Women’s health

One of the main components of people well-being is food. All the necessarily nutrients and calories needed for healthy bodies and energy are provided by foods. However, people’s lifestyle turns out to be very tense, there is often a lack of time. The work day is too busy to find a moment for healthy eating. So in the evenings we may overeat. As a result, the extra food turns to fat and is stored in our bodies.
Majority of industrially developed countries faced with one of the main healthcare problems – obesity. Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. It is the main cause of nearly 300 thousands deaths in a year here. Nearly half of Americans suffer from being overweight — including at least 1 in 5 children. As physical activity is optional and food is abundant, obesity grows rapidly in our society. Annual expenses related to obesity exceed 100 milliards of dollars.

What causes obesity?

There are lots of reasons causing obesity, which vary by individual. Many factors such as your age, sex, and genes, psychological makeup, and environmental factors may contribute to the imbalance between calorie intake and consumption. 
Researches have shown that obesity tends to run in families due to lifestyle habits, shared diet and also it can be caused by genes. But it doesn’t mean at all that you will be obese because of having obese relatives.
There are a lot of things that have nothing to do with hunger. They are depression, boredom, hopelessness, anger. Due to all these negative factors people often overeat, that always turn out to gaining weight. This doesn’t mean that overweight and obese people have more emotional problems than other people. The problem is that their eating habits influence on their eating habits feelings that causes overeating. Perceived social pressures related to being more physically desirable, especially in young girls, may lead to using obesity as a mechanism of defense. If such unusual cases take place, psychological intervention may be helpful. 
People’s lifestyle is one of the most important environmental factors. We live in a society where our activity level and eating habits are partly learned from the people around us. Obesity is caused mainly by sedentary habits and overeating. 
With the same calorie intake women are more likely to gain weight than men. You ask – why? Nature created men to have more muscle than women. Even at rest men use more calories because muscle burns more calories than other types of tissue. As a result eating the same food, you’ll be gaining weight while your boy doesn’t notice any changes in his body. 
Aging people tend to lose muscle and gain fat. Their metabolism also slows somewhat. These factors lower their calorie requirements. 
Another life period when you are probably at risk for gaining weight is pregnancy. Unfortunately, this weight gain may contribute to obesity. Women tend to weigh an average of 4-6 pounds more after a pregnancy than they did before the pregnancy.

  
How to treat obesity?

 For majority of people suffering from being overweight or obese, obesity treatment it comparatively simple to follow – try to eat less and exercise more and you will lose weight. It is as simple as that. There are no magic pills, diets that sound too good to be true are just that.
 All medications that can promote weight loss work only in conjunction with eating less and exercising more. So, medical treatment of obesity, in most cases, focuses on changing people’s lifestyle. Two main rules of loosing weight healthy are simple to remember and follow: eat less and increase your activity level!

Prevention

To prevent obesity and its health risks you must change the habits of a lifetime. Eating less over the long term means that you will learn to think about your eating habits and patterns.
Ask yourself – what makes you overeat? Is it late afternoon energy lag? May be it is late night sweet tooth? Or you just don’t have time or energy to cook, that’s why eat in snack-bars and fast foods. Having some insight into your overeating habits helps you to avoid your problem situations and reach your weight goal.
Don’t forget – increasing your activity level is largely a matter of changing your attitude. You don’t have to be a marathon runner. Look for those ways to increase your activity level that you enjoy.

Sugar. Don’t forget that sugar is a source of calories, not nutrients. Therefore consuming too much sugar may lead to weight gain and tooth decay. Contrary to what many people think, there is no evidence linking high-sugar diets to hyperactivity or diabetes. However, high fructose corn syrup, found in most processed foods, is linked with obesity that puts you at risk for developing diabetes and other conditions.
About half of sugar people consume is added into soft drinks, fruit drinks, puddings, ice cream and baked goods. Research from Tufts University nutrition scientists shows that soda and sweet drinks provide more daily calories than any other food. Consuming so much sweet drinks leads to weight gain. Obesity rates are higher for people consuming sweet drinks. Also watch for hidden sugar in the foods you eat. You may find sugar appearing as corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, malt syrup, among other forms, on package labels.

