Tips for Women’s Health…
May 8, 2009 by Staff
Filed under Health, News, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) Would you like to feel better during the menstrual cycle? Worry less about getting sick because you have a family to care for? Have enough energy to hold down a career, with some leftover for physical fitness and a vital sex life? Prevent common women’s aging ailments like osteoporosis?
Although sickness may come at some time or another, there is a way to feel confident that you’ve done all you can for your bodies’ through proper daily nutrition and lifestyle for continued good health. Here are some keys to good women’s health:
- — Get educated and educate your daughters early about the fact the daily nutrition and women’s health issues that differ from men. Take preventive and proactive women’s health measures to reduce incidents of sickness and suddenly needed medicine.
— Train yourself to eat healthy foods and get exercise.
— Take supplements – Food doesn’t give us all the daily nutrition we need. Natural multivitamin/mineral formulas are important, but even this plus food isn’t the end-all to supporting women’s health – unless you pull everything straight out of your garden, eat five bunches of vegetables a day, and never, ever touch sweets, coffee or soda!
Here are some of the best supplements for complete daily nutrition to enhance women’s health:
Essential Fatty Acids: (EFA’s) – Essential fatty acids are just that – essential to women’s health, and should be included in our daily nutrition. EFA’s are the “good†oils, called Omega’s 3-6-9. They can be found in foods such as fish – salmon, tuna, mackerel and swordfish; nuts like almonds and sunflower seeds; avocados, flax, and olive oils. EFA’s are also important to our heart, circulatory and brain functions. Women’s bodies manufacture and synthesize some, but supplemental EFA’s can help girls and women who may have these symptoms, or help to prevent them:
- — Eczema/dermatitis, rashes, early aging signs on facial skin
— Dry, irritated eyes and itchy skin around eyes
— Joint aches, inflammations, allergies, low immunities
— Fatigue, mood swings, irritability (even ADD/ADHD)
— Intense menstrual cramps
— Symptoms of menopause like hot flashes and vaginal dryness
Other points to consider are:
Calcium, but not by itself: Females need at least 1,000 mg’s of calcium per day. Past the teen years, women stop naturally absorbing enough through food nutrition. Although the best-absorbed form is Calcium Citrate, calcium needs help reaching the bones. Using heartburn tablets for calcium is a myth. The best combination is Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D and Magnesium.
Preventive Measures against Infection: “Probioticsâ€, the good bacteria we all need in our Immune Systems, are important to women’s health and young girls as well. Probiotics live in the intestines and are vital for good digestion. A healthy “gut†is a key to good bodily functions.
Everyone has some good and bad bacteria, but females are more prone to urinary tract and yeast infections which can occur when good bacteria is depleted. Any lowering of your Immune System can set this off – antibiotics, a sugary diet, intestinal ailments or continued feminine moistness from poorly structured underwear, water athletics, or even intercourse.
What are the most important supplements a woman should consider taking?
If you are of child-bearing age and thinking about having kids, it’s time to get serious about folic acid. A multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid or a customized folic acid supplement will likely do the trick … but don’t wait until you get pregnant. Women of child-bearing age should be taking folic acid before conception to prevent certain birth defects like spina bifida. Women capable of pregnancy should also consider an iron supplement. Others to consider with your healthcare professional include B Complex, Vitamin C and Vitamin K as well as some botanical supplements like soy, green tea and black cohosh.
Women’s fitness becomes more important as you get older. It can help you look younger and have a more appealing body. Women tend to gain weight as they get older because metabolism slows down. Your bones can become more brittle and you can develop serious health issues. Physical fitness can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes. It can also help regulate your period and reduce the effects of PMS, both mentally and physically. Some women find staying fit helps them get through menopause easier as well. If you only take time to do one thing for yourself this is it, women’s fitness will benefit you now and in the future.
When women diet to lose weight, especially after menopause, they will not be able to continue losing weight unless they also exercise. This is because exercise prevents the decrease in metabolism that occurs when women diet without exercising. Exercise also prevents loss of muscle. If you diet without exercising, you lose muscle along with the fat, which is not healthy.
Exercise for weight loss does not have to involve working out in the gym. Actually, the “right” exercise is simply the one you will actually do.
Clearly, men and women tend to deal with stress in very different ways — but why? One of the most important reasons why men and women react differently to stress is hormones. Three play a crucial role: cortisol, epinephrine, and oxytocin.
When stress strikes, hormones called cortisol and epinephrine together raise a person’s blood pressure and circulating blood sugar level, and cortisol alone lowers the effectiveness of the immune system.
In women, when cortisol and epinephrine rush through the bloodstream in a stressful situation, oxytocin comes into play. It is released from the brain, countering the production of cortisol and epinephrine, and promoting nurturing and relaxing emotions.
Eat a balanced, nutritious diet. Eating well, getting enough sleep, and avoiding alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and junk food can help strengthen your immune system and your stress resistance.
Not every women needs to do all of these things. Some approaches may work for some people and others for other people. The key is to use the ones that work for you, and keep in mind that some of these become more effective with practice. Also, if stress starts making you feel especially overwhelmed and unable to cope, seek help from a professional trained to help.
Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one.
Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!
Written By Glenn Ellis