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Monday, February 23, 2009

Products to Lose Weight During Menopause

By Ricardo d Argence

One of the many unpleasant side-effects of menopause is weight gain during this period in a woman's life. This weight increase is not expected and may occur even in women who have not changed their diet or slowed activity.

As you might imagine, there are a lot of weight loss products aimed at menopausal women. But are these products really worth it? Let's take a look into a variety of products and their strengths and weaknesses, the mechanism for weight gain during menopause, as well as risks related to overweight in the menopause.

There are number of reasons for weight gain during menopause. One is slowed and inefficient digestion that is a consequence of getting older. This keeps food in the digestive tract longer, ensuring that you absorb more nutrients, including fat and calories, from your food.

The alterations in hormones that accompany menopause, primarily lowered concentrations of estrogen, additionally lead to increased weight. This is because estrogen and fat production are linked, fat cells help regulate estrogen production. As concentrations of estrogen lessen due to menopause, the system might attempt to store the greatest amount of fat it can to counter the plunge in hormone amounts. Hormones along with fat stored in the body perform in conjunction in a complex cycle of biofeedback that impacts hunger, metabolic rate, and deposit of fat.

The risks of weight gain are amplified for menopausal women. Being overweight at any stage of life carries risks, like increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breast and reproductive cancers, diabetes, and heart disease. Since estrogen is a protective factor against cardiovascular disease, risk of heart disease increases when estrogen levels drop, even when menopausal women don't gain weight. For women who are overweight after menopause, the risks of these health problems are compounded.

Can I use menopausal weight loss to prevent further weight gain during menopause? Let's check some of these products:

Estrin-D: There are quite a few of stimulants in this product that will help increase your metabolism. These are xanthine (caffeine) derived formulations like yerba matte, caffeine, and guarana, along with some other innocuous herbal ingredients. There are many risks associated with stimulant-based products, while the product does indeed rev up metabolism. In addition, most percentage of caffeine and other stimulants in this formula may ends with rapid heart beat, elevated blood pressure, feeling 'edginess', and excessive perspiration. Caffeine is also thought to contribute to hot flashes during menopause. Because of this, Estin-D is not a good choice for losing weight.

Zalestra: While treating some of the unpleasant symptoms of menopause,Zalestra includes a far safer array of herbal ingredients that are designed to create a more gentle increase in metabolism. This item does not share the caffeine content of similar products.

Estrolean: This product is similar to Zalestra, with a low amount of thermogenic ingredients. It does contain natural estrogen, which is thought to help control some of the hormonal imbalances that often accompany menopausal weight gain.

While some of these preparations may have benefit in reducing menopausal symptoms, they will not cause you to lose weight without eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. At best, they might help a little with weight loss, and at worst they can have dangerous and unpleasant side effects.

During menopause, it is vital to eat a diet rich in fiber, eat whole foods, and keep your fat intake at moderate levels to achieve optimum weight control. Along with adequate amounts of vital nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and omega-3 fats,a healthy diet that emphasizes fruits, veggies, grains, and lean sources of protein. There's no better way to lose weight during menopause.

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