Post-menopausal conditions

A poll of 1,012 Americans found that 47% of women say they’ve gained weight “due to COVID restrictions.” Most said they put on one to nine pounds, but 21% says it’s more like 10 to 20. For middle-age and older women that compounds health problems that may appear postmenopause.

A new study based on data from more than 10,000 women ages 45 to 85, published in Menopause, says that the incidence of metabolic syndrome increases with age (post-menopause) and affects around 38% of women ages 60 to 79. That means they have three or more of a cluster of five conditions: central obesity (that’s belly fat), high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and triglycerides, and lowered heathy HDL cholesterol level. The syndrome raises the risk of heart attack and stroke, diabetes, dementia and some cancers (colon, breast, etc.).

The good news is that lifestyle changes can prevent or reverse middle-age weight gain, defeat metabolic syndrome, erase your increased risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes and help protect you from many cancers. Plus, they can undo weightgain and moodiness that result from the pandemic’s restrictions!

So, indoors or outside, aim to get 300 minutes of physical activity a week. Start with a nightly afterdinner walk; then make it a walk after every meal. Dodge highly processed foods, red meat and added sugars. That way you can make sure that you spend the next decades of your life feeling great and have a much younger RealAge.