Women and healthy eating
Trying to balance family, work, or school demands along with media pressure to eat a certain way can make it hard for any woman to keep a healthy diet. But right food doesn’t just improve your mood, boost your energy, and help you maintain a healthy weight, it can also support you through different stages in a woman’s life.
As women, many of us often neglect our nutritional needs. You might feel too busy to eat well or be used to putting your family’s needs before yours. Or maybe you try strict diets that leave you low on vital nutrients, hungry, and low on energy.
But remember, what works for one woman isn’t always best for another. The key is building your diet around your own nutritional needs. Whether you want to boost energy and mood, fight stress or menstrual issues, increase fertility and have a healthy pregnancy, or ease menopause symptoms, these nutrition tips can help you stay healthy, active, and energetic all your life.
How women’s nutritional needs differ from men’s:
Kids’ nutritional needs are similar for boys and girls. But once puberty starts, women develop unique nutritional demands. As we age and our bodies go through more physical and hormonal changes, our nutritional needs keep changing too. So it’s important to adjust our meals to meet these evolving needs.
While women tend to need fewer calories than men, our needs for certain vitamins and minerals are much higher. Hormonal changes linked to periods, pregnancy, and menopause make women more prone to anemia and osteoporosis. That means we need to consume more nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D.
Calcium for strong bones all life long:
You also need calcium to build and keep healthy bones and teeth strong as you age, plus it helps regulate your heart and keeps your nervous system working right. Not enough calcium can make mood issues worse like irritability, anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping. If you don't get enough from food, your body will take it from your bones to keep cells working properly, which can lead to weak or brittle bones.
Women are more likely to get osteoporosis than men so it's important to get plenty of calcium with magnesium and vitamin D to support your bone health.
How much calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D do you need?
- Calcium: For adult women aged 19 to 50, the USDA recommends 1000 mg per day. For women over 50, the recommended daily amount is 1200 mg. Good sources include dairy, leafy green veggies, some fish, grains, tofu, cabbage, and summer squash. Your body can only absorb about 500 mg at a time, and there’s no benefit in going over the daily recommended amount.
- Magnesium: Magnesium helps your body absorb calcium from the blood into the bones. Actually, your body can’t use calcium without it. The USDA daily recommended amount of magnesium is 320 to 400 mg per day. Good sources include dark green leafy vegetables, summer squash, broccoli, halibut, cucumber, green beans, celery, and various seeds.
- Vitamin DVitamin D is also needed for proper calcium metabolism. Aim for 600 IU daily. You can get vitamin D from about half an hour of direct sunlight, and foods like salmon, shrimp, fortified milk, cod, and eggs.
Should dairy products be avoided because of their saturated fat content?
Some of the best calcium sources are dairy products. But dairy like whole milk, cheese, and yogurt also tend to have high levels of saturated fat. The USDA recommends limiting saturated fat to no more than 10% of daily calories, so you can enjoy full-fat dairy in moderation and choose low-fat or fat-free dairy if possible. Just know low-fat dairy often has a lot of added sugar, which can harm your health and waistline.
Iron: Why might you not be getting enough?
Iron helps make hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood. It's also key for healthy skin, hair, and nails. Because of blood loss during periods, women of childbearing age need more than double the iron men need, even more when pregnant or breastfeeding. Still, many don't get enough iron in their diet, making iron-deficiency anemia the most common deficiency for women.
Anemia can drain your energy, making you feel weak, tired, and short of breath even with minimal activity. Iron deficiency can also affect your mood, causing depression-like symptoms like irritability and trouble concentrating. While a simple blood test can tell your doctor if you have iron deficiency, if you feel tired and off all the time, it's a good idea to check your iron intake.
Diet tips to ease menstrual symptoms:
Bloating, cramps, and tiredness often happen a week or so before your period because of hormone changes. Your diet can play a big role in easing these and other period symptoms.
- Eat foods rich in iron and zinc. Some women find that foods like red meat, liver, eggs, leafy green veggies, and dried fruits can help ease period symptoms.
- Increase your calcium intake. Many studies highlight how calcium-rich foods like milk, yogurt, cheese, and leafy greens can help relieve period symptoms.
- Avoid trans fats, fried foods, and sugar. They all cause inflammation and can trigger premenstrual syndrome symptoms.
- Fight bloating by cutting out salt. If you hold onto water and feel bloated, avoid salty snacks, frozen dinners, and processed foods. This can make a big difference.
- Watch out for food sensitivities. PMS often comes from food sensitivities. Common triggers are dairy and wheat. Try removing suspect foods and see if your symptoms get better.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Both can make your period symptoms worse, so try to skip them during that time.
- Consider vitamin supplements. For some women, taking multivitamins or supplements with magnesium, vitamin B6, and vitamin E may help reduce cramps. But again, supplements aren’t a replacement for a healthy, balanced diet. It’s best to get your vitamins and nutrients from the food you eat.
- Add essential fatty acids to ease cramps. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to help with cramps. Find out if eating more fish or flaxseeds lessens your menstrual symptoms.
