The changes in a woman’s metabolism that can cause weight gain after menopause actually start years earlier, a recent study suggests.
Researchers found that the greatest increases in the overall percentage of body fat and decreases in lean muscle mass occurred during perimenopause, a transitional phase that typically starts when women are in their 40s.
“Perimenopause, which is during middle age, is the most valuable time to make some lifestyle changes,” said Abbie Smith-Ryan, an associate professor of exercise physiology and the co-director of the Human Performance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who is the co-author of the study published March 2 in the journal Menopause. “It’s also a time where I find women tend to neglect themselves the most because they are taking care of everyone else.”