Why Women Over Forty Find it so Hard to Lose Weight

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There are several reasons why women over forty find it hard to lose weight.  Many times, we lose a modest amount of weight after almost starving ourselves only to regain it in what seems to be just one meal.  I can tell you that for my own experience it seems that I lose 5-8 lbs after eating healthy for weeks only to regain it all back by going out to eat on the weekend.

There are eight important reasons why someone might be having difficulty losing weight:

Nutritional imbalances

We have been overfed and undernourished for a very long time. Many obese adults are actually malnourished. While that might sound contradictory, an abundance of calories does not necessarily deliver the nutrients that your body needs. Overeating can create nutrient deficiencies. 

Studies show these deficiencies are more widespread than you might imagine. Over 30 percent of American diets fall short in nutrients like magnesium and Vitamins C, E, and A. Over 80 percent of Americans have low Vitamin D levels. 9 out of 10 people are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids which, among other things, help cool inflammation and control blood sugar levels.

Use food as medicine and work on achieving balance in all of the systems in the body so that it functions optimally. Good nutrition is the key to your body’s natural ability to heal.

Gut Microbe Imbalances

Over 1,000 species of bugs live in our gut, and bacteria cells outnumber our own cells 10 times over. This is the microbiome – it’s the place where all these beneficial bacteria live and work within us to maintain a healthy gut.

We know that the bacteria in the gut can have profound effects on weight and metabolism, through many types of mechanisms. Some bacteria extract more energy from food, leading to weight gain, while other bacteria will extract less energy from your food, leading to weight loss. 

Some bacteria trigger inflammation leading to a leaky gut, while others are anti-inflammatory. Inflammation triggers insulin resistance and diabetes, independent of your caloric intake. Here are some things you can do to heal your gut:

  1. Eat whole, unprocessed, unrefined foods. Cut out sugar and refined carbs and increasing fiber.
  2. The majority of your plate should be vegetables and plant-based foods.  Especially high-fiber plant foods.
  3. Eat good fats (like omega-3 fats and monounsaturated fats, such as extra-virgin olive oil) will help with decreasing inflammation and help healthy gut bugs a chance to flourish.
  4. Regularly eat wild-caught fatty fish, or at least you should supplement with an essential fatty acids’ formula.  Take a strong probiotic supplement as well. This helps reduce gut inflammation while cultivating health and the growth of good bacteria.  
  5. Studies demonstrate anti-inflammatory and weight loss benefits from adding Medium Chain Triglyceride or MCT oils. Some of my favorite fats, coconut oil, and coconut butter, contains fats burning MCTs. 
  6. Add fiber-rich foods. Nuts, seeds, and a special fiber called glucomannan provide prebiotics and feed our healthy bacteria.

Inflammation and Immune Function

Science now clearly identifies chronic disease and aging as a state of inflammation. And it’s not just allergies, asthma, arthritis, or autoimmunity that are the causes of inflammation.  We now know that diabetes and obesity are inflammatory problems, as are heart disease, cancer, depression, and dementia.

Your fat cells produce inflammatory molecules that perpetuate weight gain and disease.  Other factors can trigger weight-gain inducing inflammation, independent of caloric intake. There are many other triggers for inflammation that also promote weight gain – including:

·  infections (such as viruses)

·  mold toxins

·  environmental toxins

·  food allergens (such as gluten and dairy)

· A poor-quality processed diet that is high in sugar and omega-6 refined oils, and low in fiber.

All of these trigger inflammations, which then creates insulin resistance and promotes weight gain.

Environmental Toxins

Detoxification is a natural process that occurs all the time in the body, though our personal ability to detoxify can become hindered for a variety of reasons.  In our modern world, we are exposed to a huge burden of toxins from our environment and our diet.

These toxins, including plastics, pesticides, phthalates, bisphenol A, flame retardants, metals like mercury, lead, arsenic – and any one of the 80,000 chemicals introduced into our world since the industrial revolution – have been shown to interfere with metabolism and cause weight gain even in the absence of extra calories. These environmental toxins are called obesogens

There are many mechanisms by which toxins promote weight gain – affecting your metabolism, your hormones, and your brain function. Reducing your exposure to environmental toxins is entirely possible.  





Metabolism 

Every cell in our body has hundreds to thousands of mitochondria, and they convert the oxygen you breathe and the food you eat into energy that is used as fuel for your body. When scientists talk about “metabolism”, they are often referring to mitochondria.  If your mitochondria are effective, they are burning calories and you have a fast metabolism; but if they are ineffective, they are not burning calories and you have a slow metabolism.

The greatest damage to our energy system comes from our diet. When we eat lots of sugary, processed, inflammatory foods like refined oils, or we simply consume too much food, we overload our energy factories and they become damaged.

