Celebrate International Women’s Day by exploring essential aspects of women’s health in this week’s blog, focusing on nutrition. From hormonal balance to bone health, discover how dietary choices can profoundly impact overall wellbeing, offering insights and practical tips to optimize health and vitality for women at every stage of life. Hormonal balance, bone health and stress reduction are some of the factors that impact females more than males throughout the lifecycle.
Read on for some tips and tricks to keep your hormone balanced.
Hormonal balance
Hormonal balance is extremely important for the health and wellbeing of women. As female hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate throughout the menstrual and lifecycle, more attention is required than males to fulfil their nutritional intake needs. Disruption in hormonal balance can lead to health implications including menstrual irregularities, weight gain and mood swings.
Arguably the most important things we can do for our overall health and metabolism is to eat enough food. Not reaching our daily caloric demands may lead to disruptions in menstruation, performance and bone mass. This in turn can increase future risk of osteoporosis and injuries.
After this, our hormones best friends are healthy fats.
This includes foods such as:
- avocados
- nuts
- seeds and
- olive oil
At least 20% of total calories should come from healthy fats from the diet. This allows for hormonal balance which impacts regular menstrual cycles and overall health.
Did you know that most people need an average of 500+ calories just before their period?
Increasing these healthy fats in your diet in the lead up will help your hormones AND your food cravings. As for every cohort, 2 portions of oily fish per week is recommended to obtain adequate omega-3.
This will:
- decrease inflammation
- enhance cardiovascular health and
- ensure the nervous system is working adequately.
Quality proteins such as meat fish and eggs are also appreciated by the hormones. Wholegrain carbs are also as important as every to allow sustained energy levels throughout the day. In contrast, alcohol and artificial sweeteners can negatively affect hormones.
Bone Health
Oestrogen helps to regulate the breakdown of old bone tissue and formation of new bone. In young adults this process is balanced. As women age and enter menopause, the body’s oestrogen producing capabilities decline. This results in the rate of bone breakdown being exceeding by bone formation and leads to a decrease in bone density which puts women at a higher risk for osteoporosis and fractures.
As well as partaking in regular weight-bearing exercises to look stimulate and maintain bone density, diet can also play an important role. Calcium is extremely important for building and maintaining strong bones. Vitamin D helps the body to absorb this calcium.
Including foods high in calcium in the diet such as:
- dairy
- leafy green vegetables
- Beans and lentils
- seeds and
- sardines & canned salmon
Getting sun exposure from vitamin D, fatty fish and fortified foods is recommended to also help maintain bone health. Considering supplements may be advised if dietary intake of these foods is low.
Women’s Health & Nutrition – In summary
Hormones impact growth and development, metabolism, digestion, fertility, mood, stress, energy, appetite and weight (just to name a few). Ensuring your diet is high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and wholegrains, vitamin D and calcium will help to keep hormones balanced and sustain bone mass. Without enough calories and healthy fats, hormones will be disrupted and in time produce issues such as menstrual irregularities or weight gain. It is important to also aim to get good nights sleep, and limit stress, alcohol and processed foods to maintain health and wellbeing. Women’s health and nutrition are one and the same, the better you can eat, the healthier you will be.
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