Research
Hormonal
Women have higher rates of fat oxidation during prolonged exercise and higher reuptake of NEFA into adipose tissue at rest compared to men, driven by estrogen.
Women naturally oxidize more fat during long-duration exercise and store fat more efficiently at rest than men due to estrogen. This is a biological feature, not a bug. Training strategies should respect this metabolic tendency rather than fighting it.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Women have higher rates of reuptake of NEFA into adipose tissue; however, they also have higher rates of fat oxidation during prolonged exercise. Oestrogen appears to underlie many of these differences.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple studies cited in the review regarding fat oxidation and NEFA handling.
Source
Sex differences in fat storage, fat metabolism, and the health risks from obesity: possible evolutionary origins
Michael L. Power et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2007
DOI 10.1017/s0007114507853347
narrative_reviewCited 604×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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