Fight your middle-age spread...
The latest science confirms it really is harder for both sexes to lose belly weight as they age – but getting older doesn’t necessarily have to mean getting bigger, writes CAROLINE JONES
HAVE your arms developed bingo wings? Can you no longer see your feet for your belly? If you can pinch an inch more than you used to then you’re not alone.
Even those lucky enough to be slim in their younger years can develop the dreaded “middle aged spread”.
But getting older doesn’t have to mean getting fatter, according to scientists such as Dr Neerav Padliya, weight loss expert at US supplement manufacturer MYOS Rens.
He insists these body changes are more manageable than we think.
And he believes that once you understand why the weight gain is happening, there are plenty of ways to outsmart it. HOW HORMONES WREAK HAVOC WITH OUR WAISTS AS early as our 30s, a fall in the hormone levels for both sexes begins to slow our metabolism so we burn less energy and store more fat.
Researchers have found this causes the average man and woman to add 1-2lb around their middle every year from the ages of 35 to 55. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR MEN HIGH testosterone levels are responsible for keeping men’s bodies lean and muscular when they’re younger.
This is because the male hormone binds to fat, carrying it out of the body so less is stored around the middle. It also helps to build muscle, speed up the metabolism, and maintain insulin sensitivity (which prevents diabetes).
“However, as men age, testosterone levels naturally decrease at a rate of about 1% a year after the age of 30,” explains Dr Padliya.
This drop encourages the body to store fat – particularly around the belly, where it not only looks unsightly but can increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR WOMEN THE female body has a delicate balance of progesterone and oestrogen throughout a woman’s fertile years.
Higher levels of oestrogen are known to increase fat tissue formation, but for younger women this effect is offset by equally high levels of progesterone.
From the age of 35 onwards, levels of both hormones decrease, leading up to the menopause.
“However, progesterone levels decrease at a faster rate, causing more fat tissue to form around the middle,” says Dr Padliya. FOR BOTH SEXES THESE hormone drops also lead to a reduction in muscle mass for both men and women.
Muscle tissue is the single largest consumer of glucose in the body, so losing it means less is used up – and any excess is converted into body fat stored around the middle.
Less muscle mass also means your body doesn’t process carbs as efficiently, so eating too many triggers weight gain.