Women's Nutrition
Women need fewer calories but more nutrients than men to be at their best. See how women's needs differ in part 1 of our two-part series.
According to the old nursery rhyme, little boys and little girls are made of very different things. While you can fault the rhyme for not being factually accurate, it does highlight an interesting point. In some respects, men and women have different nutritional needs, largely due to differences in male and female hormones.
But we don't start out all that differently, nutritionally speaking.
"If you look at the current federal dietary guidelines for kids, there is no difference in nutritional needs for males and females until age 9," says Elaine Turner, PhD, RD, associate professor in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Once we hit puberty, however, she added, everything changes. And women's unique role as the bearers of children tends to drive their special nutritional needs.
"A woman and man of the exact weight and percentage of fat would burn the same amount of calories for the same amount of exercise," says Sharon B. Spalding, MEd, CSCS, professor of physical education and health at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va. "However men are usually larger with a higher lean weight and will burn more calories."
Body composition comes into the picture, she says, because we know that muscle takes more calories to maintain -- even when you're not exercising -- than fat.
So women need fewer calories than men in part because they tend to be smaller and have higher fat percentages than men. That means women have to be choosier about what they eat. If you need fewer calories, the calories you take in need to pack a lot of nutritional punch.
In general, women need around 1,200 calories every day and men need a few hundred calories more. If you exercise you'll need much more depending on how active you are.
"Remember that to determine caloric expenditure one must take into consideration the intensity and duration of the activity, as well as the body weight of the person exercising," said Spalding.
More Iron, Please. For women of childbearing age, blood loss through menstruation can lead to iron deficiency. The Institute for Medicine of the National Academies recommends a daily allowance of 18 milligrams of iron for women aged 19 to 50. During pregnancy a woman's requirements are even greater. Men in that same age range need just 8 milligrams daily.
"Iron is one of the few things women need way more of than men," Spalding says.
Most men get all the iron that they need from the food they eat. For many women, it's often not so easy, because they have lower calorie needs.
5 Nutrition Tips for Women
Iron Women
Due to our monthly cycles, pre-menopausal women simply need more iron. Iron-deficiency anemia is very common in young women. The recommended iron intake for pre-menopausal women is 18 mg, and the recommendation increases to 27 mg for pregnant women. Our No. 1 nutrition tip for women is to regularly include iron-rich foods such as meat, shellfish, beans and enriched cereals in your diet.
Bone up on Calcium AND Vitamin D
Calcium not only builds and strengthens bones and teeth. It is also important in maintaining normal heart beat and regulating blood pressure. Some studies suggest that calcium supplements may help relieve premenstrual syndrome PMS. On the other hand, vitamin D nutrition plays an integral role in calcium metabolism. Studies showed that women with vitamin D insufficiency absorb less than 10 percent of available calcium. In other words, even if you have an adequate calcium intake, you may not absorb it effectively if you have low levels of vitamin D. For average adult women, the recommended intake for calcium and vitamin D is 1000 mg and 200 IU respectively.
Love your Dark Greens
Green vegetables such as kale, chard, collard greens, bok choy, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc. are packed with vitamins A and C, fiber and phytonutrients. In addition, they are also high in folate, an important vitamin for pregnant women to prevent neural-tube defects in infants. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommends at least 2 1/2 cups of vegetables daily.
Go Berries
Berries by far are my favorite fruits! They are loaded with vitamin C, folate, fiber and phytonutrients. Indeed, fresh berries are some of the most powerful disease-fighting foods available as they top the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) score chart, which is a method of measuring antioxidant activity.Cranberries, for instance, are shown to decrease incidences of urinary infection in women. Super powerful for such tiny fruits! Here's a nutrition tip for all women - berries are your friends.
Eat Breakfast
This nutrition tip cannot be simpler! Not only does breakfast give you the fuel to start a new day; it also helps maintain your weight. When we skip a meal, our body thinks that we are in starvation mode and therefore slows down our metabolism as a means to compensate. We then tend to overeat at the next meal. Try including at least three food groups in your breakfast so that you do not need to prowl for a mid-morning snack.
