Weight Loss Spotlight

Women's Health

Women's Health Advice & Tips

Men and women are as we already know very different when it comes to how our bodies respond to food, exercise and life situations in general.

Women's health consequently needs to be looked at very differently then a man's. Female hormones are playing a major part in a woman's daily life and how they feel from day to day.

Women are at particular risk of developing osteoporosis and iron-deficiency anemia. Women can however reduce the risk of osteoporosis greatly with a diet rich in calcium and a weight bearing exercise program. The average female age 25-40 consumes only half the amount of calcium needed to prevent bone density loss.

Iron is very important to a woman's health. About 40% of the American female population between the ages of 20 and 50 are effected by iron-deficiency anemia. Iron is needed in the female body to form hemoglobin which is an iron-containing protein that carries oxygen in the blood and releases it to the tissues. Without a sufficient amount of iron in your body, the muscle doesn't receive the adequate amount of oxygen and both endurance and muscle strength are reduced.

Women also have different nutritional needs when pregnant and lactating. Increased calories are required in order to provide nutrients for a mother and her growing baby (see: fit pregnancy.)

Getting the right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat in the diet for women can sometimes be a science since women's hormones react to certain foods a lot stronger then male hormones in men do. For instance eating complex carbohydrates close to menstruation could result in water retention and swollen fingers and limbs. Available in your health food store are special female herbs and other supplements especially for women that work on establishing a hormonal balance within the female body.

To mention a few: Primrose oil, Dong Quai, Juniper berries, Dandelion root, Uva ursi, B6, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Fewerfew, Damiana, Wild Yam, red Raspberry, Licorice Root, Saw Palmetto, Ginger, Black Cohosh and Sarsaparilla.

Saw Palmetto is usually known as a male herb but it is also very helpful for women to ease ovarian and uterine irritability. Saw Palmetto also has a hormonal balancing effect both for men and women, balancing their male and female hormones.

The female body reacts differently to stress and the tension is stored in different muscles then in a man. When women get stressed out they tend to carry all the stress in the trapezius muscle that runs from your mid back up to your neck and out to your shoulders. The men carry their stress in the hamstring muscle.

Getting regular massages can prevent stress as well as keeping the pain level of tension in the muscles down, which boosts women's health.