Menopause Weight Gain & How to Lose It | Dr Federica Amati

ZOE nutritionist Dr. Federica Amati explains why basal metabolic rate barely changes in perimenopause, but postprandial metabolism does, glucose, fat, insulin, and inflammation stay elevated longer after meals, partly via gut microbiome shifts. She unpacks why "thin" can mask sarcopenic obesity, why calorie labels carry ~20% error, why a nutrient-dense breakfast curbs cravings, and why a 70,000-woman ZOE study saw a 35% symptom drop from diet changes alone.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why basal metabolic rate isn't the problem in perimenopause, but postprandial metabolism is

- What's actually driving new midsection fat storage as estrogen declines

- Why calorie counting fails as a long-term strategy, from label error to the food matrix effect

- How satiety hormones like GLP-1, PYY, and GIP shift after menopause, and why breakfast is the highest-leverage meal of the day

- Why looking thin doesn't mean you're metabolically healthy, and what sarcopenic obesity reveals about muscle as an organ

- What HRT actually changes about your metabolism, muscle mass, and visceral fat, and what it doesn't

- How a 70,000-woman study found a 35% drop in menopause symptoms from diet changes alone, and why brain fog improved most

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Intro

08:00 – Inside ZOE's Age-Matched Study: Why Postprandial Metabolism Shifts After Menopause