Nutrition for Every Woman
When it comes to a woman’s health, no matter which stage of life she is in (cycling, pre-menopause or post menopause), the impacts of nutrition cannot be stressed enough!
First and foremost, enhancing digestion is crucial to ensure proper absorption of nutrients and to access the building blocks needed to build hormones. It is important to identify and remove food triggers that cause an inflammatory response in the gut and result in systemic stress.
In a cycling woman, digestion is also important in the elimination of conjugated estrogen. The liver’s ability to conjugate and eliminate excess estrogen is greatly affected by proper nutrition.
Hydration is critical for proper cell function. Hormone receptor cites need to be well hydrated. Water retention is common in high estrogen states, especially proceeding ovulation, during pregnancy, and while taking estrogen dominant oral contraceptives. This makes hydration a key to hormonal wellness through all stages of life.
Adequate cholesterol is needed to produce all of our steroid hormones. The thought that we could have good hormonal health on a low-fat diet is absurd! Cholesterol is the precursor for the “mother hormone” pregnenolone, which is a derivative of other downstream hormones.
Blood sugar fluctuation significantly impacts adrenal function. Insulin is one of the body’s major hormones. It’s impossible to balance other hormones like progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone without first balancing insulin metabolism. A diet rich in processed foods and refined carbohydrates is a major source of wildly fluctuating blood sugar, and it’s a huge adrenal stressor. Eating nicely balanced meals with lots of non-starchy vegetables, high quality proteins, and good fats is ideal. Moderate intake of starches that come from vegetable sources like sweet potatoes, root veggies, and winter squash will ensure blood sugar levels are in balance and help supply B vitamins, nutrients, and other critical minerals required for hormonal balance.
Women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) have a higher risk of hypothyroidism, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. All of these issues can be directly affected by diet.
For those afflicted with menorrhagia (abnormally prolonged and heavy bleeding), a nutrient dense diet that regulates blood sugar is always the starting point.
And we can’t forget about the importance of nutrition for bone health. Once a woman enters peri-menopause and menopause, osteoporosis becomes a concern. What is essential for bone health and remodeling comes largely through properly ingested nutrition, specific proteins, collagen fibers, vitamins, minerals and supplements along with key hormones.
There are specific nutritional therapies that can be implemented and are highly effective to support women’s balance. For example, ‘seed cycling’ is an ancient art used through specific times in a cycle to help support hormone production and regulation.
Days 1-14: Grind together equal parts flax and pumpkin seeds. Eat 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture daily. Day 15 through the end of the cycle: Grind together equal parts sunflower and sesame seeds. Eat 1-2 tablespoons of this mixture daily. It can be added to salads, smoothies, or sprinkled on any dish.
After menopause, one of the most important systems is the adrenal glands as they continue to produce some estrogen and progesterone to compensate for the low production from the ovaries. Estrogen is also produced by using what the body has stored in fat tissue. Reducing stress and maximizing nutrition is vital for supporting the adrenal glands so they may produce a healthy hormonal output. Dreaded symptoms of night sweats, hot flashes, weight gain, insomnia, low libido, etc. associated with menopause are absolutely unnecessary.
Nutrition is key for every woman as she transitions into the different stages of her life. It can pave the way for a smooth transition into menopause in the later years. Women should truly be able to enjoy the transitioning processes and maturing stages of life!
Stephanie Johnson is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and counselor. She is the owner of Vitality Health Solutions. For more information or to make an appointment, please visit vitalityhealthsolutions.net.
