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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Can a GLP-1 Shrink Your Menopause Belly? What New Science Tells Us
Menopause can bring more than just hot flashes and mood swings, it can also usher in an expanding waistline that defies diet and exercise. Known as 'menopause belly,' it's the visceral fat that begins to accumulate around a woman's waistline in midlife and is linked to deeper metabolic changes that occur as estrogen levels drop. GLP-1 receptor agonists, like semaglutide and tirzepatide, are making headlines not just for dramatic weight loss, but also by proving to help target this hormone-driven transformation. More from Flow Space Menopause and Mental Health: Coping with Mood Swings and Anxiety But can these drugs really help shrink the hormonal belly bulge? What does the latest science say about GLP-1 safety and effectiveness for midlife women? Here's what you need to know. Menopause belly refers to the increase in abdominal fat that many women experience during and after menopause. 'This shift is driven primarily by hormonal changes, specifically the decrease in estrogen,' Catherine Metzgar, PhD, RD, director of coaching operations at Virta Health, told Flow Space. 'Estrogen plays a key role in regulating body fat distribution, and when levels decline, fat tends to accumulate more viscerally which is around abdominal organs.' This is a shift from pre-menopause, when fat tends to accumulate more in the hips and thighs. Other factors that contribute include: Insulin resistance or insulin sensitivity—associated with increased fat accumulation. Muscle loss—decreases with age, less muscles results in a slow metabolism. Stress and sleep issues—increase cortisol levels, which are linked to abdominal fat storage. These metabolic shifts do have long-term impacts on our health, added Metzgar. Visceral fat is linked to an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Originally developed for type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 drugs mimic a gut hormone that regulates blood sugar, curbs appetite and slows digestion. This can result in a reduced appetite, improved insulin sensitivity and weight loss, specifically in visceral fat. These effects are especially relevant during menopause, when insulin resistance tends to rise and metabolism slows. 'These GLP-1 medications can help by slowing the time it takes for your stomach to empty and by making you feel fuller longer,' Dr. Brunilda Nazario, chief medical officer at WebMD told Flow Space. 'These drugs can help restore your metabolism, making it easier to lose weight and improve body shape.' And now a new study has found that GLP-1 agonist, tirzepatide, can help with overall weight loss, as well as reduce deep abdominal fat and improve key cardiometabolic markers. Physicians from New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine found that a primary concern for women in menopause is weight gain. In order to better understand GLP-1s efficacy for women in midlife, they conducted a secondary analysis of data from the SURMOUNT clinical trial to determine the efficacy of tirzepatide in women in the premenopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal stages of life. What they found was that regardless of reproductive stage, tirzepatide was associated with significant body weight, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio reductions in women living with obesity or who are overweight. Tirzepatide, like other GLP-1s, delay gastric emptying and increase feelings of fullness, which help to reduce appetite and, therefore, food intake. These medications also improve insulin response and glucose control, which also supports weight loss. 'These results are not surprising and are consistent with other research evaluating GLP-1 medications and observed weight loss,' says Metzgar. 'Therefore, the findings can likely be applied to other GLP-1 agonists beyond tirzepatide. Even the authors of the study make a similar conclusion.' The researchers found that tirzepatide worked by targeting the visceral fat in menopausal women in the same way it targets fat for other individuals who used GLP-1 drugs. They also noted that lifestyle changes, like proper diet and exercise, were also an important piece of the equation to ensure optimal results. 'Based on our research, we believe clinicians prescribing tirzepatide can feel more confident recommending the medication to their patients, especially women reporting menopause-related weight gain,' the researchers concluded. 'The data provides reassurance that this medication is effective in the setting of perimenopause and menopause.'