Fitness
Wondering what you need to know to improve your physical fitness and help reduce your heart disease risk? Let’s start with these fitness basics.
Physical activity is anything that makes you move your body and burn calories.
For people who would benefit from lowering their blood pressure or cholesterol, the American Heart Association recommends 40 minutes of aerobic exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity three to four times a week to lower the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Below are several key types of exercise that can all help you improve your level of fitness.
1. Strength and resistance training
Strength and resistance training are important elements of a good physical activity routine. The American Heart Association recommends strength training at least twice per week.
A well-rounded strength-training program provides the following benefits:
2. Walking and running
Walking is a great way to get you moving with minimal impact on your body. It’s also low-risk and easy to start. While the AHA recommends that adults get 150 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, even short 10 minute activity sessions can be added up over the week to reach this goal.
A regular walking program can also:
Do you want to start jogging or running but aren’t sure how? Dr. Deborah Rohm Young, vice chair of the AHA’s Physical Activity Subcommittee, encourages women to start by setting small goals. Begin by walking 15 minutes four times per week, Young suggests. “You can experience an increased sense of wellbeing almost immediately,” she says. “From there, you can have more energy to do other things.”
3. Yoga. Yoga is an ancient practice with potential mental and physical health benefits for people of all ages.
Practicing yoga—as part of an overall healthy lifestyle—can:
In addition, yoga poses require stretching, increasing flexibility.
Flexibility activities are an appropriate part of a physical activity program. Note however that yoga does not count toward the 150-minutes-per-week of recommended moderate activity. That’s due in part because some forms of yoga do not raise the heart rate enough to achieve moderate intensity aerobic activity for a sustained period
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Women need fewer calories but more nutrients than men to be at their best. See how women's needs differ in part 1 of our two-part series.
According to the old nursery rhyme, little boys and little girls are made of very different things. While you can fault the rhyme for not being factually accurate, it does highlight an interesting point. In some respects, men and women have different nutritional needs, largely due to differences in male and female hormones.
But we don't start out all that differently, nutritionally speaking.
"If you look at the current federal dietary guidelines for kids, there is no difference in nutritional needs for males and females until age 9," says Elaine Turner, PhD, RD, associate professor in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Once we hit puberty, however, she added, everything changes. And women's unique role as the bearers of children tends to drive their special nutritional needs.
"A woman and man of the exact weight and percentage of fat would burn the same amount of calories for the same amount of exercise," says Sharon B. Spalding, MEd, CSCS, professor of physical education and health at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va. "However men are usually larger with a higher lean weight and will burn more calories."
Body composition comes into the picture, she says, because we know that muscle takes more calories to maintain -- even when you're not exercising -- than fat.
So women need fewer calories than men in part because they tend to be smaller and have higher fat percentages than men. That means women have to be choosier about what they eat. If you need fewer calories, the calories you take in need to pack a lot of nutritional punch.
In general, women need around 1,200 calories every day and men need a few hundred calories more. If you exercise you'll need much more depending on how active you are.
"Remember that to determine caloric expenditure one must take into consideration the intensity and duration of the activity, as well as the body weight of the person exercising," said Spalding.
More Iron, Please. For women of childbearing age, blood loss through menstruation can lead to iron deficiency. The Institute for Medicine of the National Academies recommends a daily allowance of 18 milligrams of iron for women aged 19 to 50. During pregnancy a woman's requirements are even greater. Men in that same age range need just 8 milligrams daily.
"Iron is one of the few things women need way more of than men," Spalding says.
Most men get all the iron that they need from the food they eat. For many women, it's often not so easy, because they have lower calorie needs.
5 Nutrition Tips for Women
Iron Women
Due to our monthly cycles, pre-menopausal women simply need more iron. Iron-deficiency anemia is very common in young women. The recommended iron intake for pre-menopausal women is 18 mg, and the recommendation increases to 27 mg for pregnant women. Our No. 1 nutrition tip for women is to regularly include iron-rich foods such as meat, shellfish, beans and enriched cereals in your diet.