Salt. It is well-known that high blood pressure can be caused by high sodium intake. Following a healthy diet you can reduce the risk for high blood pressure by consuming less salt or sodium. Unfortunately, we often don’t pay any attention how much sodium we use while cooking, as a result most Americans consume much more sodium than they really need. From previous articles you’ve already known that recommended amount is less than 2,300 mg per day and just one teaspoon of salt provides that amount. So one good way to reduce your sodium intake is eating fewer prepared foods. Once you retrain your palate to enjoy foods with lower sodium content, you’ll find it easier to toe this line. And certainly you’ll feel healthier as well.

Alcohol. Memorize that food group doesn’t include alcohol. However, if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Consuming alcohol is very harmful. Alcohol offers neither nutritional value nor any other benefits. On the contrary, excess alcohol use may lead to serious health damages, causing distorted vision, judgment, hearing and coordination; emotional changes; bad breath; and hangovers. Consuming alcohol within long-term period may include liver and stomach damage, vitamin deficiencies, impotence, heart and central nervous system damage and memory loss. Abuse can lead to alcohol poisoning, coma and death.
Consuming alcohol during pregnancy is contra-indicated at all because alcohol can harm the developing fetus and infant. Even light and moderate drinking can hurt. Influence of alcohol is so harmful that more than 40,000 babies are born each year with alcohol-related damage, according to the March of Dimes.

Reference Daily Intakes for women aged 19-50

Nutrient – Amount
Vitamin D – 5 mcg*
Vitamin E – 15 mg
Vitamin C – 75 mg
Vitamin A – 700 micrograms
Vitamin B6 – 1.3 mg
Vitamin B12 – 2.4 mcg
Calcium – 1000 mg
Iron – 18 mg
Magnesium – 320 mg
Zinc – 8 mg
Copper – 900 mcg
Thiamin – 1.1 mg
Riboflavin – 1.1 mg
Niacin – 14 mg
Phosphorus – 700 mg
Iodine – 150 mcg
Folic acid – 400 mcg
Biotin – 30 mcg
Potassium – 4.7 grams
Sodium – 1.5 grams

Reference Daily Intakes for women aged 51-70
Nutrient – Amount
Vitamin D – 10 mcg*
Vitamin E – 15 mg
Vitamin A – 700 micrograms
Vitamin C – 75 mg
Vitamin B6 – 1.5 mg
Vitamin B12 – 2.4 mcg**
Magnesium – 320 mg
Zinc – 8 mg
Copper – 900 mcg
Calcium – 1200 mg
Iron – 8 mg
Sodium – 1.3 grams
Thiamin – 1.1 mg
Riboflavin – 1.1 mg
Niacin – 14 mg
Folic acid – 400 mcg
Phosphorus – 700 mg
Iodine – 150 mcg
Biotin – 30 mcg
Potassium – 4.7 grams

*In the absence of adequate exposure to sunlight.
**Due to age-related modest decreases in the ability to use the B12 from natural sources, fortified foods or supplements can help to meet the recommendation.

There is no scientific affirmation that dietary supplements or large amounts of vitamins and minerals can prevent or treat health problems or slow the aging process. Of course, there are a lot of people who due to their busy and intensive lifestyle do not consume a balanced diet or a variety of foods. In this case daily multivitamin tablets can be beneficial. People who follow well-balanced diet with a variety of foods provide their bodies with all the necessary nutrients.
Nowadays there are plenty of dietary supplements available. Ideally, it would be clear what types of supplements improve health and it would be easy to identify safe and effective products. But unfortunately the information about dietary supplements is often confusing or inexact.

What are dietary supplements?

