Sudden weight gain at 40 Causes

Sudden Weight gain at 40 in male and female is considered to be a common symptom when you age, especially in the middle and older ages as your metabolism tends to slow down, unless you counter this factor by eating less intentionally than you did when you were a little younger as well as getting sufficient exercise to use the calories that you take in.

It's evident that you gain weight when you eat more than you can burn off. However, it's not always true as you can gain weight also due to some health conditions such as Cushing's syndrome, hypothyroidism, food sensitivity, diseases of organs, anxiety, imbalance of blood sugar and deficiency of fatty acids.

Sudden weight gain at 40 Aging

Some types of weight gain are due to some natural processes rather than a disease. For instance, it's absolutely normal and at times even essential to gain some weight during pregnancy as it leads to normal growth in children. However, ensure that you don't gain weight unnecessarily. You can gain weight unintentionally, if you take excess calories into your body.

Similarly, causes of weight gain could also be a symptom of several disorders that affect any of the numerous body systems, including the cardiac, urinary, endocrine, neurologic and respiratory systems. Abrupt and rapid weight gain could also be a sign of dangerous levels of fluid retention by the body due to kidney or heart disease. Moreover, apart from several diseases, weight gain could also be caused by certain drugs. Corticosteroids, tranquilizers, lithium, antidepressants, and drugs that add to fluid retention are some of these drugs.

Weight Gain Causes

Dieting: Dieting is one of the main causes of weight gain as it makes you fat. Your body goes into a state of scarcity as you lessen your food intake in order to lose weight. Thus, your body slows down the metabolism in order to use the small amounts of food that it receives, as it thinks that the food is scarce. In reality, losing weight is nothing but losing fat.

Nearly 25% of weight loss could be made up of muscle, water and other lean tissue if you lose weight quickly. This is due to the fact that your body is programmed in such a way that it holds the fat. Thus, when your body is in the state of scarcity, it would in fact lose water and break down the muscle in order to hold on to its fat reserves.

Resistance of Insulin: 

The cells in your body start ignoring the high insulin levels and become resistant to the hormone effects when the insulin is constantly released over an extended period. Weight gain could go to the point of obesity due to resistance of insulin.

There are some foods, particularly the junk foods that lack nutrients, are high in saturated fats along with starchy carbohydrates and low in fiber and vegetable protein that play an important part in the resistance of insulin. Sedentary lifestyle, stress, genetics, obesity, use of cigarette and consumption of alcohol are some other factors that contribute to insulin resistance.

In insulin resistance, not only your blood sugar imbalances but your liver, nervous system, pancreas and adrenal glands are all affected. In addition to eating proper diet and changing the lifestyle, there are also some other treatments that must be undertaken to address this issue.

Psychological Causes: 

Psychological disorders such as extreme psychological stress or anxiety, eating disorders with polyphagia or hyperphagia and overeating also lead to weight gain.

Hormone Imbalances: 

Hormones, at times also play a significant role in weight gain, as hormones such as estrogen's are considered to cause the accumulation of fat in the body. It's also been seen that estrogen's upset the proper functioning of other glands in the body. Certain conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are linked with weight gain and insulin resistance.

Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency: 

The body needs essential fatty acids, such as flaxseed oil that are known to be good fats for making hormones and maintaining the body's metabolic rate. You might be tempted to eat more fatty foods if you have a deficiency in these fatty acids which might further lead to increase in your weight. This deficiency is also linked with heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and premenstrual syndrome.

Food Allergies: 

Food allergy or intolerance is also a major factor leading to weight gain. The food becomes gently addictive, once an allergy to food exists and you could be forced to eat it. Your body can store the food instead of using it for energy in case you are allergic to food. There is no doubt that you would gain weight if you eat food to which you are allergic.

Addictions: 

Addictive foods play an important role in weight gain. Addictive substance such as sugar is added in typically concentrated manufactured foods. Most of the food manufacturers are aware of this and are finding new and effective ways of making foods sweeter and tastier.

As a result, you crave for these foods due to the addiction developed by your body and the taste buds also become desensitized that make healthy foods taste insipid.

Age: 

It becomes tougher to maintain weight at a convenient level as you age. This is because you naturally become less active in that period. Your body further degenerates as you normally don't follow a healthy lifestyle and thus your metabolism and glandular system slows down. Thus, it's difficult to maintain weight because of slow metabolism.

If you still think as to what causes weight gain apart from the causes above, then you must definitely consult a physician for a medical supervision.

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