Women's Health and Weight Loss Tip : Lose Weight to Fight Osteoporosis

It is a well known fact that exercise and weight loss make you both look and feel better. Another bit of common knowledge is that to lose weight, control your diet, and exercise regularly gives you a healthier heart.

In addition to the previously mentioned benefits of proper diet and exercise are several other very specific health benefits of having a regular exercise and weight loss program.

One additional health benefits of exercise and weight loss activities is guarding against osteoporosis, the disease that makes the bones weak and brittle with age.

Weight-bearing activities like walking, ellyptical machine, and jogging, have been shown to strengthen the skeletal system and lower the risk of the development of this very debilitating disease.

The primary reason for this is that exercises that force the body to bear weight make the bones more dense over time as opposed to a sedentary lifestyle, in which the bones get weaker and more brittle due to a lack of force placed against them.

In women in particular, the low estrogen levels that often accomopany menopause and/or very sporadic menstruation make the problem even worse as the bones lose a lot of their mineral content and weaken accordingly.

In addition, such activities that many take part in to either lose weight or maintain an already healthy body composition have also been shown to aid in preventing further development of the disease for those who have already been diagnosed and have received clearance from their doctor.

Women's Health and Weight Loss Tip : The Importance of Calcium in a Woman's Diet

Recently I published an article about the importance of exercise in fighting against the bone-brittling disease osteoporosis.

There are actually 3 primary factors that may put someone at risk for osteoporosis---women in particular:

- lack of calcium

- hormonal deficiency (estrogen in particular)

- lack of physical activity

So in addition to exercise and hormonal factors, a woman's diet is extremely important in guarding off this very debilitating condition.

One of the reason's why we do not recommend most traditional diet plans and programs is because the over-restrictive eating guidelines often eliminate or seriously limit the consumption of some very necessary vitamins and minerals that keep the body healthy and strong.

You never want to get to a point where you are sacrificing health merely to lose weight. In fact, any weight loss program
worth half its salt will make sure that the recommendations made for your daily diet intake are well balanced and full of all the nutrients that you need.

The most important time to get an appropriate amount of calcium is between the ages of 14 and 24, when peak bone mass is obtained. Then after that bone continues to develop until about age 35 to 40, at which time the bone mass that a woman has will strongly determine how much at risk she may be
for bone fractures in her later years.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that women intake 1,000 mg (1g) of calcium daily, and then increase their daily dosage to 1,500 mg (1.5g) post menopause.

Sadly, only an estimated 25% of women in any age group consume the recommended daily amount of calcium to guard against osteoporosis. And when they go on diets and weight loss programs, they tend to consume even less.

Lowfat dairy prodcuts such as milk (skim milk is a better option), yogurt, and cottage cheese are all excellent sources of dietary calcium. For those who are lactose intolerant or who wish to generally stay away from dairy products, non-dairy alternatives fortified with calcium will do as long as they contined the recommended daily allowance (RDA). The nondairy product Lactaid added to lowfat and nonfat milk may also work to help you meet your desired goal.

In your efforts to lose weight, make sure that the weight loss program that you use includes calcium-rich food choices. And if it does, you will need to add them yourself. No matter what weight loss program you are on or what other means you use to lose weight, here are some good ideas recommended by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) that you may add to your daily diet in order to get the amount of calcium you need while you lose the weight.

- Prepare canned soup with skim milk instead of water

- Add nonfat dry milk to soups, stews, and casseroles

- Add grated lowfat cheese to salads, tacos, and pasta dishes

- Eat yogurt as a snack, or use it to make low-calorie dressings

- Choose calcium-rich desserts, suhc as lowfat cheese and fruit, frozen nonfat or lowfat yogurt, and puddings made with skim milk

- Drink hot chocolate in the winter made with skim milk

Women's Health and Weight Loss Tip : The Importance of Iron in a Woman's Diet

One of the biggest weaknesses of the traditional commercial diet is the lack of iron that exists in its stringent and often excessively limited eating guidelines. In order to lose weight, many unsuspecting women get bamboozled into taking part in weight loss programs that cut out many of the nutrients that they need. Iron is one of the primary
casualties of such diets and weight loss plans.

The plot thickens for women in particular due to the fact that their bodies regularly lose iron during menstruation. Therefore, eating a low-calorie, low-iron diet in an effort to lose weight only makes the problem more severe.

It is generally suggested that women supplement their diets with an iron supplement such as the Vitality multivitamin offered by Melaleuca, the Wellness Company. This is particularly important during periods of heavy exercise and training that are typical aspects of any weight loss program or general effort to lose weight even when a special program is not in use.