The main mission of dietary supplement (also known as food supplement) is providing nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or amino acids that you miss or don’t consume in required quantity in your diet.
In the United States, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 gives the following definition of the dietary supplement – it is a product that is intended to supplement the diet and bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients: vitamins,  minerals,  herbs or other botanical (excluding tobacco), amino acids, a dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any of the abovementioned. The main requirement for dietary supplement is intending for ingestion in pills, capsules, tablets, powder or liquid form. In any case it should not be represented for use as a conventional food or as the sole item of a meal or diet; labeled as a “dietary supplement”.
Today there are majority of dietary or nutritional supplements. As for vitamin and mineral supplements they are types of dietary ones. Such supplements include micronutrients intended to help smoothly body functioning.
Dietary supplements with a medicinal purpose are herbal supplements. Their main object is supporting a specific area of the body’s health, such as the liver, bones or skin.

What are the health benefits of vitamin and mineral supplements?

Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients that in a unique way help the body to function properly. For example, vitamin A supports vision and bone growth. Vitamin E improves and strengthens the immune system. Deficiency of vitamins and minerals may lead to body’s inability to protect and heal itself.
Due to the Harvard School of Public Health, “consuming several vitamins above the minimum daily requirement helps preventing heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and other chromic diseases”. Nevertheless, taking vitamins does not make up for an unhealthy diet, and vitamins wouldn’t replace the loss of all the necessary nutrients from fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. However, you may provide your organism with the multivitamin and mineral supplement as addition safeguard.

Vitamin Supplements

Micronutrients that the body needed for growth, digestion and nerve function; metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy; and cellular repair are entirely provided by vitamin supplements.  Various food sources provide different vitamins, and healthy diet should offer you all of them. A vitamin supplement can help you make up for those underrepresented in your diet.
Vitamin A supports the immune system, bone growth, vision, cell division. It is contained in liver (including cod liver oil), dairy, meat. Vitamin B6 supports protein and red blood cell metabolism. Great sources of Vitamin B6 are grains, legumes, liver, bananas.  Vitamin C is an antioxidant, supports connective tissue, nervous tissue, mitochondria. Products rich in vitamin C are citrus fruits, green veggies. Vitamin D supports normal levels of calcium and phosphorus. It is contained in cod liver oil, fish, fortified dairy products, eggs, sun exposure. Vitamin E is an antioxidant which supports the immune system and is contained in vegetables oils, nuts, grains.
With the help of minerals the body creates new cells and enzymes, distributes fluids, controls nerve impulses, brings oxygen and takes away carbon dioxide from cells. Mineral supplements provide micronutrients found extensively in bone and teeth.
Such mineral as calcium supports bone, teeth, blood, body fluid, muscle and blood vessel contraction, hormone and enzyme secretion. Products rich in calcium are dairy, green veggies, sesame seeds, almonds. Oysters, nuts, legumes and grains are included in copper, which supports normal growth, bone growth, sugar metabolism, and proper enzyme function. Iron is a metal that supports the transfer of oxygen and cell growth. It is contained in meat, fish, leafy green vegetables, molasses. Magnesium supports muscles, nerve, heart, immune system, bones, blood pressure, energy metabolism, blood sugar levels, and protein synthesis. Nuts, seeds, grains, vegetables are rich in magnesium. Oysters, meat and seafood are contained in zinc, which supports enzyme production, wound healing, sense of taste and smell and normal growth.

Herbal Supplements

Herbal Supplements are known as the oldest humanity’s health care tools. Also known as botanicals, they are the basis of many modern medicines. In ancient times primitive civilizations relied on herbs for healing, as do contemporary cultures throughout the world. The situation is similar nowadays. It has been estimated that 80% of the world’s population keep to traditional therapies, a major part of which are derived from plants. 
Herbal supplements differ from vitamin and mineral supplements due to their medicinal value. Herbs are contained in fresh or dried products that are extracts (or tinctures), tablets, capsules, powders, teas, roots or leaves. They are a group of chemicals or a single chemical that has been isolated from a botanical. Herbal supplements used for maintaining or improving health in a specific area of the body or organ systems.