Oh, the dreaded middle-age spread. If you aren’t leading a healthy lifestyle, it can sneak up on you. People who don’t mind their diet and don’t make exercise a part of their lifestyle typically gradually gain weight as they approach middle-age. The weight gain may be slow but over a 10 or 20 year period it adds up. Gain a pound every year for 20 years and you’re tipping the scales 20 pounds heavier! Plus, your body composition will have changed so you’re carrying a high ratio of fat to muscle.
Just as exercise habits influence how much or how little weight you gain during middle-age, so do food choices. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine focused in on what foods contribute most to middle-age weight gain.
Dietary Choices and Middle-Age Spread and Weight Gain
Researchers followed over 120,000 healthy men and women, average age of 51, over a 20-year period. During this time, they closely monitored their dietary habits – the types of foods they ate and their exercise and lifestyle habits using questionnaires. Every 4 years the participants stepped on the scale to be weighed. During each 4 year period, the participants gained an average of 3.35 pounds, a little less than a pound per year.
As expected, lifestyle factors influenced weight gain. Exercise and physical activity had a protective effect while alcohol use, sleeping too much or too little and more hours of television viewing was linked with greater weight gain.
What role did diet play? This study looked at the effects of specific foods on weight control. Foods that were strongly linked with weight gain included potato chips, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages and processed and unprocessed red meat. Not surprisingly, potato chips and French fries were at the top of the list of “weight gain” foods. Each daily serving of potato chips during a 4 year weigh-in period was linked with weight gain of 1.69 pounds. Sweetened beverages weren’t much better. Each serving of sweetened beverages over a 4 year period was linked with a 1 pound weight gain.
Based on this study, chips and a soft drink are snack you want to avoid. Hardly surprising since sugar and potatoes are rapidly-absorbed carbs that cause blood sugar and insulin spikes.
Foods That May Protect Against Middle-Age Spread and Weight Gain
In this study, certain foods were protective against weight gain and linked with weight reduction. More servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains were associated with a reduction in weight. No big surprise here. Nuts were protective too. Even though they’re relatively high in calories, each increase in daily nut servings was linked with weight loss of 0.57 pounds over a 4-year period. Finally, yogurt was the weight loss superstar. Daily servings of this probiotic-rich food was most strongly linked with weight loss over the 4-year period.
While it’s hard to say that any specific food has the power to make or break your weight, the results of this study aren’t surprising. Nuts, fruits, vegetables and whole grains are all unprocessed foods that are high in fiber. Fiber-rich foods tend to be more filling. Why yogurt? Yogurt contains probiotics, gut-friendly bacteria that are important for digestive health and a healthy immune system. Some preliminary research has linked probiotic bacteria with fat loss, especially belly fat loss.
How might probiotic bacteria in foods like yogurt aid fat loss? One theory is these “good” bacteria break down bile salts produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile helps to emulsify fats in your intestinal tract so they’re better absorbed. If probiotic bacteria break down bile salts, some of the fat (and its calories) isn’t absorbed. Instead, it passes out in your feces.
Preventing Middle-Age Spread and Weight Gain
A healthy diet and exercise plan is a lethal double weapon against middle-age spread. You can combat the drop in hormones like estrogen, testosterone and growth hormone that contribute to muscle loss with strength training. Through resistance training, you’ll build more metabolically-active muscle to keep your metabolism operating at maximum capacity. Make sure you’re getting enough protein to “feed” your muscles and keep your appetite in check. High-intensity exercise helps preserve fast-twitch muscle fibers, the primary muscle fibers lost with age.
Stick with whole, unprocessed foods that are high in fiber. A study carried out at the University of Pittsburgh looked at specific behaviors linked with weight gain in women after menopause. They identified four behaviors that decrease the risk for weight gain – eating less at restaurants, drinking fewer soft drinks and sugary beverages, eating fewer desserts, consuming fewer fried foods and eating more fish. In this study, a behavior that reduced middle-age weight gain was munching on fresh veggies. Hardly surprising, is it? The key is to do it consistently and monitor your weight so you can identify weight changes early while it’s still easy to manage. Don’t let it slip up on you!
Bottom Line?
Middle-age weight gain isn’t a foregone conclusion. What you eat, your lifestyle and your approach to exercise are all factors that determine how much weight you’ll gain, if any. Stick with whole, unprocessed foods and avoid added sugar. Just as importantly, resistance train to preserve lean muscle mass. It’s just as important as cardio and is the one thing that will change your body composition for the better.
References:
N Engl. J. Med 2011. 364: 2392-2404.
British Journal of Nutrition. “Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus CGMCC1.3724 supplementation on weight loss and maintenance in obese men and women”
LiveScience.com. “Probiotic Bacteria May Burn Belly Fat”
Shape. “Prevent Midlife Weight Gain”
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