Bone up on Calcium AND Vitamin D
Calcium not only builds and strengthens bones and teeth. It is also important in maintaining normal heart beat and regulating blood pressure. Some studies suggest that calcium supplements may help relieve premenstrual syndrome PMS. On the other hand, vitamin D nutrition plays an integral role in calcium metabolism. Studies showed that women with vitamin D insufficiency absorb less than 10 percent of available calcium. In other words, even if you have an adequate calcium intake, you may not absorb it effectively if you have low levels of vitamin D. For average adult women, the recommended intake for calcium and vitamin D is 1000 mg and 200 IU respectively.
Love your Dark Greens
Green vegetables such as kale, chard, collard greens, bok choy, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc. are packed with vitamins A and C, fiber and phytonutrients. In addition, they are also high in folate, an important vitamin for pregnant women to prevent neural-tube defects in infants. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommends at least 2 1/2 cups of vegetables daily.
Go Berries
Berries by far are my favorite fruits! They are loaded with vitamin C, folate, fiber and phytonutrients. Indeed, fresh berries are some of the most powerful disease-fighting foods available as they top the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) score chart, which is a method of measuring antioxidant activity.Cranberries, for instance, are shown to decrease incidences of urinary infection in women. Super powerful for such tiny fruits! Here's a nutrition tip for all women - berries are your friends.
Eat Breakfast
This nutrition tip cannot be simpler! Not only does breakfast give you the fuel to start a new day; it also helps maintain your weight. When we skip a meal, our body thinks that we are in starvation mode and therefore slows down our metabolism as a means to compensate. We then tend to overeat at the next meal. Try including at least three food groups in your breakfast so that you do not need to prowl for a mid-morning snack.
Fitness
Wondering what you need to know to improve your physical fitness and help reduce your heart disease risk? Let’s start with these fitness basics.
Physical activity is anything that makes you move your body and burn calories.
For people who would benefit from lowering their blood pressure or cholesterol, the American Heart Association recommends 40 minutes of aerobic exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity three to four times a week to lower the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Below are several key types of exercise that can all help you improve your level of fitness.
1. Strength and resistance training
Strength and resistance training are important elements of a good physical activity routine. The American Heart Association recommends strength training at least twice per week.
A well-rounded strength-training program provides the following benefits:
- Increased strength of bones, muscles and connective tissues (tendons and ligaments)
- Lower risk of injury
- Increased muscle mass, which makes it easier for your body to burn calories and thus maintain a healthy weight
- Better quality of life
2. Walking and running
Walking is a great way to get you moving with minimal impact on your body. It’s also low-risk and easy to start. While the AHA recommends that adults get 150 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, even short 10 minute activity sessions can be added up over the week to reach this goal.
A regular walking program can also:
- Improve your cholesterol profile
- Lower blood pressure
- Increase your energy and stamina
- Boost bone strength
- Prevent weight gain
Do you want to start jogging or running but aren’t sure how? Dr. Deborah Rohm Young, vice chair of the AHA’s Physical Activity Subcommittee, encourages women to start by setting small goals. Begin by walking 15 minutes four times per week, Young suggests. “You can experience an increased sense of wellbeing almost immediately,” she says. “From there, you can have more energy to do other things.”
3. Yoga. Yoga is an ancient practice with potential mental and physical health benefits for people of all ages.
Practicing yoga—as part of an overall healthy lifestyle—can:
- Help lower blood pressure
- Increase lung capacity
- Improve respiratory function
- Boost circulation and
- Tone muscles
- Give you a sense of well-being while building strength
In addition, yoga poses require stretching, increasing flexibility.
Flexibility activities are an appropriate part of a physical activity program. Note however that yoga does not count toward the 150-minutes-per-week of recommended moderate activity. That’s due in part because some forms of yoga do not raise the heart rate enough to achieve moderate intensity aerobic activity for a sustained period
Our Sponsors;
How to lose belly fat.
Work Out Programs
Metabolic Cooking