Lifestyle impacts your health.

What long-term health concerns should women address?

• Increased Risk of Heart Disease: number 1 killer of women over 50. After age fifty, heart disease is the number one killer of women. Cardiovascular disease kills ten times more women than breast cancer. The good news is that heart disease is one of the most preventable diseases we know.
  
  

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  Listen to a discussion about Women's Heart Health
  This 20 minute discussion covers:

  • Why more women die of heart disease than men!
  • Results of the WISE (Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation) Study
  • What is ischemic heart disease?
  • Differences between women's heart disease and men's heart disease
  • The differences between women's and men's symptoms
  • Why more women die from their first heart attack than do men
  • Why women must make lifestyle changes earlier than men
  • Risk factors for women
  • What can we do to promote a healthy heart and reduce our risk factors
  • Strategies to limit our weight
  • Warning signs to report to our doctors

  Premium supplements designed for healthy hearts.

  
  

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  Recommendations:

  • exercise
  • drop a few pounds
  • increase fiber
  • lower cholesterol
  • take certain supplements which are part of the nutritional
    program

  These recommendations will lower risk factors by 82 % which is huge.

• Increased Cancer Risk: One out of three women will be diagnosed with a form of cancer in her life time - 240,000 die annually.
  

  Recommendations:

  • increase soy protein
  • follow the same recommendation as for heart disease.

• Accelerated Osteoporosis: cripple & rob you of a quality life. Over 24 million Americans currently have osteoporosis and the number is expected to double by 2020.

Recommendations:

• weight-bearing exercise
• increase calcium and soy protein
• get a bone density test to use as a baseline
• follow same recommendations as for heart disease

• Increased Urinary & Vaginal Infection: sensitive to estrogen changes

Sources:

Dr. Bruce Miller, The Nutrition Guarantee.
Carol Dalton, Let’s Talk About Audio Tape Series

Let’s Look at Some Facts

So what we have learned so far is that women have many unique health issues and concerns due to an ongoing fluctuation of our hormones throughout all stages of our lives.

I want to start by addressing how the foods we select and safe, responsible supplementation of our diets can be of such benefit to our health. Understanding how dramatically our food supply has changed and making simple alternative choices you can easily incorporate into your diet and your family’s diet can make a profound difference in your health.

My intent is not to alarm anyone as there are simple solutions to these problems. I will give a list of suggestions for you that includes recommendations for your diet and a grocery lists with specific brands that my family and I really like. I encourage you to use that as a reference and apply it to your family’s diet.

• Food today is not what it used to be because:
  • Over processing and chemicals and preservatives added: During this century, we have been exposed to substances that have been shown to cause profound damage to all the systems involved in weight control and our general health. There is compelling evidence that these chemicals are severely damaging our body’s natural slimming system and are contributing to the epidemic rise we have seen of overweight and obese adults and children in the past 10 yeas. The use of these chemicals has grown from nothing to a multibillion dollar a year industry worldwide. Certain foods are much higher in these chemicals than others, including strawberries, lettuce, salmon, butter, processed cheese, peanut butter, and cucumbers. One thing we can all do is be aware of what these foods are and when possible buy pesticide free or organic brands. We also can minimize exposure by peeling foods and washing them with an Organic Cleaner to remove pesticide residues. We also eat a very refined diet of white sugar and white flour which depletes our bodies of many important nutrients. I recommend that you start eating more stone ground whole grain breads, rice, and crackers as this is going to give superior nutritional content and be burned more slowly resulting in more energy and less hunger for better weight management. These kinds of foods can be found in any major grocery store or coop.
    
  • Soil is depleted of essential nutrients: The nutrients we may think are in the vegetables and fruits in the grocery store very often are not.
    In a study done at Rutgers University on the nutritional content of vegetables, one group of vegetables was grown organically in soil rich in all needed nutrients and the other group was grown with commercial fertilizers.
    The differences in mineral content was significant. One example, just to give you and idea of the difference was the iron content of tomatoes. There were 1938 parts per million for the organic. What do you think the parts per million were for the inorganic tomato? 1 part per million!
  • Altered fats create free radicals which damage cells: altered fats are in virtually every processed food you can find - crackers, cookies as well foods that are fried like french fries and doughnuts. These fats have been heated at high temperatures and become rancid by mixing with oxygen to create free radicals. Over abundance of free radicals contributes significantly to cancer.
    Use cold pressed oils or expeller pressed oils which you can find in the health food section at CUB. You can find cookies, crackers, cereals, etc. made with cold pressed or non-hydrogentated oils.
    This along with exposure to synthetic chemicals increases our need for certain key nutrients, particularly Vitamin E and C. They are needed to repair the harm caused by our exposure to these chemicals and are an important part of a good supplement program.
    
• Meats & poultry injected with hormones & antibiotics
• Early harvesting, transporting, & storage of food reduces nutritional value

We are now deriving a fraction of the nutrients that we once did thousands of years ago. Even by eating the perfect diet of nutrient rich foods our need for certain vitamins has increased so much that we will never be able to get the levels we need from our food alone. By taking the right supplements along with making good food choices we can give our body the nutrients it needs.

Now that we have established this tremendous need for supplementing our diets let’s discuss as consumers what we need to know in selecting nutritional products.
Look at the Consumer Checklist for guidelines for
selecting safe, high quality vitamin supplements that will give you the best value for your money.

A safe, responsible supplementation program along with a healthy diet, can help address many of the issues we discussed earlier. By choosing high quality products that meet the criteria we just covered, here are some of the tremendous benefits people experience.

