Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat After Forty (11 page)

As I’ve noted, this cascade of symptoms is often a result of declining hormones, starting with estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen and progesterone are the minor hormones, but why they are called minor makes little sense because when these molecules get out of balance life becomes very, very difficult. Nothing minor about it. I call this imbalance the Seven Dwarves of Menopause: Itchy, Bitchy, Sleepy, Sweaty, Bloated, Forgetful, and All Dried Up!

There are three well-known components to what we understand as estrogen:

• Estriol (cancer protective)
  
• Estradiol (pro-carcinogenic)
  
• Estrone (pro-carcinogenic)
  

This is why there is much confusion about estrogen replacement causing breast cancer. Even conventional doctors now acknowledge that horse-urine-derived estrogen (Premarin) increases risk of cancer and other diseases. The carcinogenic effect is worse when a synthetic progestin (like Provera) is combined with estrogen. That is why so many women got breast cancer and estrogen got a bad rap. It was never made clear that the study was done on horse hormones like Premarin, not on hormones identical to those produced in the human body. There has not been a single reported case of cancer as a result of bioidentical hormones.

Women using natural-to-the-human-body estrogens should also use natural progesterone (not synthetic progestin) and follow other steps to reduce cancer risk such as ensuring optimal vitamin D status. This usually requires supplementation with at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D each day—far more than is found in conventional multinutrient products.

Natural progesterone opposes the cell-proliferating impact of estrogen on female reproductive organs. In our younger years, we naturally produced abundant amounts of progesterone two weeks out of every month.
Menopause unfortunately results in the rapid decline of production of natural progesterone. So when doctors prescribe estrogen without natural progesterone, they are creating an imbalance whereby there is not enough natural progesterone to oppose the estrogen drugs they are prescribing. Remember that the drug they too often prescribed contained Provera, which is not natural progesterone and has in fact been linked to numerous health problems. But when estrogen is
opposed
with progesterone two weeks of every month (like we used to make when we were having a period), we are more protected from getting cancer. When estrogen and progesterone are replaced with bioidenticals in normal physiologic levels in the right ratios, individualized for each person, the effect is amazing.

My doctor keeps track of my estrogen levels with urine and blood tests once or twice a year. He checks for balance not only in the ratio of estrogen and progesterone but also in these three well-known components and all the minor components that make up what we know as estrogen. Through testing, my doctor (Jonathan Wright) was able to determine that my body does not make the usual amount of the essential component of estrogen known as estriol. This is a major factor because estriol is a very important cancer-protective part of estrogen. Without it a woman is set up for cancer. There is no defense. I am one of those women. Lucky for me, Dr. Wright was able to figure this out and very likely has prevented me from a recurrence. Along with my bioidentical estradiol, from the Wiley Protocol, which also contains estrone, he prescribes the right dosage of daily estriol.

I am certain that a huge contributing factor in why I got breast cancer was a lack of estriol in my body (along with twenty-two years of so-called safe birth control pills). I see estriol, which sits at the estrogen receptor site (guarding against too much pro-carcinogenic estrogen), as a little ninja warrior protecting me.

When your levels of estrogen and progesterone begin to decline, imbalances may arise in other hormones: thyroid, insulin, adrenals, and cortisol. Imagine a teeter-totter: when one hormone drops other hormones rise. Imbalanced hormones lead to weight gain. You see it all the time, and until you understand this you will be in a constant battle with your weight and the symptoms of hormonal decline.

What the body wants is “just right,” like Goldilocks—not too much, not too little. For instance, if you don’t have enough estrogen or progesterone you will experience bloating and other symptoms. If you have too much estrogen or progesterone, you will experience bloating and other symptoms including weight gain. Just-right levels of hormones create optimal health, but when those levels aren’t right we can get symptoms big-time; depression, sleeplessness, foggy thinking, brittle bones, heart disease, and high blood pressure are all part of the signs of imbalance. Conventional medicine most often treats these symptoms with an array of drugs: for depression, Prozac; inability to sleep, Ambien or Lunesta; foggy thinking, Alzheimer’s medications; brittle bones, Fosamax; heart weakness, Lipitor (a dreadful dangerous drug; see the chapter on statins in my book
Breakthrough
). Add to this the caffeine and alcohol women are consuming to get up and then to come down and you can see why the present template of aging is a long, slow march to the nursing home; that is, if their overweight bodies don’t do them in first.

What a crappy way to enter midlife! With hormones restored, life gets better and better and you get thinner.

Hormones are not understood by most conventional doctors. At present in our medical schools, our doctors receive only four hours of instruction in prescribing hormones, which is why it is essential to work with a doctor who has chosen to specialize in bioidentical hormone replacement. You can find the right doctor by going to
SuzanneSomers.com
and clicking on Doctor Resource Guide. You will find one nearest you.

