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HEALTH

The Claim

Obesity in women causes excessive levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The evidence does not show that obesity in women causes excessive DHT levels. Studies commonly find that obese women may have higher DHT production or altered adipose androgen metabolism, but faster clearance offsets this, leaving circulating DHT similar or even lower than in lean women. The claim also blurs local tissue findings with whole-body hormone levels.

Caveats

  • Do not treat increased DHT production or adipose-tissue synthesis as proof of high blood DHT; those are different measures.
  • The term “excessive” is unsupported for circulating DHT in women with obesity, and some studies report lower DHT with greater adiposity.
  • Obesity is linked to hyperandrogenism more broadly, especially for other androgens such as testosterone, so substituting “androgens” for “DHT” materially changes the claim.

The Receipts

  1. De Novo and Depot-Specific Androgen Production in Human Adipose Tissue: A Source of Hyperandrogenism in Women with Obesity

    PubMed Central

  2. Circulating 5α-dihydrotestosterone, abdominal obesity and adipocyte characteristics in women

    PubMed

  3. De Novo and Depot-Specific Androgen Production in Human Adipose Tissue Is Linked to Obesity-Associated Hyperandrogenism in Women

    PubMed Central

  4. Elevated production and metabolic clearance rates of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and 3 alpha-androstanediol in morbidly obese, nonhirsute, normally menstruating women

    PubMed

  5. A comparison of androgen production and clearance rates in obese and normal weight women

    PubMed

  6. Endocrine Changes in Obesity

    NCBI Bookshelf

  7. Increased body fat mass and androgen metabolism - A twin study in healthy young women

    PubMed

  8. Elevated Production and Metabolic Clearance Rates of Androgens in Morbidly Obese Women

    The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

  9. Sex hormones in obese premenopausal women and their relationships to body fat mass and distribution, B cell function and diet composition

    PubMed

  10. Obesity and Androgens in Women

    PubMed

+ 23 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Dihydrotestosterone

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