• Energy level increases
• The ability to rebuild and regenerate healthy cells
• PMS, Perimenopausal and menopausal Symptoms often improve significantly
• Less mood swings and
• Sleeping Better at Night
• You will look better Your hair and skin look better when they get the nutrition they need.
• Offers Silent Protection against the development of heart disease, cancer, birth defects, osteoporosis, and a variety of other common health problems.
• Controlled appetite and cravings
• Restored Metabolism so your body’s natural slimming system can keep you at your ideal weight.
  

So What Do I Do?

• Let’s try to keep the diet as close to nature as possible without going “nuts”
• Eat a high quality protein with each meal
• Whole grain breads and cereals, cold pressed oils
• Fresh organic fruits & veggies
• Drink purified water
• Stay away from sugar, artificial sweeteners
• Select a common sense supplement program
  

Basic Nutrition Program for Women

• High Quality Soy Protein Supplement (Soy Quality Checklist)
• Balanced, Complete Multivitamin (Quality Vitamin Checklist)
• Vitamin E Complex with Selenium and Grapeseed Extract.

  (Did you know that according to the American Medical Association supplementing with 2 vitamins would decrease the risk of heart disease by 52% and mortality from all causes by 42%. What two vitamins do you think those are? Vitamins E and C!)

  Because we are constantly under assault of free radicals in our bodies formed as a result of smog, smoke, and the impact of poor dietary choices. Vitamin E can reduce the risk of heart disease by 40% or more. Vitamin E also helps with fibrocystic Breast disease and symptoms of PMS and menopause
  Find a natural vitamin E supplement that contains selenium and grapeseed extract which increases the effectiveness of the vitamin E.
  

• B-Complex in the correct Balance

  Because Vitamin B is critical for energy and balancing mood swings and dealing with stress. If you have any stress in your life this is a critical group of nutrients. B vitamins are needed for mental quickness and concentration. Relieve many hormonal symptoms including:

  • fatigue
  • irritability
  • depression
  • sugar cravings
  • heart palpitations
  • water retention.

  We need supplementation with B because stress, sugar, white flour and caffeine deplete B-vitamins and people do not get enough from their diet.
  Again, look for a B Vitamin that offers the whole family of B-Complex and includes at least 100% of the Daily Value of Biotin, which is often skimped on
  

• Sustained Release Vitamin C

  Find a good vitamin C plus bioflavonoid product. This is the way you find Vitamin C in nature and your body will use it more effectively. We need Vitamin C because it can help protect us from the dangerous free radicals that can cause cancer and other degenerative diseases. Our assimilation of Vitamin C decreases with age and is depleted by stress. Find a sustained release system that doesn’t use artificial ingredients, so the vitamin C is absorbed over a number of hours, as it is water soluble and otherwise the excess would just be excreted.

Change Your Life:

• Exercise at least 3 times a week. Check with your doctor before starting any new exercise program.
• Limit intake of refined sugars and reduce or eliminate milk and dairy products.
• Decrease salt intake.
• Reduce or eliminate alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. The more caffeine consumed the greater the symptoms experienced.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet that concentrates on whole, unprocessed foods. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. In general, the more fruits and vegetables are processed, the less nutritive value they have. Eat whole grains or foods made from whole grains. Beans (legumes) are a healthy, low fat source of protein and vitamins. Seeds and nuts contain essential fatty acids.
• Drink 8 - 10 eight ounces of pure water. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. Carbonated drinks should be severely restricted.
• Reduce your stress. There are numerous studies documenting the deleterious effects of stress on health. Make time for friends and family. Find ways of relaxing throughout the day. Consider meditation, deep breathing exercises, visualization techniques or prayer.
  

Helpful Supplements:

• The AMA has endorsed the need for a daily multivitamin.
• Take 400 - 800 IU of vitamin E daily to reduce depression* and cravings*.. Selenium enhances the action of vitamin E. Also supplement vitamin C, 500 - 1000 mg each day, as vitamin C converts vitamin E into its helpful form after oxidation.
• Soy isoflavones such as genistein and daidzein are rich in phytoestrogens, which have been reported to reduce menopausal symptoms, support bone mineralization, and decrease the risk of some cancers*. In cultures where soy products (bean curd, tofu, tempeh) and other sources of phytoestrogens (legumes) are consumed in abundance, women’s health problems, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease are less prevalent.
• Grape seed extract to relieve cramps* and depression*.
• Calcium supplementation to combat the drop in serum levels.
• B vitamins to reduce depression*. Several clinical trials also indicate that vitamin B6 supplementation helps alleviate depression associated with premenstrual syndrome, although the research remains inconsistent*. Many doctors suggest that women who have depression associated with PMS take 100–300 mg of vitamin B6 per day—a level of intake that requires supervision by a doctor.
• Ginkgo biloba (24% ginkgo flavonglycoside) 40 to 80 mg three times a day for relief from breast tenderness*, water retention*. Additionally ginkgo not only enhances memory and decision-making, it also lowers homocysteine levels for cardiovascular health.*
• GLA is used by many women to maintain a sense of well-being throughout their monthly cycle. GLA, (gamma linolenic acid), are used by our bodies to form prostaglandins, potent, hormone-like substances which help the body to regulate many normal processes such as inflammation and blood clotting. Women with PMS have been shown to have impaired conversion of linoleic acid to GLA. Some women find relief of their PMS symptoms when using GLA supplements. The symptoms that seem to be helped the most are breast tenderness and feelings of depression as well as irritability and swelling and bloating from fluid retention. Breast tenderness from causes other than PMS may also improve with use of GLA.
• Herbs for Menopause:

  Soy, flaxseed, Black Cohosh, Dong Quai, Licorice and Red Clover are natural sources of phytoestrogens

• Reduce Hot Flashes
• Improve Sleep Patterns
• Promote emotional sense of well- being

Women's health needs change with time. When's the last time you re-evaluated yours?

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.