleep, and a difficulty losing fat.
    • Estrone. This is produced for the entire life, but has lower potency compared to estradiol.
    • Estriol. This is only produced during pregnancy.
  • Progesterone prepares the woman’s body for pregnancy, whether she gets pregnant or not. What does that involve?
    • Food cravings, so that you can feed the potential human inside you.
    • Slowing down the passage of food through the digestive tract, so that your body can extract extra nutrients from it (and yes, that means calories as well)
    • Bloating.
    • Ligaments loosen in preparation for childbirth (again, regardless of whether there’s actual pregnancy or not), so risk of injuries is increased if progresterone is high.
    • I write about this in much greater detail in my article on the Biochemical Differences Between Men and Women.
  • Testosterone also decreases by more than 50% during menopause, which decreases muscle mass and bone mass.
  • Women have the most physical strength when estrogen is highest.
  • Since female hormones are cyclical, it’s important to test them multiple times throughout the cycle. A single measurement is only a snapshot of what’s happening at that moment, but doesn’t say much about what’s happening the rest of the time. However, for a woman who no longer cycles, one measurement is fine.
  • Decreased estrogen decreases the amount of time spent in Stage IV sleep, which is the most restorative stage.
  • Overweight women have higher testosterone levels, because body fat converts testosterone into estrogen
  • High testosterone in women (relative to estrogen) can cause:
    • High blood pressure
    • Restless sleep
    • Nightmares
    • Increased appetite
  • At the same time, low testosterone isn’t good either. When testosterone is low, you get:
    • Low muscle mass
    • Low bone mass
    • Depression. Testosterone is a natural anti-depressant.
  • DHEA does not have the same beneficial effects in women as it does in men.
  • The thyroid is frequently malfunctioning during menopause
  • Insulin can behave differently during the luteal phase and the follicular phase. You might be just fine in the luteal phase (estrogen-dominant phase), but you might have insulin resistance (to some degree) during the follicular phase (progesterone-dominant phase).

 

So that’s the quick version of that book. Complicated, eh? If you need help un-complicating this information, and figuring out how it applies to you, feel free to fill out this questionnaire to see if you qualify to work with us.