One thing to be on guard for, however, is excessive iron supplementation by iron-deficient (non-anemic) women. There is a disorder known as hemosiderosis which results from large deposits of iron made in the liver that causes a glitch in the proper metabolism of the iron itself. Avoiding prolonged large doses will eliminate the risk of this particular disorder.

Below are a few recommendations from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) that will help you to make sure you get the adequate amount of iron intake in your daily diet, whether on a program to lose weight or not:

- Eat foods with a high vitamin C content with all meals. Vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron. (examples: salsa; chili peppers; oranges)

- Include dark meat chick and/or turkey in the training diet. Both of these are rich in iron

- Vegetable proteins such as split pea soup or chili beans with lean meat help the iron in those meats to properly absorb

- When eating starchy carbohydrates such as cereals, breads, and pastas, gravitate to those labeled "enriched" or "fortified" for their higher iron content.

5 Simple Weight & Health Watching Tips

1. Read The Labels Closely - You will often see labels such as "Half the calories!" or "Reduced fat!" Be careful with these and read the serving sizes. What a lot of these companies do is to reduce the serving size, not the actual amount of calories in their product. So yeah, you're only consuming half the amount of calories on this cool new redone product, but that is because you are only eating half the amount as you normally would.

2. Take Your Time Eating - This one is pretty simple. Take your time while eating, don't gulp tings down. If you have a nice leisurely meal, you will not eat as much as if you ate fast. Give your food time to digest and "kick in." If you take your time, you will notice that only 2 pieces of pizza will fill you up than the 3 or 4 that would if you gulped them down.

3. Keep It Out Of Your House - You really don't need that bag of candies, now do you? What's the simplest way to insure that you don't eat them? Don't buy them. If you don't have them sitting around your house than you will not be able to give into the temptation of eating them.

4. Have A Healthy Snack - It's 4 in the afternoon and you are getting hungry. Dinner won't be served for another 3 hours, and you need something to eat. Don't take out the chips bag or reach into the cookie jar. Rather, make yourself a nice little snack. An apple and a small chunk of cheese tastes very nice. Some cheese and pretzels do, too. A granola bar. A couple cheese and crackers. Maybe a nutragrain bar. The idea is to eat a healthy snack that will fill you up until the next meal, and not be constantly snacking.

5. Walk Your Dog - Do you have a dog? Well, all dogs need to be walked, even though a lot of owners don't do it. It not only provides great exercise, it is also refreshing and can provide other benefits. We're not talking about a long mile walk (though if you can, bravo), maybe just up a couple streets and back. Give yourself and your dog a chance to stretch your legs and work off a couple of calories. Meet some other people while you're at it and enjoy the outdoors!

Healthy Eating Tips For Busy Women

The following healthy eating tips will help you feel great, look great, carry out every-day activities better and empower you to keep it up for many years to come.

Poor health for most women is the build up of poor life-long nutrition choices and the lack of exercise, both cardiovascular and weight exercise. If you make good choices now and exercise on a regular basis, you're less likely to become a strain on the health system years later.

And its been proven over and over for many years that women who do make these good choices tend to be healthier and live longer.

Youve probably heard most nutritionists say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And it is because if you eat breakfast youll not only gain fuel for a high-energy and productive day, but youll also have a tendency to make better food choices during the remainder of the day.

The mistake most women make when making a choice for breakfast is to just eat cereal. And it doesnt help with all of the commercials out their telling us that cereal is all you need.

Yes, cereals rich in fiber like bran flakes, oat bran, all-bran, and raisin bran are very healthy for you. And most types of cereal with a banana, strawberries, low-fat milk etc are very good for you.

But it's important to know that while they may contain ample carbohydrates, calcium, fiber, other nutrients, are low in fat and easy and quick to make, they dont contain nearly enough protein.

And its the protein thats more than likely the missing ingredient in your diet.

Your muscles need protein, and cannot function properly without it. Women who attempt to lose fat and/or tone up their muscles, will get the best results when they consume an ample amount of protein with breakfast.
But it difficult to get good quality protein during breakfast, unless you were to eat a bunch of eggs and bacon, which of course would lead to a whole other problem
So how do you get enough protein without eating fat?
Well the only way you can is to include Whey protein. Whey protein is a powdered supplement that you can buy in any health food store and most super-markets.
All you have to do is either mix one scoop in with your cereal (it dissolves very easily) or just stir a scoop in a glass of water. Either way its the best way to get the protein you need at breakfast.
Dont focus on any one meal. All of your meals should be nutritionally well-balanced. Meaning they should contain protein, carbohydrates and some fat. Fat will help dramatically to keep your energy levels high.