Forbes
20-03-2025
- Health
- Forbes
5 Ways Growth Start-Ups Can Scale Culture
In the competitive landscape of health tech startups, building a sustainable culture while scaling rapidly presents a significant challenge. Virta Health, recognized for its approach to reversing diabetes and obesity through nutritional ketosis, offers valuable insights into how companies can maintain their cultural identity during hyper-growth. After speaking with three leaders at Virta—Chief People Officer Lucia Guillory, HR leader Marc Mooney, and CFO Manu Diwakar—five distinct leadership approaches emerged that any growth-stage company can adapt to their own journey. These insights are helpful regardless of budget and tools – they're just helpful principles. Most organizations measure employee engagement, but Virta recently made a deliberate shift toward something deeper: pride. "I made the shift from Engagement which focused upon whether or not you 'would recommend Virta as a great place to work' to Pride 'I'm proud to work at Virta,'" explains Guillory. "I pushed for this shift because I believe that the most valuable thing any organization can provide is a sense of self-worth. Pride is about how you feel about yourself vs engagement which is solely focused on how you feel about the company." This distinction transforms how companies can approach culture-building. While traditional engagement metrics like eNPS often measure satisfaction with the workplace itself, pride connects employees' sense of identity with the company's mission and impact. Mooney elaborates on why this shift matters: "Pride creates a flywheel in a way that engagement doesn't." Unlike employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), which functions solely as an outcome metric, "Pride is both an outcome and a driver of engagement," creating what he calls a "virtuous cycle - pride fuels engagement, and engaged employees are more likely to deliver meaningful impact, which in turn reinforces their pride in the organization." When CFO Diwakar first heard about this pivot to measuring pride, "it brought a huge smile to my face because I hadn't heard that adjective described at work," he recalls. "I think people who are committed to their work and people spend a lot of time at their jobs, they want to feel good about themselves, they want to feel good about the contribution they're making to this world, and they want to feel good about the people that they spend a lot of time with." Growth-stage companies can implement similar measurements, evaluating whether their current engagement metrics truly capture what matters. Shifting focus to pride not only provides a more meaningful metric than traditional engagement scores but actively reinforces the cultural identity companies fear losing during rapid expansion. At Virta, the mission of reversing diabetes and obesity isn't confined to marketing materials—it's lived throughout the organization, starting with the executive team. "Our entire executive team follows the Virta lifestyle, and it's not a requirement by any means," explains Judy Huang, VP of Communications. "Everybody truly just chooses to follow it and has seen really wonderful results and feels great." This embodiment of the mission creates an authenticity that cascades through the organization. Executives don't just advocate for the product—they experience its benefits firsthand, from increased energy to improved mental clarity. "I've been part of that for a number of years," shares Guillory about her participation in Virta's treatment program. "And then we also have a Virta plus one program and my mom has been part of that." This personal investment extends the company's impact into employees' families and communities. Every all-hands meeting features a member sharing their experience with the program. "These member stories are really powerful in uniting all employees and reinforcing why we do what we do," explains Guillory. "These stories are always impactful and often bring teammates to tears." Leaders also routinely immerse themselves in unfiltered member feedback. "You can have your leadership team commit to reading the Net promoter score comments that members are putting in when they're using your app," Guillory suggests. "Every company that is delivering a service, the leaders need to see how members are experiencing that service." For startups looking to strengthen their mission connection, consider how your leadership team can authentically experience your product or service firsthand. Create regular touchpoints with customers throughout the organization, not just in customer-facing roles. When leadership personally experiences the value proposition, the mission transcends rhetoric and becomes reality—a powerful alignment tool during rapid scaling. At Virta, leadership development begins with a fundamental premise: effective leadership starts from within. "I think leadership is highly correlated with wisdom," explains CFO Manu Diwakar. "Leadership is, in my view, largely a journey of personal growth." This perspective shapes how the company approaches developing its next generation of leaders. Diwakar describes his own transformation at a previous company: "I walked into Riot as kind of a cocky, arrogant kid who thought, like, he was on top of the world and can do everything. And I left with a really healthy appreciation of how much I didn't know and how much growth I needed to undergo as a person, both personally and professionally." This focus on emotional intelligence and self-awareness runs counter to traditional leadership development that emphasizes tactics and frameworks. "I think the first thing you've got to work on right away is get people to really think hard about their EQ," Diwakar asserts. "It is often said that EQ matters a lot more than IQ in leadership." Virta operationalizes this philosophy in their Emerging Leaders Development Program, which has achieved a 96% recommendation rate from participants. Rather than outsourcing to consultants with generic frameworks, they tap their own leaders to teach from lived experience. "Those that can do are actually in the best position to teach because they have that experience and that passion, that perspective that they can bring into those conversations," explains Guillory. The program combines asynchronous learning with live sessions where participants engage directly with