Healthy Diet for Women

Eating a Healthy Balanced Diet

What You Should Include in a Healthy Diet for Women

A healthy diet for women is one that helps you meet your daily nutritional needs, without going overboard on fat or calories. There is reason to believe that eating a healthy balanced diet may reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer and heart disease, while improving her sexual health and sense of well-being.

There are three things that we must try to keep to a minimum, if we want to live out our maximum lifespan, free of disease and with mental clarity. They are free radical damage, inflammation and glycation.

Those things can lead to DNA mutations, which in turn can lead to cancer or the death of the cell. They play a role in arthritis, the formation of wrinkles and loss of cognitive function, as well as many seemingly age-related diseases.

We can’t live forever, but choosing the right foods can help us lead active lives, free of the common complaints associated with aging. Following a healthy diet for women can reduce your symptoms of PMS and allow you to dance through the menopausal transition without symptoms.

In order to feel your best, you may want to consider some herbal teas or supplements, in addition to eating a healthy balanced diet. You might also consider taking a good multi-nutritional supplement every day.

Supplements cannot take the place of eating a healthy balanced diet and regular physical activity. They are just a bit of added insurance. Some of the supplements to consider include omega-3 fish oil and green tea, although there are many others.

There is a group of foods that you should include in your diet every day to reduce your risk of breast and other types of cancer, as well as age-related eye diseases, like macular degeneration and glaucoma. That group of foods is known by several names, but the easiest one for most of us to remember is the “cabbage family”.

A healthy diet for women should include at least a serving and a half of vegetables in the cabbage family every day. According to researchers, women that consume that amount have a 41% lower risk of breast cancer than women that eat none.

Vegetables in the cabbage family include kale, broccoli and cauliflower. The modern version of the cabbage head that we use in cole slaw might look nice and taste pleasant, but it is very low in nutritional value.

Eating a healthy balanced diet means that you get enough protein (about a half gram per pound of bodyweight is sufficient), the right amount of “good” fats (primarily those are polyunsaturated omega-3s—good sources are olive oil and salmon) and enough complex carbohydrates.

Only about 30% of your caloric intake should come from fats. About 40% should come from complex carbohydrates, which include fruits, vegetables and whole grains like oatmeal.

Whenever possible, you should avoid simple carbohydrates, which include sugary foods and white bread. Unlike the complex carbs, the simple ones cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels. Eat too many of them and you are increasing your risk for type II diabetes, as well as many other diseases.

Mushrooms are another good food to include in a healthy diet for women. Some species have natural anti-inflammatory activity and they taste good, too.

Eating your way to good health is so much more fun than spendind time later in life trying to correct the effects of poor nutrition.

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