The Real Reason Your Metabolism Slows After 50 (And How To Fix It)

It’s not just about menopause:

The other factors

Researchers (cited in the video) found that menopause itself didn’t significantly reduce metabolic rate in the women studied; instead, differences in metabolism are mainly explained by differences in fat-free mass, which is largely muscle mass.

Note: the basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at rest for essential functions like breathing, circulation, and organ function; if BMR falls while calorie intake stays the same, excess energy is more likely to be stored as fat.

The study, at a glance:

• Design: the researchers compared 21 premenopausal, 21 perimenopausal, and 21 postmenopausal women with stable body weight, low exercise levels, no medications including HRT, and BMIs between 18.5 and 35.
• Metrics: the study assessed body composition with DEXA scans, activity levels with wearable tracking devices, and metabolism through respiratory quotient measurements taken at rest and after a standardized 500-calorie meal.
• Results: there were no significant differences between the groups in calories burned at rest, calories burned after eating, or whether the body preferentially burned carbohydrates or fat.

However! Those women with more fat-free mass burned more calories both at rest and after meals, suggesting muscle mass was far more important than menopausal status in determining metabolic rate.

Aside from the obvious “exercise for muscle mass”, two important things that often get missed are:

• getting the right amount of protein spread over the course of the day (don’t cram it all into one meal; your body can’t use more than 20–30g at a time anyway)
• getting good sleep; in particular, deep sleep was highlighted as important for muscle repair and growth, making menopause-related sleep disruption another indirect factor affecting body composition

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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The Diet That Reduces Postmenopausal Weight Gain, Hot Flashes, & More

Take care!