the leaders who created the content. Growing organizations should reconsider traditional leadership development approaches that focus primarily on tactics and skills. Begin by helping emerging leaders develop greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence—the foundation for all other leadership capabilities. Create the right balance of challenge and support, as Diwakar suggests: "Find the right amount of stretch to give your junior people... only with a little bit of risk can there come growth." In an era where leadership is often equated with flawless execution, Virta's executives model a different approach: publicly owning and sharing their failures as a powerful teaching tool. "I think talking about philosophy is really hard when people don't have a basis," explains Diwakar. "So often what I do is I actually talk about all the times I've messed up." This isn't just casual self-deprecation—it's strategic vulnerability. Diwakar's approach is detailed and thorough: "I talk about what I did. I talk about what the consequences were. I talk about what the results were out of those consequences. I talk about how I dug myself out of that hole... and usually how it has changed my approach to situations." This practice serves multiple purposes. First, it provides concrete lessons drawn from lived experience. "I want you to have the benefit of my experience... it has come from hard lessons in life," says Diwakar. Second, it creates psychological safety for team members to acknowledge their own mistakes. "What I'm trying to do is creating the space for people to mess up. Everybody messes up. The problem only becomes if you don't admit you mess up and you don't learn from it." This is particularly valuable for high-achieving professionals who may have limited experience with failure. "For people who probably aced their essays and got a 4.0 and went to the best schools, this concept of messing up is like, 'What do you mean? I don't mess up. I don't do that,'" Diwakar explains. Guillory echoes this commitment to transparency on an organizational level. "For me, honesty is king," she says. "If you're communicating honestly about what is happening, you are already removing a number of obstacles to success." Virta's leadership team demonstrated this during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were direct about the reasons behind a significant reduction in force. For growing companies, establishing a practice of transparent failure-sharing can transform your culture. Start by having senior leaders share detailed stories about their mistakes and what they learned, focusing on specific situations rather than abstract principles. This creates psychological safety for others to acknowledge when they're struggling and builds an organization that learns from failure rather than hiding it. As companies increasingly adopt remote and hybrid work models, Virta has recognized that employee connection doesn't happen by accident—it requires deliberate design, especially during scaling. "One of the things that we've observed is that people need connection," explains Guillory. "They may not be getting it every day because they're obviously in a remote environment, but the more we can produce that connection, the more people can rely on that connection to produce a sense of goodwill as we go through the natural friction points of life." This insight led Virta to create an "events and community" sub-department specifically focused on fostering meaningful connection among team members. This wasn't just a nice-to-have addition—it was a strategic investment in organizational resilience. "If I know Judy because I saw her three months ago at something, it's going to be easier for us to navigate having a difference of opinion on something than if there are no other touch points," Guillory points out. The company has found that in-person connections are particularly valuable, especially when they incorporate their mission. "We love connecting with members. One other way we connect with them that I didn't mention is in person through our offsites and events. We typically have members attend our annual all team offsite and other offsites throughout the year when possible," notes Guillory. In a post-pandemic world where employees may feel increasingly isolated, these connection points serve another crucial purpose—combating burnout. Guillory observes, "The identity link to a company is something that already is intensified in the context of a startup... If you're saying 'members or die' and then you make a minor change to the way that you're doing things, it's blood on the streets. Because we're so passionate about this mission." For scaling companies, particularly those with distributed teams, intentionally designing connection experiences is essential. Consider creating dedicated resources for community building, just as you would for other business functions. When planning in-person gatherings, incorporate meaningful mission-oriented activities rather than just social events. And recognize that these connections aren't just about employee satisfaction—they build the relational infrastructure necessary to navigate the inevitable tensions of growth. What emerges from these conversations with Virta's leadership team is that building culture during hyper-growth isn't accidental—it requires deliberate choices about what to measure, how leaders develop themselves and others, when to share failures openly, and how to foster meaningful connections in remote environments. As Guillory notes, "As a high-growth company, we're concerned about losing our identity as we rapidly scale. Pride is a measure that allows us to keep a pulse on whether our team feels we're living our values versus just touting them." The consistent thread through all these approaches is authenticity—from executives using the company's own treatment program to leaders openly sharing their failures to measure pride instead of superficial engagement. This commitment to what's real rather than what looks good creates a foundation that can withstand the pressures of rapid growth. For startups navigating their own scaling journey, these insights offer a roadmap for maintaining what matters most. The measure of success isn't just size or valuation, but whether the organization remains true to its purpose and people feel genuine pride in the work they do together.
