In honor of march...

National Nutrition Month and National Womens History Month

So far this month I have posted many healthy hints and tips. So to celebrate woman in honor of this month i'm going to talk about our special nutritional needs as woman.

Breast cancer. Osteoporosis. Iron deficiency. Weight reduction. What do these things have in common? They are either unique to women, or are more prevalent in women. And they affect current recommendations on what women should eat for optimum health.

While new information on what's good and what's bad seems to surface almost daily, some basic guidelines have taken root over the past several years.

eat a variety of foods
maintain healthy weight
choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
choose a diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and grain products
use sugar and salt/sodium only in moderation
if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

That sounds simple enough. Except, what exactly is variety? Cake one day, cookies the next? What is a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol? And, finally, what parts of a healthy diet have special importance for women?

There are several vitamins and minerals essential to a healthy diet. A well-balanced diet will usually meet women's allowances for them. However, for good health, women need to pay special attention to two minerals, calcium and iron.

So in the next few days i'm going to explore calcium and iron. Akong with thoughs I'm going to throw in a few other tidbits. I feel that if we spent so much time and energy on our finances, career, and family we should invest the most into our well being. Don't get me wrong i love my mountain dew, but it's no way to fuel my body for top performance. I would never dump dirty gas in to my car... it would run like crap, if it would even run at all. We spent so much time making sure our cars run well, but how much time and energy do we put into our own well being? I am the beat investment i will ever have.