If you're dieting you need continually fuel your body throughout the entire day. This means a minimum of 4, but preferably 6 meals each and every day. This way you'll have the energy to exercise properly and wont crave any large unhealthy meals.

Dont get caught up in the Fat-free food frenzy. Fat-free foods are very high in simple carbohydrates and will increase your insulin, which will Feed your fat cells making you fatter very quickly.

A good nutrition plan starts when youre making your grocery list. Then of course you have to stick to the list! Another good idea is to shop for your groceries just after youve eaten. This way you wont be tempted to fill up the cart with junk food.

Nutritionally poor food is fine in moderation. But dont over-do it. Take one day each week to satisfy your cravings. You wont eliminate all the good things youve done over the rest of the week. There's little wrong with it and in fact itll help you stay on track.

If you try to eliminate your favorite junk food completely itll lead to binge eating in only a couple of weeks. Then youll have a lot of trouble getting back on track.

When it comes to meats chicken, tuna (and most other fish) and turkey are your best choices. Theyre lower in fat, which means theyre lower in calories as well and have less cholesterol.

But dont eliminate red meats. Theyre not only an excellent source of protein but also of
iron, zinc and creatine (which helps tremendously with fitness). So try to include a couple of meals each week that contain red meats.

Bananas, oranges, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits are the best fruits. They're rich in vitamin C and potassium. Eat fruit and drink juices daily. But be aware fruits and fruit juices contain a lot of calories, so if youre trying to lose weight once a day is good enough.

Supplements are meant to supplement healthy eating, not compensate for poor eating habits. But if you arent getting the nutrients you need, for example youd need to drink a ton of milk plus take other calcium rich foods each day to get the calcium you need, then a calcium pill a day may be a good idea.

Exercise is not an option. Cardiovascular exercise and more importantly resistance exercise (weight lifting) is essential for good long-term health. Muscles will increase your metabolism making it possible to lose fat, and resistance exercise has amazing benefits for your heart and other organs.

A daily vitamin E may help protect against heart disease and cancer. Because people cannot easily get enough vitamin E in common foods, a supplement of 200 to 400 international units (IUs) per day is a wise health investment.

Healthy Tips to Celebrate National Women's Health Week

C. National Women's Health Week starts the week after Mother's Day. You can work on your health anytime. This week is a great time to get all your check ups done if you have not done so yet this year. Remember, the elements of health include your eating habits, your resting habits, how you think, how you spend your time and who you spend your time with. Neglecting your relationship with God can cause you to experience less health. Make sure you are building rest into each day, week, and month. Plan your vacations around what makes you feel rested. It may be time for your Pap smear, mammogram or complete physical with lab tests on your blood and urine. It is also a great time to have your teeth cleaned and checked. Have your spine checked by your Chiropractor. Change your workout habits if you are bored with them. Because it's a new season you might want to try something new. Spend some time ON YOURSELF- FOR YOURSELF. You will be a better wife, mother, leader and community member. Celebrate your lovely and unique self for who you are and what you want to become. Here are some great resources to get yourself in gear to take care for your health:

• Free Mammograms- Call Desert Sierra Breast Cancer Partnership at 909-697-6565

• Eat more Soy: Zo Flax and Soy cereals are a great start for breakfast, get a free copy of the Zo Healthy Meal Plans at www.zoefoods.com

• Deal with Hot flashes and Night sweats without taking pills or hormones: Menowear clothing line is made with a special fabric called Powerdry- see www.menowear.com for more information

• Sleep is essential to good health, but you don't want to age your face while you sleep, check out www.facesaverpillow.com for a great book and special pillow.

• Relaxation is important to your health also, aromatherapy is perfect for detoxing relaxing and improving overall health. Go to www.faceyourbody.com for aromatherapy.

• Improve your eating habits, even if you do not want to cook for yourself. A personal chef is an easy, healthy and inexpensive alternative to eating out all the time. Call Rescue Chef Lois Emery at 909-262-3424

• Learn self care with Choosing Health by Dr. Force. This Functional Self-care Workbook that comes with a CD in the back! Order yours today at www.theelementsofhealth.com

• Remember your spirit with Beth Terry's Book Walking in a Crowd of Angels- find yours at www.bethterry.com

• If Midlife ills are your challenge, look at the Midlife Bible by Dr. Michael Goodman, it's available at bookstores.

• Get a free relaxation CD from The Wright Place TV Show made by www.mentalefficiency.com - just email your name and address to cd@wrightplacetv.com - while supplies last!

By Dr. Letitia S. Wright, D.C.