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Women lead diverse and dynamic lives juggling among different roles and responsibilities, while in the midst of it all, they often forget to take care of their health and nurture their well-being. Nutrition plays an important role in building the foundation of a longer and healthier life. Irrespective of their age, women should be conscious of in-taking proper nutrition and a healthy diet while focusing on embracing a healthy lifestyle.
Essential Nutrients That Every Woman Needs:
Dr. Brundavani, who is a Nutritionist at Rainbow Children’s Hospital and BirthRight by Rainbow Hospitals said, “A woman’s body changes in every phase of her life. Having a platter of nutrient-dense food items is essential for a woman’s body. Between their late teens to late 50s, women should pay extra attention to their body needs in order to avoid a number of health problems in the latter days.”
Below mentioned are a few essential nutrients suggested by her that every woman can take at any stage of their life for gaining an optimal health:
- Folate: Folate is an important nutrient that every woman should incorporate in their platter. It serves as an all-rounder helping in heart health, nerve functions, skin and eye problems, digestion, blood health and energy production. Women are also advised to take folate induced food items during pregnancy as it helps to lower the risk of birth defects in babies. One can consume leafy green vegetables, legumes, fortified cereals, and citrus fruits, likewise expert consultation is recommended for in-taking extra supplements.
- Iron: Iron is another important nutrient for a woman’s body as it is crucial for maintaining healthy blood and preventing anemia, that can cause fatigue and weakness. It also helps in other body functions like transporting oxygen to the body tissues. Experts recommend on in-taking iron with vitamin C rich food items for better absorption and digestion. Iron rich food items include lean red meats, poultry, fish, and beans.
- Vitamin D: Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption, immune function, and overall health. It works as a hormone in a woman’s body. It is recommended to spend a few hours under the sun-rays preferably in the morning or late afternoon as it is the easiest way to in-take vitamin D, while one can also consume lots of dairy products, fatty fish, and vitamin D supplements.
- Calcium: Calcium is vital for maintaining strong bones and teeth. Women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis, a condition characterized by weak and brittle bones, especially as they age therefore proper in-take of calcium is important for women at any age. One can induce calcium through the in-take of dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese into your diet. But if one is lactose intolerant or vegan, they can opt for plant-based milk, and leafy greens (kale, spinach).
- Omega 3 Fatty Acid: Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for maintaining good heart health and also helps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death among women. Rich sources of omega 3 fatty acids are ghee, avocado, walnuts, chia seeds and olive oil.
“Apart from the above mentioned nutrients, women should also drink plenty of water as sufficient hydration is the key to all the health problems. They should also focus on in-taking fiber rich food items, limit their sugar intake and maintain a balanced diet with a variety of foods items. Expert consultation is crucial to understand what works the best for one’s body and also to identify if anyone has any allergy to any specific food item,” she added.
In addition to her, Dr Anitha Varghese, who is an MD (Internal Medicine), IDCCM , Consultant Physician, at Trilife Speciality Hospital, Kamanahalli, Bangalore shared a few more nutrients required by women:
1. Protein:
Women need around 0.8 gram per body weight in kilograms. Protein helps to build muscle mass, recovery from illness and in healing. Menopausal women have higher requirements of protein, around 1.2 grams per kg of of body weight as estorgen declines in menopause and that causes loss of muscle mass.
Sources of protein are: meat, seafood, eggs, soya, dairy products
2. Magnesium:
Magnesium levels might drop when women are under stress. Additionally, magnesium can aid in hormone control, muscle relaxation, and sleep. It can be availed through the consumption of plenty of green leafy vegetables or daily supplementation.
Essential nutrients For Women At Different Age Groups:
Dietician Garima Goyal listed down the essesntial nutrients needed by females across different age groups:
1. Nutritional needs in childhood and teenage years: A girl should have a well balanced diet that means including the most important food groups in her diet in the form of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low fat dairy products. This stage of a girl’s life demands two nutrients mainly and that are calcium and iron.
- Calcium: During the phase of puberty and early adulthood in a woman, her bones are absorbing more calcium and that is why this mineral needs a special attention. Also Vitamin D should be focused on as it helps in better absorption of calcium from the food sources. One of the best known sources of calcium include dairy products and that too low fat such as milk, curd, yoghurt, paneer etc., makhanas, ragi etc.
- Iron: Puberty marks the onset of menstruation in girls and for this, body needs optimum intake of iron as blood loss may dispose a woman’s body to anaemia. Iron deficiency anaemia should definitely be worked upon as it can cause poor work performance of the girls in school, cause more fatigue etc. Talking about iron sources, they are lean proteins such as meat, fish etc., beans, lentils, iron fortified breakfast cereals etc.
2. Nutritional needs in child bearing years: All those women who have entered adulthood and will soon get married or planning to have a child should focus on certain nutrients for their coming child’s health. These nutrients are calcium, iron, vitamin D, folic acid, vitamin B12, healthy fats in the form of omega 3 fats etc.
- Folic acid: Also named as vitamin B9, this vitamin needs a special attention during child bearing years as folic acid is essential for closing of the neural tube in the foetus just after 26 days of conception, a time frame when women usually don’t even know that they are expecting. So having enough stores of folic acid in a woman of child bearing age is crucial to prevent neural tube defects in the foetus. Sources include dark green leafy vegetables and also a woman trying to conceive may be suggested a folic acid supplement too.
- Vitamin B12: Women who are vegetarians should especially focus on supplementing their diet with this vitamin, a vitamin primarily present in foods of animal origin. This vitamin is important for its role in nervous system development and function of the foetus.
- Choline: Choline is an organic compound that is neither a mineral nor a vitamin. Its another nutrient that is needed by our body for nervous system development of the growing foetus and preventing neural tube defects. An excellent source of choline is egg and other than that, you can choose peanuts, low fat dairy products etc. for this nutrient.
- Omega 3 fatty acids: A women of child bearing age should have sufficient amounts of omega 3 fatty acids. Two most important ones are – DHA (docisahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). These are needed for developing healthy brain and nerve cells and for preventing premature deliveries.
- Calcium and vitamin D: As a growing baby in the womb completes its calcium needs anyhow, may it be by absorbing the calcium from mother’s bones, calcium should be a must in the diet of a woman of child bearing age. To increase the absorption of calcium, vitamin D should also be consumed.
- Iron: Iron supplies need to be well maintained in the body as when pregnancy happens, the blood volume doubles and this dramatically increases the need of iron in the body.
3. Nutritional needs in the years following menopause: This stage of phase is again different for a woman’s lifespan as she is not menstruating anymore. So the need for iron is not as prominent as is the need of calcium. Calcium needs are raised body loses its ability to metabolise or absorb it with ageing.
- Calcium and vitamin D: With ageing, body is not able to well absorb calcium from the food sources and the skin becomes less efficient to convert sunlight into vitamin D. For this reason and to prevent or delay age related bone loss and degeneration, body needs adequate supply of calcium and vitamin D.
- Protein: With deteriorating muscle mass it becomes crucial to include ample protein in your diet from sources such as lean meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products.
Different stages of a woman’s life cycle demands a special focus on certain nutrients and following a healthy well balanced diet is the key to all of this.
[Disclaimer: The information provided in the article, including treatment suggestions shared by doctors, is intended for general informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.]
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