Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet

Lindsey asks a large question:

I’d be interested to know any tips on nutrition for women. e.g. specific foods that are good for women, perhaps herbs/vitamins that help with PMS symptoms, things that in your opinion are helpful for general women’s wellbeing . . . sorry is that too broad??

Lindsey, yes that is a little broad! So I’m going to leave the PMS stuff for the moment, as that’s almost certainly a whole seperate series of posts.

The main nutritional issues for women are in fact the main nutritional and health issues for everyone:

• maintaining a healthy weight
• regular exercise
• not smoking
• cutting back on the saturated and trans fats
• eating plenty of fruit and vegies
• managing stress

These are the fundamentals of good health for all of us, men and women alike. If you can do these six, then your diet and your health are under control.

However, specific nutritional issues for women can include:

• Iron: the monthly period and subsequent blood loss means that women have a higher iron requirement than men. If you’re feeling tired, regularly out of breath or dizzy, then you may well be anaemic. Your doctor can do a blood test to confirm this. As well as red meat, there are a number of vegetarian sources of iron.
• Bone Health: post-menopause women are at an increased risk of bone fractures, meaning that building up strong and healthy bones NOW is extremely important. I’ve been writing a series of posts on bone health (the first two are here and here), which I’ll be finishing off in the next week.
• Folate: is extremely important for women who want to or might fall pregnant, to prevent neural tube defects. How much folate we need and the sources are here.

19 July, 2007