\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tReese Witherspoon Shares a Health Update on Her Dad After Scary Emergency Room Visit\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\tBut we digress. Because what scientists have<\/em> learned about the female body has been nothing short of inspiring. Here, five studies that beautifully show off the strengths of women.<\/p>\n \n\tA study<\/a> by Duke University\u2019s Herman Pontzner in 2019 looked at basal metabolic rates, meaning how many calories you need to function while at rest, and found the most anyone can sustain is operate at 2.5 times their BMR.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile ultra marathoners and other extreme athletes can peak from between 3.5 to 15.6 (briefly, for runners) times their BMR, Pontzner found that a pregnant woman operates at 2.2 times her BMR \u2014 almost the maximum possible, every day for nine months.<\/p>\n \n\tDuke University\u2019s Herman Pontzner found that pregnant women are operating with the same metabolic band as endurance athletes \u2014 but for 9 months straight.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPregnancy of course is very long compared to other sporting events, but pregnant and lactating women seem to be working close to the boundary for their duration,\u201d study co-author John Speakman told the New York Post at the time. And, said Pontzer, \u201cI\u2019ve had a few friends \u2014 including my wife \u2014 tell me it was good to see pregnancy recognized as extremely challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tComing out of the Boston University School of Medicine a decade ago was an exciting discovery of the Long Life Family Study<\/a>. It found that women who gave birth to a baby<\/a> when they were over 33 were afforded with a striking benefit: They lived longer \u2014 with twice the odds of living past 95 \u2014 than women who stopped having babies before turning 30.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean all women should put off childbirth in an attempt to live longer, the natural ability to have a child at a more advanced age could indicate \u201cthat a woman\u2019s reproductive system is aging slowly, and therefore so is the rest of her body,\u201d said<\/a> study co-author Thomas Perls at the time.<\/p>\n \n\tTake that, \u201cgeriatric pregnancy\u201d naysayers!<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s no secret that men are more likely to carry extra weight in their guts while pre-menopausal women store it in their butts, thighs, and hips. That\u2019s bad news for men, as belly fat has been associated with diseases from diabetes and heart disease, while women are generally protected (until menopause).<\/p>\n \n\tWhat does that say about women\u2019s fat cells and their health?<\/p>\n \n\tDr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, found in a study<\/a> that estrogen plays a central role in what\u2019s called metabolic flexibility, or the body\u2019s ability to shift between glucose and far or other fuel sources.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur research has shown that the female fat cell is completely different than the male fat cell. The female fat cell is like spandex\u2014it can stretch, taking up all the excess fatty acids and calories and storing it in a really healthy way,\u201d says Clegg.<\/p>\n \n\tMale fat cells lack this capacity, increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But women\u2019s flexible fat cells can more easily expand and contract through the demands of life \u2014 pregnancy, weight fluctuation, and endurance exercise.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd when it comes to sustaining energy over long periods, it\u2019s \u201cmore beneficial to be a female than it is to be a male,\u201d Clegg said. \u201cThe ability to flip between the two different energy substrates, glucose and fatty acids, also gives you a survival and a health benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEstrogen has been found to offer neuroprotective properties that reduce inflammation, help preserve cognitive function, and correlate with lower rates of stroke and Alzheimer\u2019s disease earlier in life.<\/p>\n \n\tEarlier this year, Researchers from the University of Kansas found a link between reproductive hormone exposure throughout life and brain health in women aged 65 to 80, publishing their findings in NeuroImage<\/a><\/em>. They discovered older women who had used hormonal birth control in young adulthood were more likely to have larger volumes in brain regions vital to memory, cognition and information processing, but that such a benefit could also come from hormone therapy later in life and natural hormone exposure.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEstrogen is neuroprotective,\u201d said co-lead author Amber Watts. \u201cIt\u2019s beneficial for white matter integrity. It helps protect neurons and strengthens neural connections. It is also important for vascular function. One of the things we get wrong about estrogen is people think of estrogen as this thing that has to do with reproduction. But really, estrogen is very important for a lot of different body systems. It\u2019s important for the brain, it\u2019s important for the heart, it\u2019s important for bone density, and it\u2019s important for the immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWomen have immune systems that have long been found to fight infections more aggressively than men\u2019s, which helps protect them better from dangerous germs (though, on the downside, it also increases the risk of autoimmune diseases, by which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body).<\/p>\n \n\tIn 2021, a study<\/a> out of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre found that women may have stronger immune responses to squamous cell skin cancer, for example. \u201cIt has long been assumed that men are at higher risk of getting non-melanoma skin cancer than women,\u201d said lead author Dr Amaya Viros<\/a>. \u201cOther lifestyle and behavioral differences between men, such as the type of work or exposure to the sun are likely to be significant.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHowever, Viros noted, \u201cwe also identify for the first time the possible biological reasons, rooted in the immune system, which explains why men may have more severe disease.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Reese](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\n<\/section>\n<\/p>\n\n\t\tPregnant Women Are as Strong as Endurance Athletes\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tHaving Babies Can Be a Superpower\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tWomen\u2019s Unique Fat Cells Are a Key to Health and Energy\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tEstrogen Also Supports Brain Health\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tWomen Have Stronger Immune Systems\t<\/h2>\n