By: Allison Van Heusen

How women can maintain their youthfulness with the right foods and supplements.

It seems natural to women to change our cosmetics and skincare routines as we age. We go from Noxema to Clinique to Mac to Trish McEvoy and Estée Lauder, and anti-aging creams become a staple. But, most of us don’t think to reevaluate our nutritional needs much past pregnancy and breastfeeding. It may seem that once we have a healthy routine in place, it should suffice as time goes on. But, it is important to remember that as we age our body’s requirements change and we should re-evaluate our nutritional needs from time to time. This is especially applicable to women, as childbearing and age-related hormone changes effect our health and nutritional requirements. Here is a general look into what the female body needs as we age.

30s: The Go Go Years (And, no, not dancing)
Let’s face it, we women in our 30s are busy. Busy building careers, building families or both. It seems there is not enough time for, well anything really, especially our health. But, with as much as we are accomplishing, we need to fuel our multitasking machine. At the very least, we need a multi-vitamin, but we must make sure it is age appropriate and contains enough of these three important nutrients for your 30s: calcium, folic acid and iron.

Although calcium is the most abundant mineral in our bodies, it is unfortunately not the most abundant mineral in our diet. Seventy-eight percent of women older than 20 don’t get the recommended amounts of calcium from food. Calcium is essential for strong bones, blood clotting, muscle contraction and nerve conduction. We women in our 30s should be taking a calcium supplement, especially those of us who are lactose intolerant (or vegetarians/vegans) because of our avoidance of dairy products.

Folic acid or folate is a B-vitamin that helps produce and maintain new cells. And at what time are there more new cells being produced than during pregnancy? Women deficient in folic acid who become pregnant are at greater risk of giving birth to low birth weight, premature, and/or infants with neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Studies have shown that women can drastically reduce these risks by taking a folic acid supplement before conception and during pregnancy.

Iron is important in battling anemia. A deficiency of iron, anemia limits oxygen delivery to our cells resulting in fatigue, poor work performance and decreased immunity. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) suggests that iron intakes are generally low in females of childbearing age. Good food sources of iron include: iron fortified cereal, beans, spinach and lean beef chuck or tenderloin.

40s: And we thought our 30s were busy!
Time seems to become the least abundant resource in our lives during this decade. If it’s not our profession, it’s our new career as taxi driver for our kids. How did they get involved in so many activities?! Ellen Connelly, MD, is a fabulous 40-something wife and mother of twin boys. She points out that, “Metabolism slows naturally each decade and that makes maintaining weight harder.” And Ellen, like most of us, has limited time to make healthy meals. “As much as I would love to make homemade healthy meals and snacks with organic groceries three times a day, time is the limiting factor,” says Ellen. “I try to stock up at Whole Foods once a week, and otherwise try to plan ahead by packing healthy stuff in the car so we’re not at McDonald’s or 7-11 when the need strikes!” In addition to her strategy for avoiding low-nutrient/high calorie foods, Ellen adds supplements to her diet to round out the edges. “We use the Max Glutamine Chewables and protein shakes after working out and I take the (Max Neutraceuticals) Women’s Multi-Vitamin and fish oil.”

The beginning of the estrogen decline on our way to menopause and a slower metabolism contribute to the nutritional must-haves for the 40s: essential fatty acids, calcium, nutrient-rich, low-calorie foods and fiber. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) do many good things for us women in our 40s, including lowering bad cholesterol, raising good cholesterol, regulating hormones, keeping skin moist and supple and helping metabolize fat stores. EFAs include Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, flax seed oil and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).

Calcium is still important in our 40s to keep our bones strong and healthy as we age and our risk of osteoporosis increases. Ellen is a shining example of health and fitness best-practices for those in their 40s. As she wisely stated, our metabolism slows down so, in addition to regular exercise, it is more important than ever to choose foods that are high in nutrient content and lower in calories. Decreasing estrogen can also contribute to weight gain, as well as increased blood pressure and cholesterol. A diet with at least 25 grams per day of fiber is an excellent way to eat healthy, feel full and satisfied and even lower cholesterol.

50s: AMENopause!
Men get to look distinguished in their 50s and we get ... menopause. Lucky us. Other than menopause, we do get to experience some positive changes in our 50s. The de-mands on our time from “the kids” decrease, we know who we are and we’re OK with it, and we are now old enough to really not care if we’re “cool.” What a relief! If only we could get relief from the hot flashes! The decline of estrogen does more than just give us hot flashes. Other negative effects of decreased estrogen include an increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and increased cholesterol. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and our 50s nutritional must-have’s are great tools in fighting the effects of aging and decreased estrogen.

Our must-have’s for 50s nutrition include the old standby, calcium, plus vitamin D, potassium and vitamin B-12. Calcium, vitamin D and potassium all combine to fight osteoporosis. Vitamin D is essential to calcium absorption in the digestive tract and maintaining proper blood levels of calcium. It also aids immune function and reduction of inflammation. Women older than 50 should take 10 mcg or 400 IU of vitamin D daily in conjunction with 1,200 mg of calcium. Vitamin B-12, in addition to giving us a non-stimulant energy boost, helps fight heart disease and is essential to brain function. Symptoms of a B-12 deficiency include anemia, fatigue, confusion and poor memory. Foods high in B-12 include fortified cereals, trout, salmon and sirloin. As we age some of us have a harder time absorbing B-12 and we will need to take a B-12 supplement.

60s: Bring On Retirement & The Grandkids!
It’s time to relax (if we want), go on vacation (if we want), and spend some quality time with the grandchildren (if we want). It’s about time we get to do what we want again because probably the last time we did that was our 20s! Most of us are postmenopausal and we have more new nutritional requirements, including 50s must-have’s calcium, vitamin D and po-tassium (again); plus protein and antioxidants. We also have some must-not’s, or at least must-be-careful’s ....

Our biggest must-be-careful nutrient is iron. Past menopause our iron requirements go from 18 mg per day to only 8 mg per day. Iron deficiency is uncommon among postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women should only take iron supplements when prescribed by a physician because of the greater risk of iron overload, a condition in which excess iron builds up in organs such as the heart and liver and can cause organ damage.

As we sail into our 60s and beyond, our body composition begins to change, and we lose lean muscle mass. Increasing protein intake is essential to maintaining lean muscle, providing the necessary materials needed to heal wounds, fight infection and repair fractures. Antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and CoQ10 help fight free radicals, which can contribute to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Regardless of our age, we women find a way to do it all. The gift is doing it all while feeling good and maintaining good health. If we adjust our diet and supplements as efficiently as we do our skin care regimen, we will reap the rewards. So, take the time, reevaluate your nutritional needs at least once a decade, and you may find your body continuing to feel as young as your mind. MS&F
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