Why are women who exhibit high levels of male hormones prone to weight gain?

Question

Women are prone to gain weight when androgens and testosterone are at higher levels in their body than perceived ‘normal’ for a regular female. However I am wondering why this is, considering males have lower body fat percentage and a higher muscle mass ratio than women; you would think the excess testosterone in a woman’s body would help them lose fat not gain it? Or am I just dumb for thinking this haha.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Contrary to whatever nonsense you hear about hormones on the internet, testosterone doesn’t adversely effect a women’s health. A women’s body produces 20x more testosterone then estrogen, in fact estrogen is made from testosterone. Whenever elevated levels of testosterone in women may be present, it’s more typical to see polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can cause a list of side effects, of which there is no current consensus.