Two women change to health

Just the other day two of my friends Sita Kumar and Minu Sharma came visiting me for consultations on weight-loss.Both were in their late thirties one was a gracious home maker-chef  and the other was an enterprising fashion designer. Both of then had kids were super women juggling home, family and work. They were over-wight,complained of fatigue and chronic back and knee pain. Minu also had issues with her menstrual cycles.All said and done I found out both of them didn't weight-loss programs but zing of some important nutrients and life style to their body. A small transformation in their diet and food style has helped both of them to be are right on track and feel great again.

                      Every women has a super woman in her.With multi-tasking being norm of the day 30s to 45 can be most testing years. And sadly a study has proved that Indian women are the most stressed on in the world.

                    But 2 main nutrients  can keep  you going this way all the way and help you to fight the health and emotional issues in a positive way.They are Iron and Calcium. I am going to take you through both these nutrients and help you to understand their importance in your daily life.

The white Power for women

Minu's problem was very acute.She was suffering from bone and joint pain and due to nature of her job,she needed to strain her bones maximum.What she lacked was proper Calcium nutrition.Calcium is very crucial for any woman at any stage of life. Entering the 30’s with enough bone mass is a huge challenge for in today’s modern lifestyle.

A look at the risk factors that makes your bones weak:

• Gender:The female population is more susceptible to bone issues atleast by 8 times due to primarily 2 reasons-pregnancy and physiological stress
• Race:White-skinned people face more risk .Constitutionally dark-skinned have higher bone density so lesser issues during aging. 
• Body size: Influence of weight and body fat distribution on bone density in postmenopausal women- a study has proved that  women with higher fat mass on the upper part of body tends to have higher bone density. Also the estrogen secretions are higher.
• Genetics:Some bone related issues are genetically influenced. But the issues may not follow a same pattern.At time it may not even occur.
• Disease:Diseases related to thyroid and liver and GI can considerably decrease the absorption of calcium.They create an imbalance of calcium in blood plasma. Kidney diseases can lead to changes in phosphate levels which impair the remodeling process in bone malformation.
• Drug therapy:Some medicines can accelerate the loss of bone density .Some of them are anti-convulsants, corticosteroids used in treating arthritis and thyroid hormones used in treating thyroid also may have an effect on bone density.

What do we do?  Increase Vitamin D synthesis:

Keep yourself physically active always:(Useful for both Anemia and Calcium Deficiency)

                                                                Black power from Iron

Sita had this tiredness and fatigue always.She felt sleepy even when her enthusiasm was at peak.Her menstrual  periods were irregularand painful. So I suggested a hemoglobin test that confirmed her Aneamia.

The possible nutrients she might be lacking is Iron, Apart from that Folic acid and Vitamin B12  help to fix iron.Their  deficiencies also could lead to Anemia.Let us know more about that.Iron cannot be synthesized in your body it can only fixed from the food you eat.

 Reasons for Iron Deficiency: 

 Heme versus Non-heme iron:The bioavailability of iron depends on several factors. People who are iron-replete absorb iron less easily than people who are iron-deficient.In addition, absorption depends on the specific form that iron takes.

Heme Iron:Heme iron is the most readily absorbed form of iron present in most non-vegetarian foods such as  in shellfish, red meat, poultry, and fish. On average, people absorb between 15-35% of the heme iron they consume.But these sources are rich sources of fat,hence we need to limit their consumption.

Non-heme iron: Non-heme iron is found in plant foods, as well as in eggs, milk, and meat. Compared with heme iron, it’s less easily absorbed by the body. Moreover, sources of non-heme iron often contain phytates, which bind to iron and carry it through the digestive tract unabsorbed. As a result, the foods with high iron content aren’t necessarily the best sources of iron. By weight, soybeans have roughly twice the iron of beef. But only about 7% of the iron in soybeans is absorbed. Spinach is also high in iron, but less than 2% of the iron in cooked spinach is absorbed.But the problem can be solved adding some iron absorption enhancers like

• Vitamin C may be particularly effective. 
• One study reported that adding just 63 mg of vitamin C to a meal rich in nonheme iron yielded a 2.9-fold increase in iron absorption .
• Meat can also make a big difference. Experiments suggest that adding 50 to 85 grams of meat to a meal results in a 1.5- to 4-fold increase in iron absorption.
• Beef may more effective than other meats. 
• In one experiment, beef protein enhanced iron absorption 80% better than did chicken protein . 
• Also follow the below the image to strike the right combination of iron in your diet!
• I am very happy for Sita and Minu who took some steps towards positive health They considered themselves important.

So women..please gift yourself with power of black and white for a healthier future!  

( Disclaimer: Both are my friends who were happy to share their stories.Name being changed for privacy purposes)