Category: Women

What Are The 3 Most Important Vitamins And Minerals For Women’s Health?

Aug

2017

When you hear about vitamins and minerals being essential for life, that is no exaggeration. These nutrients are vital for a person to stay alive. Without nutrients like vitamins and minerals in the body, you would not be able to breathe, digest food or even walk to the corner. Unfortunately, the majority of people are not getting enough of these essential nutrients through their diets, and it can be even more difficult for women to know which nutrients they may be deficient in.

There are certain vitamins and minerals that all women should be including in their diets, especially women of childbearing age. These nutrients can be absorbed either through nutrition or through supplementation.

B Vitamins

There are eight B vitamins, and they are also referred to as the B-complex vitamins. These vitamins help maintain metabolism, sharp mental focus and muscle tone. B9 is one of the most essential of these vitamins for young women. B9 is also known as folic acid and helps protect against cancer and red blood cells healthy. A great way to get vitamins is by eating a fortified instant porridge.

The recommended dosage for women is 400mcg, and 600mcg if they are pregnant or nursing. Women generally do not need to use a supplement for this vitamin complex unless they are pregnant. Beans, whole grains, fortified cereals and asparagus all contain B vitamins.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is the overachiever of the nutrients. Not only does Vitamin A improves vision and reduce the risk of hear disease, but it also helps to slow the signs of aging. Keep in mind, Vitamin A can become toxic when taken in large doses. This is why it is important to know the recommended dosage and stick to it.

A Vitamin A deficiency can be categorized as primary or secondary.The first deficiency is caused by an inadequate intake of Vitamin A from fruit and vegetable sources or from dairy and animal products.

A secondary deficiency is caused by malabsorption of lipids and/or impaired bile function.

It is best to get Vitamin A from a food source instead of a supplement. Vitamin A occurs naturally in beta-carotene food sources like cantaloupe and carrots.

Vitamin D

Similar to Vitamin A, Vitamin D is considered a wonder nutrient. Research has shown that Vitamin D has the potential to reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer by almost 50 percent. It also shows promise of effectively preventing from diabetes and ovarian cancer.

Vitamin D also helps with muscle function and calcium absorption. The recommended dosage for women is 1000 to 2000 IU, and it can be obtained through food sources like salmon, milk and orange juice.

Unfortunately, these food sources contain small amounts of Vitamin D so it is a nutrient that should be supplemented. Spending 15 minutes a day in the sun can also help the body get the proper amount of Vitamin D, but this can be difficult for those who live in colder climates.

According to a dentist in Cape Town Vitamin D also helps with oral health as it helps the bones that support teeth absorb calcium.

These are the nutrients that are the most important in maintaining a woman’s health. By eating a balanced diet and supplementing when necessary, you can prevent the progression of many health conditions.

3 Different Ways To Help Osteoporosis

Aug

2017

Osteoporosis is one of the biggest diseases that affects half of all women that reach age 60. Unfortunately, it is a disease that can be debilitating. While men are not immune to this problem, there is a much larger chance that a woman suffers from it. In fact, it is so prevalent now, that it has become an epidemic of sorts. Below, we will be going over some of the different ways in which you might be able to prevent this disease from affecting yourself.

How To Prevent Osteoporosis:

1. Quit Drinking Soda.

One of the biggest things that you are going to want to do when it comes to preventing osteoporosis is to stop drinking carbonated beverages. These kinds of beverages can end up leaching calcium from your bones. A lot of people that drink a lot of carbonated beverages suffer from bone loss as a direct result. Along with this, these kinds of beverages have a lot of phosphates which can result in even further calcium depletion.

2. Reduce Protein Intake.

Another major thing that you are going to want to do is try to minimize the amount of protein you consume on a regular basis. While protein is essential for your muscles, too much protein intake can result in too much acidity in the body. This can in turn cause calcium to be lost in the urine. Most people only need around 2 to 4 ounces of lean protein intake around 3 times per day. The average diet contains 2 to 3 times this amount which is considered excess.

3. Reduce Or Eliminate Caffeine Intake.

Another significant contributor to this disease is having too much caffeine intake. Each cup of coffee that you drink can actually deplete 150 mg of calcium in your urine. If you cannot cut out caffeine entirely, you will want to at least increase your calcium intake by a minimum of 150 mg for each cup that you are going to drink throughout the day.

4. Get Vitamin D.

Another huge contributor to the rise of this disease is the fact that a majority of people are not getting enough vitamin D in their life. Vitamin D is one of the biggest epidemics in our society which is important when considering this disease because Vitamin D is necessary in order for the body to be able to properly absorb calcium and put it in the bones. Therefore, if you are not getting a sufficient amount of vitamin D in your body, you are going to end up being deficient in calcium as a direct result.

