Good News for Older Women Wanting to Shed Dangerous Belly Fat

As we age, our fat – like belly fat – sometimes goes someplace besides where it should, like the belly.

Most fat is subcutaneous – meaning situated or applied under the skin. Typically, that kind of fat doesn't really play havoc with our overall health and the truth is that we all need a little of that fat to be considered healthy.

On the other hand, visceral fat – the kind stored in our gut – has proven to be connected to negative health impacts such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Making matters worse, studies have shown that testosterone levels are a major player in changing the distribution of fat from subcutaneous to visceral as we age.

“As men and women age, there’s an unhealthy redistribution of fat from the more innocuous regions into the visceral compartment,” Jacob Earp, assistant professor of kinesiology in UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) says. “There is a direct link between sex hormones and fat distribution throughout the body.”

Weight loss doesn't change things unfortunately

Weight loss interventions cannot target just visceral fat. Just the opposite, in fact – reducing total body weight which can have detrimental effects for older adults.

“Doing these blanket weight loss strategies is not always the healthiest approach, especially because muscle weight will be lost along with fat and maintaining muscle is extremely important as we age,” Earp says.

Applying a gel version of testosterone changes things a bit

Earp recently led an interesting study that looked at the impact of using a topical testosterone gel in conjunction with exercise as part of treatment for older women who had fractured a hip.

Any older woman who's had a hip fracture will tell you that it's not exactly a fun time. And hip fracture is a serious medical concern for older women because – compared to men – women suffer hip fractures 3x more.

Women are more vulnerable to hip fractures primarily because of lower baseline bone density, accelerated bone loss after menopause, and longer lifespans that extend their time in the highest-risk age range. When fractures do occur, women face worse outcomes due to factors like older age at injury, higher rates of osteoporosis, and greater likelihood of living alone — contributing to a mortality rate of roughly 20–30% within the first year.

Slow in coming, but worth the wait

And that's where Earp's study produced results that could turn that tide. It took six months before the script started being flipped, but the group that received the testosterone gel began to see less visceral/tummy fat stored in the visceral compartment than the group that received the testosterone treatment. In the other (non-gel) group, visceral fat actually increased, which normally happens after while recovering from a hip fracture.

“If you have injury and just generally as we age, we expect an increase in visceral fat,” Earp says. “This really bucked that trend and caused selective reduction of fat in that visceral compartment.”

A promising finding if a scientist has ever seen one.

“These are devastating injuries that most women don’t ever recover from,” Earp says. “In this case, any kind of intervention that can have a beneficial effect on health, you could potentially have a huge improvement in quality of life for the individual.”

Do you suffer from osteoarthritis and pain?

Until the gel that Earp was studying is widely available and can be counted on to work on visceral tummy fat, that still leaves anyone who suffers hip pain left to asking questions about what works.

In this video, Dr. Grant Cooper from Princeton Spine and Joint Center takes a hard look into the A to Z of hip osteoarthritis—from its causes and symptoms to the latest non-surgical and surgical treatment options.

It's 18-minutes that might give you a clearer picture into why some people experience pain more than others, the role of inflammation, and how factors like weight, exercise, and biomechanics influence joint health.

Health Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.