One of the topics our registered dietitians get asked about the most is the specific dietary needs of women. Are there specific health concerns that can be improved by diet? What about hormonal health? Musculature and bone health?

Our fantastic RDs addressed all of these topics – and more – during the webinar. But we’re also going to quickly go over them here, in case you missed it or want a refresh.

A quick aside on hormones

When we talk about women’s health concerns, especially as they pertain to nutrition, we tend to also talk about hormonal health. And in particular, two hormones come up more than any other:

Thyroid: This hormone plays an important role in our metabolism and menstrual cycle. Low levels of the thyroid hormone are associated with worse outcomes in cardiovascular disease for women.

Estrogen: The primary sex hormone in women, estrogen plays a major role in our reproductive health, as well as our bone and cardiovascular health.

How nutrition impacts hormonal health

The headline here is: “Be Wary of Restrictive and Fad Diets!” 

Low carb or low calorie diets, intermittent fasting… these can lead to inadequate nutrient intake, which can lead to a whole host of issues for us, hormonally:

• Muscle loss 

• Impaired bone mineral density

• Lower thyroid hormones

• Nutrient deficiencies

• Issues with fertility

• Increased risk eating disorders

• Higher risk for heart disease

• Electrolyte imbalances

Muscle and skeletal health

Eating enough in general, and eating enough protein in particular, along with regular movement, are super important to muscular health. 

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, which means it requires energy (calories) to maintain. Muscle plays a role in how quickly and efficiently we move, so as we naturally lose muscle mass with age, we are at an increased risk for falls and subsequent bone injuries. Maintaining a healthy musculature also leads to maintaining a healthy skeletal structure, and restrictive dieting can negatively impact both.

Speaking of bone health, bone mineral density tends to reach its peak when women are between 25 and 30 years old. Around age 40, bone mineral density begins to decline slowly, and that decline becomes more drastic around 50. The better your bone density is at a younger age, the better off you’ll likely be when density starts to decline.

Ways to build and protect bone health include avoiding smoking, eating a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, exercising regularly, getting some consistent – but not excessive – sun exposure (which helps the body absorb vitamin D into the blood stream), and ensuring daily consumption of the recommended amounts of calcium and vitamin D. (The recommended amount of calcium for women is 1000 mg per day and the recommended amount of vitamin D is 600-800 IU per day.)

And on the muscle front, getting enough protein – about 1.2-1.5 g/kg of body weight – helps support muscle growth and maintenance, which also supports bone density. Engaging in resistance training activities is also key because actively challenging muscles is key to building and maintaining bone mineral density.

Cardiovascular health

Did you know that heart disease is the #1 cause of heart disease for women in America and that the risk of developing heart diseases increases for women after menopause? 

Estrogen plays a role in regulating cholesterol levels and is associated with higher HDL (or “good”) cholesterol and lower LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol. When estrogen levels decrease, as is the case with menopause, LDL cholesterol tends to increase. This happens because estrogen is anti-inflammatory and is protective against atherosclerosis, which is the thickening/hardening of the arteries due to plaque buildup. Decreased estrogen levels are associated with an increase in atherosclerosis and is seen in higher rates post-menopause.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables and with adequate fiber is essential to combat these potential problems.

Reproductive health

We tend to break down reproductive health into four categories: fertility, pregnancy, pre-menopause, and menopause. This is basically to say, our dietary needs change as we age or experience new chapters in our lives. Maintaining a diet rich in fruits and veggies, as well as fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, can contribute to navigating these stages as healthfully as possible.

Always talk with a dietitian or your obstetrician about specific pregnancy-related nutritional needs, but as a rule of thumb, the following key nutrients are important to healthy fetal development: 

• Folic Acid: important for health fetal development

• Iron needs increase: is important for delivering oxygen to cells and baby

• Calcium needs increase: important for skeletal development

• Choline: important for fetal brain development

• Omega 3 fatty acids: essential for retinal and brain development 

“Soy” you wanna eat for your health

This is a lot to take in, and unless you’re cramming for your own dietetics exam, you’re probably more interested in learning how to optimize your diet for your specific health needs. Here’s the sparknotes version.

Some of our favorite calcium-filled foods are:

• Almond milk (if you’re avoiding dairy products), because one cup has almost ⅓ of your calcium needs

• Greek or Icelandic yogurt, each of which packs ⅕ of your calcium needs into just ½ a cup

• Edamame and tofu are both great sources of protein that also happen to contain almost half your daily calcium intake in one serving

You’ll also want to ensure you’re eating plenty of phytoestrogen – estrogen-like compounds found in plant foods. Some of the best sources include:

• fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds

• soy-based foods, like tofu and edamame 

Phytoestrogen can be particularly helpful for women as we approach menopause as estrogen levels decline. This is because phytoestrogens in foods may help balance estrogen levels as they begin to decline.

Then there’s fiber. Fiber can help regulate cholesterol levels, aid in the metabolization of estrogen (which prevents estrogen build up, which in turn can impact thyroid function), and it’s important for blood sugar regulation – this is especially significant for women with diabetes or gestational diabetes. Aim for 25g of fiber a day – all plants contain at least some fiber!

Want to learn more about topics like this one? Consider becoming a kencko member. In addition to regular deliveries of delicious, organic, fruit and veggie smoothies, you also get exclusive access to regular webinars and our four-week intro nutrition course, Nourish 101, all at no added cost.