Estrogen and the Male Waistline

The other day my roommate's boyfriend asked me to figure out how he can ensure he doesn't get the infamous male pot belly with age.  While my first thoughts were eat healthy, exercise, live a balanced life style and drink less beer, turns out that how fat he gets may actually depend on ESTROGEN?

Listen up Tom, this one's for you.

As men age, their bodies change (Sorry boys! But as a woman I've been facing this fact since I graduated high school - stuff your face now, because that gym-free six-pack isn't going to stick around forever).  It is well established that testosterone levels decrease as the years go by.  This causes changes in lean muscle mass, fat mass, and sexual function.  However, a study recently publish in the New England Journal of Medicine found that estrogen plays a fundamental role in these changes as well.

Estrogen is made from testosterone by the body in both men and women.  This can make it difficult to distinguish between the two metabolites in experimental studies. This study teased out differences and found that while testosterone changes impact lean muscle mass quantity and strength, the fat accumulation men see with age is actually attributable to changes in estrogen.

Turns out estrogen is not just a concern for women.  Estrogen levels have previously been ignored in studies investigating body changes in men.  Understanding that low estrogen explains increased fat accumulation in men and also may explain increased risk for osteoporosis may help scientist and doctors develop new treatments.

Tom, this doesn't mean you can still eat all of the chips, salsa, and cookies you want while drinking gallons of beer to wash it down, but it does mean that there may be more going on than we previously thought.  From hot flashes to mood swings and now pot bellies, silly estrogen is at it again!