Fitness
good health
Be a woman of strength
By neglecting her health, a woman often becomes a victim of several health-related deficiencies
Mickey Mehta

A woman performs multiple roles and chores every day. Fulfilling everyone’s necessities, her needs and requirements are often lost out. Whether it has to be cooking for everyone, serving food to everyone, catering to family’s needs, helping with a child’s homework, she continues to remain on toes 24/7. Being totally dependent on her, we take her for granted most of the times.

When a woman becomes the backbone of her family does it make sense to isolate the efficacy of a woman and ignore her health in general? She, too, runs medical risks and faces mental and physical challenges and often takes health for granted. She ensures health and care for everyone, but herself.

But it is heartening to note that the women of today have begun to take charge of their health and are no longer sidelining this issue. By neglecting health she often becomes a victim of several health-related deficiencies. Some of the common ones have been listed below:

Five to six small meals everyday will ensure adequate nutrition thinkstock Include whole grains such as whole wheat, broken wheat, durum, bajra, jowar, ragi in your daily diet

z Iron deficiency: This is the most common cause of anaemia observed in women of all ages whether in adolescence or during pregnancy or old age. Women in general are prone to anaemia due to heavy losses of iron during normal menstrual cycle and physiological states like pregnancy. During these stages it becomes extremely difficult for the body to reserve iron stores especially when the dietary intake is poor. Heavy losses of iron further leads to a weak, easily fatigued, tired and a dull self with no energy to carry out the daily chores.

z Calcium deficiency: Osteopenia, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, these are terms which we have been hearing from a number of people suffering from them. Every one out of four women is suffering from either one of the above mentioned problems or some form of bone disease. Though age is a crucial factor leading to the above, we find younger women between 30-50 years of age diagnosed with bone diseases. Calcium deficiency is responsible for poor bone health, allowing the bones to succumb to degeneration further causing pain, swelling and inflammation. Difficulty in climbing or getting down stairs, difficulty in standing from a sitting position, difficulty walking an uphill road etc are a few symptoms of bone diseases and in case you are obese these may worsen.

z Vitamin-D deficiency: We find so many women talking about low D3 levels. Deficiency of Vitamin D comes as a shock to many since the only source of it is exposure to sunlight. We falsely believe that we avail enough sunlight daily. Due to drastic climatic transformations, these sunrays are no longer 100 per cent safe to supply us with pure Vitamin D. In fact, these come with harmful UV radiations that interfere with the vitamin’s synthesis. Around 15-30 minutes of exposure to sunlight in the early hours of the morning are the most beneficial for the production of Vitamin D.

z B-complex vitamin deficiency: Every third woman is seen taking supplements of B-complex vitamins indicating that most women are deficient in this group of vitamins. B-complex vitamins are a group of vitamins, though not individually deficient, their deficiency always occurs as a group due to their dependency on one another. Hence the symptoms are so generalised that these can begin from fatigue and weakness to inflammation to mental stress involving less concentration, lack of focus, irritability and frustration. All these symptoms will then affect your productivity for essential activities at home and at work.

It need not be specified how imperative it is for women to take care of their health. Following is a list of measures she should adapt in order to prevent the above deficiencies:

z Eat small but frequently. Consume at least five to six small meals every day rather than just two or three heavy meals a day. This will ensure adequate nutrition.

z Consume cereals rich in complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat, broken wheat, durum, bajra, jowar, ragi etc.

z Include iron-rich sources in the diet such as garden cress seeds, fenugreek, shepu (dill), gingelly (sesame) seeds etc. Include nuts like almonds, walnuts, seeds like chia, flax, sunflower, pumpkin seeds etc for their high nutritive properties.

z Include calcium-rich sources such as milk and milk products, ragi, gingelly seeds, leafy vegetables etc.

z Though the sole source of vitamin D is the sun, other dietary sources which overlap that of calcium include milk and milk products, egg, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, fish and products fortified with vitamin D.

z The richest sources of all B-complex vitamins lie in all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Hence include a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables in the diet to prevent deficiency.

z In case of severe deficiencies of any of the above vitamins, supplementation under the guidance of a doctor may be required.

z Last but not the least physical activity plays a major role in prevention of symptoms caused by these deficiencies. Hence do low to moderate intense activities such as swimming, aerobics, calisthenics and yoga.

We are always aware about food groups beneficial for us and the right methods to consume them, the culprit is ignorance. Do not let today’s ignorance become a threat in the future. Start taking care of your health first because only then will you be in a position to take care of your family for not just now but for years to come.

— The writer is one of the leading holistic health gurus and has a health portal www.mickeymehtahbf.com

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