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Why do middle-aged women start to gain weight?
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
Doctors have identified several reasons why women over 40-50 may gain excess weight. Hormonal changes are often to blame for excess weight. What are they?
Why do women gain weight?
When a woman turns 45-50, many processes in her body slow down. For example, the metabolism process. Because of this, fatty tissue begins to be deposited more actively, especially in the waist and hips, as well as the abdomen. Doctors identify several reasons for weight gain in middle-aged women.
Late pregnancy
During this period, the number of follicles in the body is depleted, the ovaries work much more slowly and not so actively. After a late pregnancy, women may ovulate more often, which makes the ovaries even weaker.
The hormone estradiol is not produced as actively, so the body accumulates fat tissue faster. As a result, weight gain occurs.
Transition of one hormone into another
In particular, in middle-aged women, androgens, which were previously contained in fatty layers, are converted into estrogens. The hormonal ratio of estradiol, estrone and the hormone progesterone is disrupted. This leads to even greater accumulation of fatty tissue in the body.
Loss of appetite
When the hormonal balance is disturbed, a woman's appetite may increase. This means that it will be much more difficult to control her weight. A woman begins to eat familiar dishes, increasing the portions more and more. She increases the amount of fat and protein in her diet, and this inevitably leads to the woman gaining weight. Caffeine in uncontrolled doses is also very harmful.
Lack of magnesium in the diet
This substance allows you to speed up your metabolism, which means that food is processed and excreted from the body faster. A lack of magnesium in a woman's diet leads to a slowdown in metabolism, as a result - appetite increases and weight increases.
This may also be accompanied by mood swings.
Lack of movement and sports
If this is combined with constant dieting with a meager diet without fats and carbohydrates, the woman's weight gradually increases. And the lack of sex hormones in middle age aggravates this process.
To protect yourself from excess weight, be sure to consult a nutritionist about which foods to include in your diet and which ones to avoid. Don't forget to visit an endocrinologist at least once every six months. This will allow you to check the level of hormones in your body and control their excess and deficiency in time.
Take care of yourself and be healthy!
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