Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops, usually occurring naturally, most often after age 45.
Many women experience sharp increases in LDL levels during
menopause when their bodies no longer produce estrogen. More women also see a
hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and an increased risk of heart
disease.
Soy products contain isoflavens, natural compounds that
mimic estrogen. These are supposed
to increase estrogen levels, and thus improve cholesterol. Keeping cholesterol
in check can help coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death in
American women.
For the study, 62 women under age 65 with moderate-high
cholesterol were asked to increase either soy or casein (milk protein), intake
for one year. While HDL (good) cholesterol levels increased slightly for women
consuming soy, they experienced little or no change in LDL levels.
“The aim of this study was to examine the effects of soy protein consumption on heart disease risk in postmenopausal women,” authors of the study wrote. “These findings, as well as those from other studies, lend credence to the decision of the Food and Drug Administration to reevaluate the soy protein health claim issued a decade ago.”
Learn more about heart health, or read the study's abstract in Menopause.
The
research team, led by Jeannette Beasley, monitored the protein intake of 560
pre-menopausal women. Protein could be animal or vegetable-based.
According to
the Mayo Clinic, the average percentage of protein from calories that should be
consumed daily is 10-35 percent. The women, aged 14 to 40, consumed between 6
and 28 percent, placing them in the “high protein” category.
“The
range of protein intakes for optimizing bone health among pre-menopausal women
is unclear,” authors noted in the study. “Protein is a major constituent of
bone, but acidic amino acids may promote bone resorption.”
Participants
were checked annually for changes in bone mineral density (BMD). According to
the report, the average BMD was similar for all participants regardless of
protein consumption. Women with low vegetable protein intake, however, tended
to have a slightly lower BMD.
“For
every percentage increase of energy from protein, no significant longitudinal
changes in BMD were observed at any anatomic site over the follow-up period,” study
authors concluded. “Data from this study suggest that a higher protein intake
does not have an adverse effect on bone in pre-menopausal women.”
Beasley
says that protein provides a small benefit to bone health, but that these
benefits may not reduce fractions in the long run. “Findings in young women
could be different from those in older women because bone mass is still
building up before age 30,” Beasley told Reuters.
Obesogens are chemicals that are
believed to mimic and interrupt regular hormone function. Researchers say these
chemicals can cause weight gain and lead to other major health problems like
heart disease, diabetes or endocrine and metabolic disorders.
Obesogens can be
found in food packaging, plastics, pesticides and chemicals, as well as some
cosmetics. They include PCBs, BPA and pthalates. They can alter genes and pose
as hormones that help regulate the body’s metabolism. Take estrogen, for
example.
Estrogen, the
“female hormone,” typically causes women to gain weight during menopause. When
obesogens enter the body, they act like estrogen, reprogramming cells to become
fat cells. The body will work to convert calories into fat cells, which produce
more estrogen. If what researchers say about obesogens is true, diet and
exercise may not be enough to lose weight.
Professor Bruce
Blumberg, a biologist from the University of California-Irvine who coined the
term, says the causes of obesity are complex, but that the problem is more
prevalent in America. He has an idea why: “Elsewhere, the consumption of
prepackaged foods is much lower,” he explained in a UCI press release. “Food is
grown and eaten locally, and people are far less exposed to food additives and
chemicals. These are all contributing factors.”
Obesogen research
is a fairly new thing. It’s in its early stages now, but as more scientists
accept the idea, more is discovered about the effects these chemicals play in
interrupting endocrine function.
Until then,
Blumberg suggests ditching the Tupperware. “Use glass and stainless steel
instead of plastics to store fluids and foods,” he says, “and try to get
locally grown produce, organic if possible.”
More
women than men experience an increase in this type of fat, especially in the
time following menopause. It is often responsible for the change in a woman’s
body to an apple shape. In men, it may manifest itself as a “beer belly.”
Sometimes
referred to as abdominal obesity, this fat is more dangerous than the subcutaneous
fat that lies just under the skin. Fat cells produce hormones, including ones
that can cause insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Visceral fat is also
thought to increase the risk of heart disease, metabolic problems, and high blood pressure. It has also been linked to breast cancer.
It
is quite possible for a person with a healthy weight and relatively trim
waistline to have significant amounts of visceral fat. It can be hard to see
because of where it lies; in some cases it can only be detected with an MRI.
According
to the Mayo Clinic, lack of exercise and low metabolism isn’t necessarily the
culprit. The problem, they say, may be genetics. If your family has a history
of gaining weight around the middle, it may be a challenge for you, too. In
women, hormonal changes during menopause also may cause a change in how fat is
broken down and stored.
Rather
than calculating your BMI, Mayo Clinic suggests simply measuring your
waistline. A waist measurement of 35 inches or more, the clinic says, indicates
an unhealthy concentration of abdominal fat.
One
of the best things you can do for your body is exercise regularly, and,
luckily, visceral fat responds well to working out. Daily moderate exercise
along with strength training may be your best bet to battling the bulge.
After menopause,
many women experience weight gain, which increases the risk of developing
metabolic conditions. For women with type 2 diabetes, weight loss and glucose
management can become extremely difficult to manage. Researchers found that
both CLA and safflower oil proved particularly beneficial to postmenopausal
women with type 2 diabetes.
CLA, conjugated
linoleic acid, is an unsaturated fatty acid found primarily in meat and dairy
products of cows, goats and sheep. CLA has been known to help people wishing to
build muscle, lose weight and prevent heart disease.
Safflower oil is a
plant-based oil similar to sunflower oil that is used in cooking oils, salad
dressings and some margarines. Safflower oil, SAF, is a colorless and
flavorless source of omega-6 fatty acids, and has been known to promote
healthier skin and hair, reduce cholesterol and boost the immune system.
Thirty-five women
completed a 36-week study comparing the effects of CLA and safflower oil on
weight and body mass. Each supplement was consumed for sixteen weeks. Participants
took roughly two teaspoons of either oil daily.
CLA began to cut
body fat and reduce BMI after just eight weeks. “This magnitude of reduction
has not been reported in an intervention that used a linoleic acid-rich oil,”
wrote lead authors Martha Belury and Leigh Norris, both from the Department of
Human Nutrition at OSU.
Safflower oil,
originally meant for baseline comparison, yielded exciting changes of its own.
Safflower oil reduced trunk mass and increased lean muscle mass, resulting in
an average loss of 6.3 percent of body fat. It also reduced insulin resistance
and fasting blood glucose levels.
“I never would have
imagined such a finding,” Belury says. “This study is the first to show that
such a modest amount of linoleic acid-rich oil may have a profound effect on
body composition in women."
Belury and
associates are pleased with the results of their study, and hope to explore the
effects further. They believe that CLA and safflower oil show great promise in
weight and glucose management for women with type 2 diabetes.
“It is possible
that further reductions in BMI are achievable with a longer length of
supplementation,” the authors wrote. “The use of lower doses of CLA over longer
durations of intervention may prove to be an effective weight-loss aid."
The study appears online in The Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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