Environmental toxins like pesticides and mercury, along with hidden infections and stress, also harm our energy systems. When unhealthy inflammatory bugs in your gut outweigh the good bugs causing inflammation (also known as oxidative stress) damages the mitochondria.  The natural act of aging and most chronic diseases– including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and dementia – are related to mitochondrial dysfunction.

To boost your mitochondria and fire up your metabolism, eat real, whole foods, avoiding flour (white foods), moving more often and faster, reducing toxic exposure, keeping a healthy gut, and taking energy-boosting nutrients. Here are my top supplements for boosting mitochondria:

·  Acetyl-L-carnitine

·  Alpha-lipoic acid

·  Coenzyme Q10

·  N-acetyl-cysteine

·  NADH

·  D-ribose

·  Resveratrol

·  Magnesium 

Hormonal Imbalances 

The hormone that has the greatest connection to weight gain and disease is insulin – specifically too much of it.

There are other hormones that are dynamically interacting every minute, which also affects your weight and health. The hormones most likely to affect your weight are thyroid, cortisol, and sex hormones. 

Thyroid

Research shows hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function affects one in five women and one in ten men. A common cause of hypothyroidism is gluten intolerance.  Other major culprits that interfere with thyroid function include pesticides and heavy metals. Your thyroid needs specific nutrients to run optimally including selenium, zinc, iodine, and omega-3 fats.

Cortisol

Stress creates hormonal responses that cause weight gain and insulin resistance. Cortisol is an adrenal hormone that helps you to run faster, see further, hear better, and pump fuel into your bloodstream for quick energy. It is the hormone that helps us survive in the face of true danger.  It also shuts down digestion and slows your metabolism.

All of this is perfectly normal in the short term, yet if left unchecked, prolonged stress and high levels of cortisol cause high blood sugar, increased belly fat, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and muscle loss.           

You can’t eliminate stress completely, but you can reduce it with meditation, yoga, or deep relaxation. These activities activate pathways that promote weight loss and health. 



Sex Hormone Imbalances

Sex hormone imbalances, such as estrogen and testosterone, can also cause weight problems. Having too much estrogen causes weight gain whether you’re a man or a woman. For both genders too much sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol spike estrogen. 

Keeping your gut healthy also cultivates healthy sex-hormone metabolism. Too little fiber or too many antibiotics damage the gut, triggering estrogen spikes because your body can’t properly detoxify or excrete waste. Environmental toxins, like pesticides, are called xenoestrogens. This is because even at low doses, they act like estrogen in your body.                                              

Symptoms of excess estrogen in women include breast tenderness, fluid retention, bad premenstrual syndrome, fibroids, and heavy menstrual bleeding.  In men, excess estrogen can cause loss of body hair (including chest, legs, and arms), a beer belly, and “man boobs.” 

Low testosterone in men can also accelerate aging. Lack of exercise, alcohol, stress, environmental toxins or diseases like diabesity, and even pituitary problems can also lower testosterone.  Low testosterone causes men to lose muscle and gain fat, leading to sexual dysfunction, low sex drive, fatigue, mental fogginess, and bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis.

Genetic Connections 

There are definitely some genes that can cause obesity.  Though some of us may have the genes that predispose us to obesity and type 2 diabetes, predisposition does not mean pre-destiny. 

If you have a family history of obesity or type 2 diabetes, or you are of Asian, East Indian, Native American, Pacific Islander or Middle Eastern heritage, you are much more likely to be carbohydrate intolerant. A little bit of sugar or starch will cause you to make way more insulin than others. This starts you on the vicious cycle of weight gain, hunger, and fatigue. The good news is that by eating well and exercising you can completely prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes.

There are other genes that play a role in weight gain and weight loss as well.

The brain has genes that code receptors for dopamine, the pleasure of producing neurotransmitters. Some of these genes cause the dopamine receptors to be less responsive to the pleasure signals provided by dopamine. Many drugs of abuse, including cocaine and heroin, trigger dopamine receptors. These drugs are commonly known as “sugar” and “refined carbs”. 

Other genetic factors also play a role. Just as different people have varying responses to carbs, they also have different responses to fats. This is new and emerging research, and more are being discovered every day. 



Social Connections 

Statistics show that we are 171 percent more likely to be overweight if our friends are overweight, but only 40 percent more likely to be overweight if our parents are overweight.

Our social connections are more important than our genetic connections in determining our health.  The reason?  Social connections influence our behavior. It’s the power of peer pressure.

It’s important to surround yourself with healthy people if possible or join a community of healthy, like-minded people.

Losing weight is hard, it will take making many changes starting with the diet and including destressing and exercise. Having support from friends, family and your Primary care physician and health workers will help you achieve your goals.

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