Women's Health

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Women's health requires certain important nutrients 

What do women want? Well, after they fulfill their goddess role in giving life to a new generation of humans, they certainly do not want the “baby blues,” aka post-partum depression.

Enter omega-3 DHA – the more you get the lower chance you get of getting it.¹ Between 700 miligrams and 1,500 milligrams a day ought to do it.² And if somehow you haven’t been paying attention to all the press they have been getting, great supplements for DHA include krill oil and fish oil. In one krill oil study, it was found to be very effective against PMS (postmenopausal syndrome). 

In addition, a 2010 study sought to discover if there was a connection between the amounts of fatty acid intake and breast cancer. The researchers studied some 72,000 women, comparing their rates of breast cancer to the various levels of omega-3 and omega-6 intake. Among other things, they found that women who had a lower intake of marine-derived omega-3s (such as those found in krill oil and fish oil) and a higher intake of omega-6s (the fatty acids we have such an abundance of in our modern diets from processed foods) had an increased risk of breast cancer, and vice versa.⁶  

After the baby is raised and gone, menopause is the next great hurdle on the feminine journey. Hot flashes and osteoporsis, anyone? Menopausal symptoms are caused by hormonal imbalances, which can be eased by hormonal and nutritional support. According to Gregory Pouls and co-authors in The Supplement Shopper (Future Medicine Publishing, 1999), “Phytoestrogenic herbs include dong quai, licorice root, and black cohosh. Chasteberry also helps balance hormones and alleviate menopausal symptoms, possibly through a progesterone-like constituent it is thought to contain.”

Past the acute menopausal time, osteoporosis concerns kick in. Bone-health nutrients have always been led with calcium. Did you know that calcium intake in childhood and adolescence can help prevent osteoporosis later in life? Okay, too late, right? Tell your daughter.

Since vitamin D has always been recognized to be necessary for efficient calcium absorption, for the postmenopausal set calcium and vitamin D together are a fine combination to prevent bone loss and decrease bone breaks.⁴ And both nutrients influence those calcium-regulating hormones. You may want to see WellWise.org's interview with Lyra Heller, an expert on complementary and alternative medicine, about health tips for postmenopausal women. 

The FDA itself has said this about the two: "Adequate calcium and vitamin D throughout life, along with physical activity, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in later life."⁵

You may also want to watch WellWise.org's interview with Lyra Heller on tips for postmenopausal women. Heller is an expert on complementary and alternative medicine, a medical anthropologist and herbologist.

Read about other health conditions here. 

Read about dietary supplements here.

^References:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19699836?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=3

2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19515544?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=3

3. Yoneyama R, et al. Correlation of bone status in mothers and daughters and the improvement of bone status. J Orthop Sci. 2008 Sep;13(5):405-12.

4. Sahota O. Reducing the risk of fractures with calcium and vitamin D. BMJ 2010 Jan 12;340:b5492.

5. www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm152626.htm 

6. Murff HJ, et al. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk in Chinese women: A prospective cohort study. Int J Cancer. 2010 Sep 28. [Epub ahead of print]