Womens Health
Recent studies have shown that 48% of people in Ireland are overweight or dangerously overweight and almost a quarter of all adults do no physical exercise. Furthermore, one in every four nine-year-olds in Ireland are also overweight! We all need to take action in our own lives to address this issue and you will be surprised that the smallest changes in day to day living can make a real difference in having a healthy heart and reaching a maintaining a healthy weight.
EATING HEALTHILY FOR WOMEN
Some top tips from the Flora Consultant Nutritionist, Dr. Patricia Heavey
Women of all ages are training for the Flora Womens Mini Marathon and are beginning to make positive changes to their diets and lifestyles. We should all try to eat a healthy, balanced diet but there are a few nutrition requirements that are particularly relevant to women. Between the ages of 19 and 50 our nutritional needs remain the same (apart from during pregnancy and lactation). As we get older, our energy requirements usually decrease so it is important to eat a range of foods to ensure we get all the nutrients we need.
Keeping bones healthy
Calcium is important for bone health and preventing osteoporosis in later life. Many of us are aware that it is important that children and adolescents eat plenty of calcium rich foods to ensure healthy strong bones. However, as adults it is also important to eat plenty of calcium rich foods so that you maintain bone health in later life. Good sources of calcium include milk, yoghurt, and cheese, soya drinks fortified with calcium, tinned fish (containing bones), pulses and green leafy vegetables. Physical activity also has beneficial effects on bone health.
Keeping blood healthy
Women have a higher requirement for iron compared to men mainly because of the loss of iron that occurs during menstruation. Good sources of iron can be found in fortified breakfast cereals, red meat, liver, oily fish, bread, pulses and green vegetables.
Keeping your heart healthy
Folic acid is important in helping to prevent neural tube defects in babies when taken by expectant mothers. What most people dont know is that folic acid has many other benefits as well. Folic acid, which is a type of B vitamin, actually works with other B vitamins, like B6 and B12, to play a role in heart health.
Folate or folic acid is found in green leafy vegetables, oranges, some nuts and fortified foods like breakfast cereal and certain breads and spreads, like Flora. A good intake of these kinds of foods will help you boost your folic acid intake and help keep your heart healthy.
Heart disease usually occurs in women after the menopause, but this is affected by the lifestyles we lead in our thirties and forties. So it is important to follow a healthy diet and lifestyle in earlier life by including plenty of fruit, vegetables, and fibre and eating less fat, particularly saturated fats.