Hormonal health is the key to losing weight; you can’t do it any other way. Dr. Wright explains in this next section why you are getting fat as a result of hormonal imbalance.

It is also important to understand that men have hormones that become imbalanced due to the aging process or stress. When men decline hormonally they begin to fall apart just like women. Couple this with the chemical onslaught of everyday life and the result is disastrous: men gain weight, their skin sags, their guts become compromised, they develop food intolerances, they don’t sleep well, and they lose their sex drive. But it all happens gradually, so no one really pays attention until the symptoms appear. And then it is not pretty. Men, too, get sick as a result of hormonal decline. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s are rampant among men.

Let’s hear what Dr. Jonathan Wright says about this issue:

Let’s examine each hormone and its effects on weight gain. Balance is what is desired. Balanced hormones make weight loss possible; without balance you are climbing uphill.

DHEA
. DHEA is another important hormone to understand, especially in relation to belly fat. In an article published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association
in 2004, a double-blind study showed that people taking a DHEA supplement lost two pounds, while a placebo group gained one pound, which is not an impressive difference. But the women in the DHEA group lost 10 percent of their abdominal fat (this was tested through an MRI study) and the men in the DHEA group lost 7 percent of their abdominal fat.

There is a strong benefit regarding metabolic syndrome (a precursor to type 2 diabetes), which is a condition of insulin resistance, high cholesterol and high triglyciderides, high blood pressure, and obesity (especially abdominal). Multiple studies show that DHEA reduces insulin resistance. DHEA also has great value for people who have already progressed to type 2 diabetes. DHEA helps transform cortisol (the active, weight-increasing form) back into cortisone. And the DHEA speeds cortisol inactivation (bringing it down, which is a good thing).

Progesterone
. This is a vital hormone known to have thermogenic (heat- and temperature-increasing, fat-burning) effects. When a woman has a progesterone surge (a normal part of her menstrual cycle), it causes the body temperature to rise at midnight. An ovulating woman’s body temperature remains higher during the second half of her menstrual cycle. Higher body temperature means slightly more energy burned (this is good if you want to lose weight). There are no studies at present on bioidentical progesterone and weight loss, but it is highly probable that bioidentical progesterone, when studied, will be found to help in weight loss.

Testosterone
. Testosterone is an important hormone for many reasons. It decreases abdominal fat and builds muscle in many older men.
In some people, it also improves insulin sensitivity and improves blood sugar control. But there is one hazard: as many as one-third of men who use supplemental testosterone also make excess estrogen from testosterone itself, a condition called hyperaromatization. This works against weight loss, and in some cases causes weight gain. Plus, it is dangerous for the prostate gland. Careful testing will usually reveal insulin resistance, a forerunner of type 2 diabetes. This is all completely reversible with diet, exercise, and proper supplementation.

Human growth hormone
. HGH is a very misunderstood hormone. It gets a bad rap in the media from those who usually have no comprehension of the incredible benefits of supplementation in proper dosages. Instead, they report on athletes who may take a hundred times more than physiologically required, which
is
dangerous to the body.

Human growth hormone is something we all make in our own bodies, even as adults. If HGH levels are low or low normal then raising them to within the normal adult range helps reduce fat and increase muscle, and is very unlikely to be harmful. Testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid (and probably estrogen) all stimulate the internal production of HGH. Estrogen also regulates growth hormone use in the body.

HGH itself is injectable and expensive. Substances that stimulate the body’s production of HGH are available in oral or injectible forms and are less expensive. HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin; see next section) also stimulates HGH production.

Human chorionic gonadotropin
. HCG suppresses your appetite by causing low-level nausea (the nausea associated with pregnancy is believed to be due to the surge of HCG during pregnancy). Some practitioners claim HCG is an effective weight loss tool, but success requires severe calorie restriction (fewer than 500 calories per day). HCG is injected but much less expensive than HGH. HCG can stimulate production of testosterone, especially if LH (luteinizing hormone) levels are also low.

Insulin
. Insulin is the fat-storing hormone. High levels of insulin lead to weight gain. Insulin production is overstimulated by consumption of sugar and carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates. This is a special problem for individuals from families with a predisposition to type 2 diabetes. In men, high insulin levels are also very bad for the cardiovascular system and prostate gland. DHEA and testosterone (along with vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, chromium, biotin, and many other nutrients and botanicals, especially the natural plant alkaloid berberine) lower insulin resistance and therefore insulin levels for both men and women. With women the decline in estrogen and progesterone shoots insulin levels high. (Remember the teeter-totter?) As the minor hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) dip, the gender-neutral hormones (insulin, thyroid, adrenals, and cortisol) rise.