New study from ZOE advances understanding of postmenopausal metabolic responses and increased cardiovascular risk

A new large scale in-depth nutrition study of metabolic responses in menopause published as a preprint in The Lancet this month supports the importance of monitoring risk factors for type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in midlife to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with estrogen decline.

The ZOE PREDICT study looked at postprandial metabolic changes and their mediating factors in an effort to learn more about this poorly understood topic. The PREDICT 1 UK cohort assessed phenotypic characteristics, anthropometric, diet and gut microbiome data, and fasting and postprandial cardiometabolic blood measurements, including continuous glucose monitoring data. Differences between menopausal groups were assessed in the cohort and in an age-matched subgroup, adjusting for age, BMI, menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use, and smoking status.

Results showed that postmenopausal females had higher fasting blood measures (glucose, HbA1c and inflammation), sugar intakes and poorer sleep compared with premenopausal females. MHT was associated with favourable visceral fat, fasting and postprandial measures. Analysis also showed that associations between menopause and metabolic health indicators were in part mediated by diet and gut bacterial species.

This work was supported by ZOE Ltd and TwinsUK which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Versus Arthritis, European Union Horizon 2020, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Ltd and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London.