Nutrition for the Woman of Substance

Eating well is one of the best ways you can take care of yoursefl as a woman—and those who depend on you!

Women’s nutritional needs change with each stage of their lives, including adolescence, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause. Regardless of the stage of life you’re in, committing to a healthy diet decreases your chances of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

A well-balanced diet, comprised of a variety of foods, adequately meets women’s needs for vitamins, minerals and energy. For good health, women need to pay special attention to calcium, iron and folate (folic acid) intake. A healthy diet also should minimize the intake of fat and sugar. Diets high in saturated or trans fat can promote high levels of blood cholesterol and increase risk for heart disease. A diet that includes high sugar provides empty calories, or calories that do not provide any nutritional value and often times replace more nutritious food selections.

Lets now discuss each of these components and understand their dietary sources:

Calcium is important for women of all ages. It has been shown to help alleviate PMS symptoms, support a healthy pregnancy, and prevent osteoporosis and bone loss after menopause.

Calcium is absorbed slowly; your body cannot take in more than 500 mg at once. Also, calcium from naturally occurring sources is absorbed better than calcium supplements.

Women under the age of 40 need 1,000 mg of calcium daily. After age 40, you need between 1200-1500 mg a day. To boost your calcium intake:

• Start your day with a calcium-fortified whole grain cereal and low-fat milk.
• Choose high calcium snacks such as yogurt, calcium-fortified orange juice, canned sardines with bones, and almonds.
• Pick hard cheese over soft. An ounce of cheddar packs 200 mg, versus a meager 60 mg in a half-cup of cottage cheese.
• Understand food labels. If a label says a serving supplies 25% of daily calcium, simply add a 0 to the percentage to decipher how many mg are in that serving. In this case there are 250mg which is 50% of 500mg, the maximum amount the body can absorb at one time.

What are goods sources of calcium?

Low-fat dairy products are excellent sources of calcium. Other good sources of calcium include salmon, tofu (soybean curd), certain vegetables (broccoli), legumes (peas and beans), calcium-enriched grain products, lime-processed tortillas, seeds and nuts. If you do not regularly consume adequate food sources of calcium, a calcium supplement can be considered to reach the recommended amount. The current recommendations for women for calcium are for a minimum of 1,200 mg per day.

Calcium can’t work alone – for your body to utilize and absorb the calcium you need Vitamin D and magnesium as well.

You can get Vitamin D from direct exposure to sunlight, and also from foods like fortified milk, egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver and supplements.

Magnesium is usually found in green vegetables, nuts and legumes, and you should aim for about 320/mg per day.

Iron

Women need more of this mineral because they lose an average of 15 to 20 milligrams of iron each month during menstruation. Without enough iron, iron deficiency anemia can develop and cause symptoms that include fatigue and headaches. After menopause, body iron generally increases. Therefore, iron deficiency in women older than 50 years of age may indicate blood loss from another source and should be checked by a physician.

Animal products, such as meat, fish and poultry are good and important sources of iron. Iron from plant sources are found in peas and beans, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, potatoes, and whole-grain and iron-fortified cereal products. The addition of even relatively small amounts of meat or foods containing vitamin C substantially increases the total amount of iron absorbed from the entire meal.

Folic acid

Folic Acid helps the body produce DNA and also helps with the growth spurt you may currently be experiencing.  It is especially important in the childbearing years. During pregnancy a pre-natal vitamin containing folic acid is prescribed to help avoid birth defects such as spina bifida.

Fortified foods: cereals, breads, and pasta with added folic acid. It also occurs naturally in the form of folate in sunflower seeds, black-eyed peas, black beans, spinach and orange juice

Zinc

Zinc helps your skin and immune system. Between skin breakouts and flu outbreaks, you probably could use some help in both those areas!  Steak, hamburger, dairy, fortified cereals, whole grains, and soy products (soy milk, tofu) are the best sources of zinc.

Madhavi Sharma

Lifestyle Consultant at Cardiac Clinic

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