Supplements very Woman Needs

There’s a lot going on in this modern world—the lists are endless and the days can be loooooong! If you’re a woman, throw a never-ending cycle of hormones into the mix and it starts to feel like your body's working overtime 24–7.

The average woman has probably taken a supplement or two at some stage to help support their health. However, with shelves now presenting a vast array of options and marketing callouts, you have to ask: what should you take and how will it benefit you?

Let’s keep it simple. Here’s our basic list of supplements EVERY woman can benefit from and when to consider more targeted options.

Balanced eating for balanced bodies—when can a supplement help?

Macronutrients

The first and most important step you can take when striving for good health is to eat the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats for your body type. Eating too little or too much can wreak havoc on your energy levels and so much more.

You might find it hard to believe, but sometimes not eating enough is the cause of hormone imbalances and low energy which can even lead to weight gain! Before you start restricting your calories, take a good look at what you are eating daily, a few small tweaks might be all that you need.

Complex carbohydrates

We’re talking rice, quinoa, whole grain pasta and oats (just to name a few). These foods contain a variety of important vitamins and minerals. When eaten alongside adequate healthy fat and protein portions, they can be a great fuel source to support your daily energy requirements.

Healthy fats

This is one of the most commonly under-consumed macronutrients. Why? There is a misleading narrative that eating fat = body fat. Dispelling the myth would need a blog of its own—but the basic takeaway is that adequate unsaturated fats in the diet are essential for many reasons specifically for adequate hormone production and brain function.⁽¹⁾ Women need both of these things daily.

If you are not including adequate unsaturated fat sources in your diet, this could lead to fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) micronutrient deficiencies. You can get your daily dose of unsaturated fats from avocados, oils such as flax and olive, chia seeds, flax seeds (ground up not whole), and hemp seeds—just to name a few. A few easy ways to include healthy fats include:

• a quarter of an avocado with your breakfast
• a teaspoon of olive oil with your lunch
• a sprinkling of hemp seeds over your evening salad
• eating fatty fish such as salmon twice a week.

As you can see there are plenty of plant-based options and fish is not the only solution (it’s ideally consumed no more than 2–3 times a week). If your diet is lacking and you are struggling to include adequate fats daily then something like Plant Omegas could be helpful.

Protein

Protein is underrated—especially good quality protein! It’s amazing how many people leave out a good protein source at any meal of the day. To meet your needs, a day of eating could look like:

• 2 eggs with breakfast
• ½ cup of tofu at lunch
• 1 serving of red or white meat at dinner
• 1 cup of quinoa

Collagen protein

There are many ways to ensure adequate protein intake. However, if you are struggling to get enough with each meal or your needs are slightly higher after a weight training session, a protein shake could be an easy solution. Please note: we encourage you to think before you drink, there are many protein options and quality is hard to find. Collagen protein such as the Noway Bodybalance Collagen is not only gut-friendly, it contains specific peptides that have a targeted effect to help increase lean muscle mass. ^{(2,3,4,5,6,7)}.

Jolt

Maintaining lean muscle mass is extremely important for women, as you age you lose muscle and you may even notice your joints becoming easily irritated. If you are not strength training regularly (although you should be to help keep your bones nice and strong, low bone density is more common in women and can lead to fractures) then you could consider the supplement Jolt to help support your joints, tendons, and ligaments. ^(8,9,10,11)

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are essential for important processes within the body that, to put it simply, keep you healthy and alive. Women are more prone to iron, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Vitamin B12, and Folate deficiencies in general.⁽¹²⁾ The important thing to remember is that not everyone will have these deficiencies, you should certainly seek tailored advice if you have any suspicions before you jump into supplementation. So what does the average woman with no deficiencies need?

Vital foods

In an ideal world, the food you eat should provide all you need. If you are struggling to get variety, you may be thinking of taking a multivitamin. Think again. Most multivitamins are made with a combination of synthetic vitamins and minerals. However, to put it simply, you could be struggling to absorb these ingredients and this could impact your ability to absorb another important mineral or you could be overloading your body with a higher-than-needed dose. An alternative to a high-dose synthetic multivitamin could be a whole foods powder, just to slightly boost the variety of food sources in your diet. Something like Vital Food could be a great option.

Polyphenols for hormone health

By now, you’ve probably heard of probiotics and prebiotics for supporting gut health. But what about polyphenols and their potential to help restore balance within the gut? Your digestive system or “gut” is where the breakdown of food occurs. It’s where you absorb minerals and vitamins and produce metabolites through the breakdown of polyphenols—increasing cognition and acting against oxidative stress and inflammation. ⁽¹³⁾ Inflammation can impact the ability for adequate nutrient absorption and lead to nutrient deficiencies. Your gut is also responsible for the regulation of important hormones such as estrogen.

Gutright

The importance of balanced estrogen levels for women can mean the difference between a terrible monthly cycle complete with bloating, moodiness, and period pain or a comfortable experience (as comfortable as possible anyway!). Not everyone needs targeted hormone support but everyone could do with optimal gut health! This is when a supplement such as Gutright could come to the rescue.

Stay Beautiful

Have you heard of hyaluronic acid? Are you putting it on your skin to help keep your wrinkles under control? What about taking it orally—more about this here . A recent study showed 120mg of hyaluronic acid taken orally for 8 weeks reduced the appearance of wrinkles ⁽¹⁴⁾. Then you have a specific collagen peptide called Verisol, which at 2.5g daily over 8 weeks resulted in a statistically significant reduction in eye wrinkle volume⁽¹⁵⁾, and after 3 months showed a reduction in cellulite.⁽¹⁶⁾ You can find both of these miracle workers in Beauty Collagen.

Targeted supplements, do you need them?

Hormone imbalances, stress support, prenatal, pregnancy and postpartum support, or vitamin and mineral deficiencies could require more specific and targeted supplements. If you would like to learn more about hormone and stress support then click on the topics above.

However, this blog is about supplements for EVERY woman and if you are thinking of any of these, it might be time to check in with your naturopath or health professional to investigate the cause of what is happening and the best supplements to move forward with if you are unsure.

The take home

Let’s just acknowledge that every woman is a superwoman and sometimes a little support in the form of supplements could be welcome! Our top picks for EVERY woman are Plant Omegas, Noway Bodybalance Collagen Protein or Jolt, Vital Food, Gutright, and Beauty Collagen. Adding any of these into your daily routine could help to boost everything you are doing with your diet and lifestyle and help to keep you healthy and happy.

References

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