Menopausal women who don’t eat healthfully and have  low physical activity have higher visceral fat. This  increases their risk of cardiovascular diseases and chronic inflammation after menopause. Regular exercise and improved eating habits  provide the most effective protection.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-hidden-danger-of-visceral-fat-what-every-woman-over-50-needs-to-know/

Research from  the University of Jyväskylä’s Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences finds that women with disordered eating behaviors and low physical activity levels tend to have more central body fat and a higher risk of metabolic low-grade inflammation. This type of inflammation increases the likelihood of cardiovascular and other chronic inflammatory disease states. As estrogen levels decline in menopause, fat distribution changes and fat concentrated concentrated in the hips and thighs shifts to the midsection, accumulating  visceral fat, long known to be injurious to health. . This transition increases susceptibility to low-grade inflammation an underlying factor in a variety of chronic disease states 

The University of Jyväskylä study examined the relationship between health behaviors and low-grade inflammation. In this study, health behaviors included sleep patterns, diet, physical activity, and related disorders. Disordered eating behaviors, for example, involve restrictive eating patterns driven by a desire to control weight or body shape. Individuals with these behaviors may have a distorted perception of what they should eat or how their body should look.

Visceral Fat and Its Role in Inflammation  Doctoral researcher Hannamari Lankila, from the  Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences explained,

“In line with previous studies, a higher amount of visceral fat was, as expected, associated with low-grade inflammation. “Visceral fat accumulated in the midsection secretes cytokines that increase inflammation, and this can increase the risk of metabolic diseases.”

The results show that those individuals who exhibit more disordered eating behavior, as well as those who were physically less active, had more visceral fat, and thus the risk of low-grade inflammation was also higher. When eating and physical activity behaviors were evaluated together, it was seen that greater physical activity resulted in lower visceral fat, but that a dietary improvemen t was needed to see any significant benefit. DR Lankila explains,“The connection was weaker, meaning that the protective effect of even a high amount of exercise was less if the individual had eating-related difficulties.” 

Lack of  exercise and various diets and foods have long been associated with low-grade inflammation , but the combination effects of these less than healthy behaviors during menopause had not previously been studied. During menopause the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases increases significantly.

The study highlighted the link between visceral fat and inflammation, especially in women with low physical activity. Both physical activity and flexible eating behavior can help reduce visceral fat, but the effect is likely to be more effective when the two are combined. DR lankila’s conclusion is “It’s good to remember that even after menopause, it is possible to reduce the accumulation of harmful visceral fat and thus prevent metabolic and cardiovascular diseases that may result from it” .

The study also assessed sleep duration and perceived sleep quality as well as physical activity with the help of self-report questionnaires. Eating behavior was assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), which consisted of 28 questions. The questionnaire can be used to assess whether a person restricts their eating and whether they have specific concerns about their eating, weight, or body shape. In addition, the participants’ age, income level, and use of menopausal hormone therapy were considered.

Reference: “A mediating role of visceral adipose tissue on the association of health behaviours and metabolic inflammation in menopause: a population-based cross-sectional study” by Hannamari Lankila, Tiia Kekäläinen, Enni-Maria Hietavala and Eija K. Laakkonen, 15 January 2025, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-85134-8

https://drsobo.com/brain-changes-linked-early-onset-alzheimers/

Middle Age Belly Fat is Associated with Brain Changes Linked Early Onset Alzheimer’s

Brain MRI studies have shown that certain changes in brain structure are correlated with early Alzheimer’s disease onset.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37548931/   these changes were greater among those with abdominal obesity.

Obesity and excess body fat in  middle age has  been shown to be  a risk factor for the development of dementia. Visceral fat, the fat which is found around our internal body organs is known to be associated with insulin resistance which is a proinflammatory state. Both of these are felt to be involved in the development of the pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease. Obesity generates a chronic low-grade inflammatory state, which is known to be characteristic of a variety of chronic health problems notably the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease [28,29]. Also chronic low grade neuroinflammation [30,31,32], is associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases. [33,34,35].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9912737/

https://drsobo.com/tirzepatide-monjauro-zepbound-is-effective-for-fatty-liver-disease/

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent liver disease in the world. It affects nearly 70%  of patients with diabetes. Thus far there are no medications which are approved for treating NAFLD.  The GLP-1 receptor agonists tirzepatide https://drsobo.com/peptides/tirzepatide/ and semaglutide  https://drsobo.com/peptides/semaglutide/   have now been approved for both diabetes and weight loss, and at this point in time the only treatment proven to be effective in NAFLD is weight loss. It has been shown that a weight reduction of approximately  7–10% of body weight will reduce fat accumulation in liver cells [7,8].

The commonly used GLP-1 medications tirzepatide (Monjauro, Zepbound) and semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) have shown both a significant impact on body weight and clinical, biochemical and histological markers of fatty liver and fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Thus ,they appear to be effective for only for treatment of diabetes mellitus and obesity, but also for fatty liver disease https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9865319/

Data presented by Eli Lilly the  GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist medication tirzepatide (Monjauro, Zepound) gives greater evidence of its efficacy in fatty liver disease (MASH) treatment.  https://pmlive.com/pharma_news/eli-lillys-gip-glp-1-receptor-agonist-tirzepatide-shows-promise-in-fatty-liver-disease-mash/

https://drsobo.com/tesamorelin-burn-belly-fat-and-treat-fatty-liver/

The effectiveness of Tesamorelin

In November 2010, the US FDA approved tesamorelin for the treatment of excess abdominal fat [20] [21]. In a double-blinded placebo controlled study tesamorelin decreased Visceral Abdominal Tissue (VAT) by 15% compared to placebo [22–24]. And it was shown to reduce hepatic (liver)fat by 40% [25] for the patients with abdominal fat accumulation. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21668043/

How The Peptide Tesamorelin Works

Tesamorelin stimulates the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. As we age a persons natural growth hormone production may be diminished, and this plays a part in a variety of againg phenomena such as loss of muscle tone and strength, as well as an increase in body fat percentage. When growth hormone is released by the pituitary gland, it boosts metabolism and improves muscle mass and it burns more calories, decreasing a person’s body fat percentage. Tesamorelin has also been shown to reduce visceral adipose tissue, such as seen in “fatty liver” disease and this leads to improvement in reducing overall body fat and waistline measurements.