Female nutritional needs throughout life cycle spotlighted for International Women’s Day

06 Mar 2020 --- Women’s nutritional needs vary throughout their life stages, shifting in nature from childhood to adulthood and childbearing years, to old age and infirmity. Ahead of Sunday’s annual International Women’s Day, NutritionInsight speaks with three Registered Dietitians from the UK, the US and Australia, who highlight how a nutritious, balanced diet and regulated supplementation can help navigate bodily changes throughout one’s life cycle. Regarding this year’s International Women’s Day theme, “An equal world is an enabled world,” they also stress the importance of conducting clinical studies targeting male and female health with an equal male-female study participant ratio.

As nutritional needs change, meeting adequate macronutrient needs, such as protein, carbohydrate and fat, and micronutrient needs, such as vitamins and minerals, is essential and will vary between these stages, says Milly Smith, spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Meanwhile, the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ spokesperson, Yasi Ansari, details a balanced diet as including nutritious whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and heart-healthy fats throughout the day and with every meal. 

Above all, adhering to a balanced, diverse diet helps maintain overall health throughout the female life cycle. Puberty, menstruation and pregnancy
Aisling Pigott, spokesperson from the British Dietetic Association, underscores that adequate body fat and energy are essential to support the onset of puberty in young girls. “Appropriate vitamin and mineral intake are important during this period to support bone mass.” Moreover, increased iron intake is encouraged as monthly menstrual cycles can put females at risk of iron deficiency.

That is easier said than done, given common iron supplements can cause unpleasant side effects such as abdominal pain and constipation. Supplement company Taiyo’s take on circumventing gastrointestinal range from its SunActive Fe for liquid consumption to its Regular Girl prebiotic fiber.

Before and during pregnancy, increased folate and folic acid intake is an established means of preventing the risk of neural tube defects in the infant and helps decrease the risk of birth defects, Smith notes. As previous research confirms the importance of folic acid in the first 1,000 days of life, Ansari recommends foods that naturally contain folate, such as leafy greens and beans, and fortified foods, such as bread and breakfast cereals. 

On top of a balanced diet, Pigott additionally recommends women considering pregnancy to supplement with folic acid as well given the need from folate and folic acid are higher in pregnant and breastfeeding women than non-pregnant women during their childbearing age. 

Responding to this need, Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI) launched two maternal supplementation prototypes under its Smart Mama concept containing folic acid, which helps prevent said neural tube congenital disabilities. Similarly, Probi found its FerroSorb supplement can improve the iron status of pregnant women significantly via its folic acid, vitamin C and iron mix.

Battling menopause with iron
Once menopause dawns on elderly women, foods rich in iron, calcium and vitamin D can help prevent osteoporosis, a bone-weakening disease common in senior citizens. “From perimenopause to post-menopause and beyond, women’s bone health is particularly important as estrogen levels drop. Good fiber, calcium and balanced meals during older age can be an important part of aging and maintaining muscle mass,” Pigott summarizes.

Prior to menopause, Ansari emphasizes how prevention can begin while women are younger. Notably, the healthy aging trend has not only led industry to focalize prevention methods, but also target more senior citizens with nutrition NPD.

"Women have been treated as small men when it comes to heatlh and activity recommendations," Pigott stresses.An equal world is an enabled world
Annually celebrated on March 8, this year’s International Women’s Day’s theme is “an equal world is an enabled world.” In terms of equality in the scientific community, all three dietitians question the legitimacy of researchers predominantly selecting men as default test subjects in clinical studies.

“For too long, women have been treated as small men when it comes to health and activity recommendations. Our health, nutritional needs and disease risks will be similar, but are still different. Our advice needs to consider this,” Pigott stresses. 

When men are used as the default test for a clinical study that relates to a female health issue, Smith deems it should only be extrapolated for men. “An optimal clinical trial for a female-specific issue would need to be completed on female participants,” she states.

In general biomedical research, Ansari also notes how vital it is to include women as well as men in clinical trials and analyze results by gender to better understand key differences and, ultimately, advance public health. The importance of balanced male-female ratios is seen in cardiovascular trials as well as responses to medications, to name a few examples. 

“There are biological, environmental and behavioral differences that can affect the outcome in a study between gender groups. It is improving; however, further progress can be made in this area to increase the presence of female subjects in studies,” Ansari concludes.

By Anni Schleicher