Most women cannot always consume all of the necessary minerals and vitamins through the diet each day. Also, for some women, extensive training and restrictive diet programs can deplete their body’s supply of vital minerals and vitamins.
To maintain a healthy body and youthful look, every woman needs to consider including these nine must-have nutrients in their daily routine.
These supplements not only help to achieve optimum health and vitality, you will feel more energized and boost up your metabolism.
- Calcium
Calcium is a key mineral found in our bones and teeth. There is about one percent of calcium circulating in the blood that is essential for supporting muscles, heart, blood clotting and normal cell function. If the calcium levels in the blood drop, then the body takes the calcium it needs from the bones. Women in particular are more susceptible to developing osteoporosis (a medical condition in which the bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, typically as a result of hormonal changes, or deficiency of calcium or vitamin D) than men. So, it is important to include calcium supplements in your diet particularly if you are a vegetarian, on a high protein diet, have kidney dysfunction, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or lactose intolerant. Here is how calcium supplements can support your health:
- Promotes optimum bone health and prevent osteoporosis
- Protects cardiac muscles
- Helps control blood pressure
- Helps maintain optimum body weight
- Prevents premenstrual depression
- Ensures healthy alkaline pH levels
- Reduces risk of kidney stones and colon cancer
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Most women dread the word “fat” but not all fats are bad, particularly monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Omega-3 fatty acid is a polyunsaturated fat and is essential to optimal health. It is an essential fatty acid, which means your body cannot make it. So, you can only get them through diet or supplementation. Omega-3 supplements are quite popular and are commonly available as flaxseed oil or fish oil. The following are some reasons why you should be taking Omega-3 supplements.
- Improves blood flow
- Improves brain function
- Thickens hair
- Improves heart health
- Helps the skin glow
- Lifts depression
- Helps achy and stiff joints
- Reduces inflammation in the body
- Essential for proper fetal growth
- Magnesium
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in our body and plays an important role in the body and brain health. It participates in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body. However, women may not get enough of it even if they eat a healthy diet. Those who consume less than the recommended amount of this mineral are more likely to have elevated inflammation markers, which is associated with serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. Low magnesium also increases the risk of osteoporosis. Some common benefits of taking magnesium supplements are:
- Boosts exercise performance
- Helps fight depression
- Helps against type 2 diabetes
- Lowers blood pressure
- Has anti-inflammatory benefits
- Helps prevent migraines
- Reduces insulin resistance
- Improves PMS symptoms
- Vitamin B Complex
Vitamin B complex deficiencies can have adverse effects on your physical and mental health. In the modern times, demands of the daily life can be quite stressful, so a woman’s need for important vitamins increases. Vitamin B complex is also important for supporting the adrenal glands that help achieve hormonal balance and prevent the stress hormone cortisol from being released and stored.
B complex vitamins include:
- Thiamine (vitamin B1)
- Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- Niacin(vitamin B3)
- Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
- Pyridoxine (vitamin B6)
- Biotin
- Folic acid and
- The cobalamins (vitamin B12).
Vitamin B complex supplements offer the following benefits:
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Improved mood
- Reduced PMS symptoms
- Improved memory
- Youthfulness and vitality
- Enhanced fertility
- Vitamin D3
It is believed that over two third of women are deficient in Vitamin D. Our body produces Vitamin D upon exposure to sun, but due the amount of time spent indoors and the use of sunscreens, the body fails to absorb the benefits of sunlight. Vitamin D3 is also found in some foods like milk, but many women don’t consume dairy products, which puts them at risk of deficiency and several related health conditions.
Vitamin D3 builds and supports the immune system and gives our body the ability to fight illnesses including osteoporosis. Vitamin D3 supplements offer a host of health benefits including:
- Helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus
- Treatment and prevention of bone disorders such as rickets and osteomalacia
- Helps keep teeth healthy
- Boosts immunity
- Reduces risk of hypertension
- Iron
Iron is so important for women that every woman’s vitamin supplement has iron in it. It is a component of haemoglobin, and without adequate iron levels, the blood is unable to transport oxygen from lungs to the tissues of the body. Iron deficiency can cause symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, bruising easily and difficulty making decisions. It also plays a critical role in metabolism, which means proper iron levels are important for weight maintenance. Women lose blood every month during menstruation, so they need to ensure that they get enough iron through food or supplementation.
Women who menstruate lose blood (and by extension, iron) every month. It’s vital to get enough either through supplementation or by the food you eat. Iron supplements offer numerous health benefits:
- Promotes youthfulness and vitality
- Improves appetite
- Contributes to brain development
- Enhances immunity
- Aids muscle function
- Ensures a healthy pregnancy
- Alleviates Restless Leg Syndrome
- Provides relief from premenstrual symptoms
- Folate
Folate is one of the B vitamins, which participates in several key processes. It is needed for the formation of white blood cells and red blood cells, the conversion of carbohydrates into energy and production of RNA and DNA. Adequate intake of folate is essential during periods of rapid growth such as infancy, adolescence and pregnancy. It is also helps support normal levels of homocysteine in the blood, a heart risk factor.
Folate is found largely in green leafy vegetables. If you are not too fond of eating greens regularly, then chances are that you need folate supplements. Some benefits of taking folate supplements include:
- Reduced risk of birth defects
- Maintaining a healthy heart
- Lowers risk of depression
- Lowers risk of certain types of cancer
- May reduce the risk of stroke
- Promotes normal cholesterol levels
- Great for colon health
- Reduces risk of age-related macular degeneration
- Coenzyme Q10
Coenzyme Q10 is a fat-soluble nutrient. It is a powerful antioxidant and a key component in fuelling the production of energy within cells. Coenzyme Q10 also prevents premature ageing and promotes a healthy heart and circulatory system.
It is available in several food sources such as meat, fish, beans and legumes. However, if your diet does not include good amounts of these foods, or you are taking cholesterol lowering medication, then you need Coenzyme Q10 supplements, because these medications inhibit the body’s ability to produce Coenzyme Q10 or absorb it from food. Benefits of Coenzyme Q10 supplementation include:
- May help treat heart failure
- Helps with fertility
- Promotes younger looking skin
- Reduces headaches
- Increase exercise performance
- Helps with diabetes
- Plays a role in cancer prevention
- Protects the lungs
- Good for the brain
- Probiotics
When someone tells you that you should eat yogurt regularly, you should listen. The probiotics found in yogurt are really an important part of a woman’s health. The digestive tract is full of good and bad bacteria, and it is important to maintain a proper balance for optimum good health. This is what the probiotics help us achieve.
By adding good bacteria into the system, probiotics help relieve gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea, flatulence and bloating. Apart from promoting good health, probiotics also offer other health benefits. Some important reasons why women should take probiotics everyday are:
- Help get clear and healthy skin
- Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections
- Prevent Urinary Tract Infections
- Help weight loss
- Relieve symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Relieve constipation