5. Exercise More.

Another important thing that you are going to want to do is make sure that you are exercising as much as possible. When muscles pull against the bones during various exercises, it ultimately stimulates the bones which can increase bone growth and density.

Overall, there is a lot that can be done to minimize the risk of suffering from this disease. The tips above are a great start. By positioning your health better with the tips above, you should be able to minimize the chances that this disease negatively affects you. Be sure to increase your vitamin D intake whether through increased sun exposure or through proper supplementation and you should achieve good results. Along with this, you want to make sure that you cut out caffeine and eliminate carbonated beverages from your diet as it can leach calcium directly from your bones. All of these things are going to put your body in a good position to be as healthy as possible.

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Three Facts You Have Never Heard About Menopause

Aug

2017

As you may know, there is plenty of information available about menopause. In fact, there is so much out there, it is easy to get lost in it all. Have you been reading through blogs and journals only to seem as though you are reading the same facts over and over?

We wanted to take away all of the dullness and surprise you with 3 facts you more than likely have not heard or read about. These facts are going to help you ease any symptoms, avoid possible triggers, and learn more about the transition in general.

Less Quality Of Life

You may have heard the rumors that life is over once the menopause transition begins. However, that is simply not the case at all. In fact, the vast majority of women acknowledge the fact that menopause does very little to their quality of life and emotional state. Only one out of ten women will report feeling any different about life or clinically depressed. With this information, you should rest easily knowing that it is not the end of the world. While depression is not a key element in menopause, hot flashes are.

If depression is not a key element of menopause, you should know that hot flashes are. In fact, hot flashes are one of those symptoms that every woman believes she is going to face at some point. However, it is not always a guaranteed symptom. Typically nine out of ten women will suffer through this symptom. While this may be disheartening news, it should be known that the intensity will decrease over time. The vast majority of women will have the most intense hot flashes at the earliest stages of menopause. However, there is somewhat of a cure to this symptom through the use of soy.

While soy may not be a major food factor in the United States it is in other nations. In fact, in Asia, women report having fewer hot flashes than women in the United States. This may be due to higher amounts of soy that are used in Asia, researchers are still studying the phenomenon. Regardless of the fact, soy is filled with plenty of nutrients, so it is beneficial in many ways. Time will only tell if soy is a key factor in hot flashes during menopause, however, you can get ahead of the wave and conduct your own research.

As you can see, there are a few things that the books are not all talking about. You do not have to worry about feeling depressed all of the time because of menopause and hot flashes do not cause years of pain. In addition, if you want to try and reduce the overall effects of menopause and hot flashes, try to add more soy to your diet.It is possible to fully enjoy these years in your life and not be as miserable as what all the books say you have to be! Enjoy these years and make the most of them!

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Two Tips To Stay Healthy As A Woman

Aug

2017

Whether you are a male or a female, there are fundamental things that you should do to keep yourself healthy. For both men and women, a good diet along with exercise are essential for a healthy mind and body. However, males and females are different, and there are some things that women should do that have nothing to do with men when it comes to maintaining good health. Here are two tips to stay healthy as a woman:

Regular Pap Smears

A doctor by the name of Georgios Papanikolaou invented the term “pap smear.” A pap smear is a procedure to determine if a woman has signs of cervical cancer, most often caused by the HPV virus. Using an instrument, a gynecologist gently removes some cells from the cervix and has them tested by a lab. The procedure, which is done in a gynecological doctor’s office and which begins at around 21 years of age, may be slightly uncomfortable, but never painful. If the test is normal, the patient simply needs to return at a date determined by the doctor, which is anywhere from one year to five years depending on the patient. For example, if a patient is HIV positive, a physician may want that patient to come in more frequently than a healthy patient. If the result of the exam is abnormal, further medical care needs to be done to determine if the abnormality is cancerous or not. Although younger women are encouraged to come in for regular pap smears, women after the age of 65 may no longer need to get pap smears.

Mammograms

Another medical procedure that every woman should have is a mammogram. A mammogram is a test that a woman undergoes to determine if she has breast cancer. A mammogram is pictures of the breast taken with an x-ray machine. The procedure is done on healthy breasts simply as part of an annual appointment, or the procedure is done if a woman is complaining of a lump or pain on her breast. Women, between the ages of 40 and 70, are highly encouraged to get regular mammograms every two years. Younger women, under the age of 40, are not encouraged to come in for mammograms unless they have a history of breast cancer or are at high risk. However, in addition to mammograms, women are encouraged to give themselves self-breast exams, because in some cases, mammograms can’t find everything. The results of a mammogram can be negative or benign, which means simply coming back for a regular checkup in a couple of years. But if the results are abnormal or malignant, it means there will be the need for a biopsy and if necessary, treatment for breast cancer.

Women die every year of cervical cancer and breast cancer. So in addition to eating right and exercising, it’s important for a woman to keep up with certain medical procedures, and those include pap smears and mammograms on a regular basis.

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