Quote from: ImagineKate on December 20, 2014, 05:25:16 PM
After all, MtFs stopping hormones suddenly are known to lactate similar to when one gives birth and estrogen levels dive.
I would like to see the evidence there. I would assume that, if true, it only applies to those who are on mega-doses of estrogen that would mimic pregnancy, and is therefore not applicable to people on typical doses. Pregnancy is mediated by a complex set of hormones changing in particular patterns that we will never experience.
QuoteSo while I may not be pregnant, the hormones may be triggering something to prepare the body for a possible pregnancy, hence increased appetite. This is kind of the point for fat reserves on females vs that on males.
There are many other explanations for the larger fat reserves on females relative to males. I personally am not convinced that future pregnancy is the main purpose, because even post-menopausal women with low E tend to store more fat than men. Fat helps retain body heat, which was important before the invention of artificial heating systems. Since females tend to have less muscle and therefore slower metabolic rates, more fat was necessary to retain heat. Also, properly located fat stores may be seen as attractive by some men and therefore increase female reproductive success through increased attractiveness. Plus, like I said, the levels of E attained by transgender females are generally much lower than pregnant women's levels, the only exception being those who are on particularly strong injections. And obviously, your increased appetite is not having much of an effect, if your waist is shrinking so nicely. I personally do not buy the theory that hormones alone cause weight gain; human behavior is so complex and the same hormone will affect different people in different ways. That is evident in the widely disparate effects people reported above.
