Menopause has a bad rap—and topping the list of reasons, for many women, is the average 1.5 extra pounds gained each year throughout a woman’s 50s—much of it in the form of stubborn belly fat.
“Menopause is associated with increased weight gain in the midsection and visceral adiposity—the term for when fat is distributed around the organs—along with a reduction of muscle mass,” Dr. Jolene Brighten, a Florida-based naturopathic endocrinologist and author of Is This Normal?, tells Fortune. “In general, aging can be behind the increase in central fat distribution, but the loss of estrogen is strongly associated with this change in body composition.”
