Cynthia Nixon, an old Hollywood actress, says in her one speech, “Women’s health needs to be front and center – it often isn’t, but it needs to be”.
Her health issues have never been considered a serious issue. But it is high time to focus, implement and solve her health issues. Any country, if they strive to develop in every aspect, country’s women must be strong and courageous enough to inspire and support herself, society, and their families. Every woman needs to take care of herself especially when she is above 40 years.
Above 40 years, menopause starts and new health problems arise and the efficiency of a woman’s body is reduced naturally. Problems such as hormonal imbalance and bone weakness affect your body and that is why proper care of the health of any woman both physically and mentally is much needed.
They say, “You are, what you provide to both body as well as mind.”
True that. Many experts say that 95 percent of diseases can be avoided by maintaining a proper, healthy, and balanced diet. Here we have brought something precious and extremely helpful for your health, especially for women above 40 years, who have different metabolic needs with growing age.
A healthy diet plan for women above 40 years:
Any ideal healthy and balanced diet plan consists of more natural, fresher, and low-calorie food items, along with 3-3.5 liters of water every 24 hours and a bare minimum of 6 hours of peaceful night sleep. Though it is recommended that one should have eight hours of peaceful night sleep. An ideal diet consists of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and plenty of water. Diet including all these nutrients and a lot of green vegetables and juicy fruits are vital for the health of women above 40 years. These healthy diets will keep you away from old age diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and cancers.
List of things you should say NO to
- Caffeine
- Liquor
- Artificial Sugars
- All-Purpose Flour
- Carbonated Cold Drinks and
- Tobacco
- Diet Plan
Time to eat:
The most crucial part of the diet is timing. Decide timings for your everyday meal. After 40’s body’s digesting power is quite slow so make sure that you keep some extra duration between two consecutive meals. It is highly recommended to not have any meal after sunset for better. You can have fruits and milk if you feel hungry to avoid digestion problems.
How to Eat:
It might seem to you like why am I telling you about such a simple thing? You are correct! It is very simple but 95% of people are eating in the wrong way.
Chewing is a crucial process and you must chew food a minimum of 32 times. Don’t hurry while eating, seat properly, and enjoy your simple and highly nutritious food. Keep your eyes on the food you are eating, not on the mobile or TV screens. It is recommended that you should drink water before and after half an hour of meal.
Nutrition:
The COVID-19 pandemic ensured that people got concerned about their immunity, and made them wear face masks and use hand sanitizers, if you are someone who was not that conscious about their health and nutrition till now, then this is the time to concentrate on them. But now, after the 40’s it is much needed and essential for your health. Choose a variety of food items such as green peas, green vegetables, and fruits consisting of a high quantity of starch and fibers.
Prefer homemade drinks like lemon water, fruit juice, mint water over packaged carbonated drinks whenever you feel like drinking something. Include whole grains and cereals in your diet.
Be fat-free or you can include low-fat products such as milk, paneer, yogurt, and cheese.
Proteins are most essential after the age of 40s. Include proteins in every meal. For proteins, egg and meat are mostly recommended because they are considered to be rich sources of proteins. But if you follow a vegetarian diet then you can go with soya products, nuts, and beans. Be conscious while choosing edible oil and salt. In oils, olive oil is the best choice.
Quantity of Consumption:
You can have less than 10 % of your daily calories from added sugars products such as desserts, sweets, and confectioneries.
- Sodium quantity: 2000 milligrams per day.
- Potassium quantity: 2000 milligrams per day.
- Calcium quantity: 700 milligrams per day.
- Fiber quantity: 20 grams per day.
- Vitamin A quantity: 700 micrograms per day.
- Vitamin C quantity: 75 milligrams per day.
Important points to remember
Every individual has a different body type and different body needs. Don’t just blindly follow anyone’s advice, it might prove wrong for your body. Experiment with your body and observe how your body reacts to certain things and then decide your diet and exercises.
Be healthy and stay fit!