For women, there’s a difference in the type of menopausal fat they produce and store after menopause compared to the type their bodies developed prior. Knowing the difference can save a woman’s health and, ultimately, her life.
Menopausal fat is unhealthy, because of the type of fat it is. It is visceral fat, the kind that lays under the muscle wall in the peritoneal (intra-abdominal) cavity, surrounding and enveloping the organs. This is different from subcutaneous fat, which lies closer to the skin, above the muscles.
Visceral fat has the ability to interfere with the liver, creating high cholesterol—the bad kind. It is linked to the cardiovascular diseases, heart disease, stroke and coronary artery disease, as well as glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. Since heart disease is the number one killer of women, addressing the issue of menopausal fat becomes quite important.
At this time, the only way to determine if a woman (or anyone) has visceral fat is through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), although a relatively new method being tested by researchers in Japan, bioelectricity impedance, is showing promise.
Is menopausal fat hard to get rid of? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that visceral fat responds quite well to exercise, in fact, actually better than subcutaneous fat does (that’s why cellulite, a type of subcutaneous fat, is so hard to get rid of). In the Duke studies, a control group of sedentary individuals experienced a whopping 8.6% increase in visceral fat in just six months. Study members who walked at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week prevented accumulation of visceral fat and it was determined that even more exercise can actually reduce visceral fat amounts.
Looking at a new regimen of exercise and diet is completely in order for getting rid of menopausal fat. It is not only a good idea, it can be life-saving. And while sit-ups may help trim the size of the waist, they will not help eliminate visceral fat. An exercise routine of the all-over aerobics type works much better, such as walking, swimming, bicycling and such.
30-60 minutes a day of moderately intensive exercise is called for in addition to a diet replete with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and unsaturated fats.
Resistance training (weight lifting) has also been found to be beneficial for losing menopausal fat. Studies at the University of Pennsylvania showed that an hour of resistance training, twice a week, was enough to reduce visceral fat deposits by 4%.
The pharmaceutical companies are looking into developing medications that deal specifically with visceral fat. It was determined that the 1997-approved weight loss medication, Sibutramine, known as Meridia, actually works better on visceral fat than subcutaneous. Accomplia (Rimonabant) is yet to be approved by the FAD, but shows promise as it reduces accumulation of waist fat and is shown to block a receptor in the brain related to appetite.
Hormones play a huge part in menopause, and it is suspected that the hormone called DHEA may have benefits for reducing menopause abdominal fat, among other things. Results are inconclusive, however.
So far the best proven way for dealing with menopausal fat remains, as always, with a healthy diet and moderate exercise.
