As the years go by, after a certain age it is difficult to avoid gaining weight. The usual areas of fat accumulation (belly, buttocks, chest, double chin…) begin to grow and it is almost impossible to stop it. Why does that happen? Is physical exercise and healthy eating not enough?
The answer is that there are several factors that are beyond our control, that we must assume as natural and that we are now going to learn about.
The head of the Obesity Unit at Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Andreea Ciudin, explains the main reason for weight gain in a very understandable way. “Apart from physical fitness and healthy eating, we also need to have order in the hormones that intervene in all this,” she explains. “More so in men, but also in women, testosterone and growth hormone help preserve muscle mass.”
As long as testosterone and growth hormone perform their function, we will maintain healthy muscles. The endocrinologist from Vall d’Hebron points out that the muscles are responsible for burning most of the calories, both during activity and at rest.
“As we get older (from 60-65 years old) growth hormone and testosterone are reduced, and a significant drop in muscle mass is seen,” says the specialist, “and that is when it begins to change body composition: the muscle that is lost is replaced by fat.”
The loss of muscle mass and function is called sarcopenia. It is a phenomenon that is part of aging and reduces the ability to burn calories. “We continue eating the same and, since we burn less, the extra calories we have are stored in the form of fat,” summarizes Ciudin.
The specialist confirms that, even if an 80-year-old person goes running every day and does marathons, it will be difficult for them to get rid of fat accumulations, since they have low levels of testosterone and growth hormone. “No matter how much exercise you do, you will not be able to have a good level of muscle mass, although due to your age you will surely be one of the best,” she says.
With menopause, the ovaries stop producing female sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone), but continue to produce male sex hormones (testosterone), although at levels that are too low to maintain muscle mass.
“When women stop producing female hormones, they begin to accumulate fat just like men do,” he explains. “This is because in women, estrogens also perform the function of maintaining muscle health. By losing them, testosterone alone does not have sufficient capacity to prevent sarcopenia.”
Dr. Ciudin maintains that we cannot forget other factors associated with age, such as the diseases that appear and that limit our ability to do more physical activity. Although exercise does not restore all muscle mass, a sedentary lifestyle does accelerate muscle loss and gain.
For example, diseases such as osteoarthritis cause joint pain when practicing sports, while other cardiovascular or endocrinological pathologies advise against excessively raising the heart rate and limit the physical activity we can perform. And like these, there are many other examples.
This article was originally published on RAC1.cat.
