What Every Woman Needs to Know to Stay Healthy

Ages 11-20

Good health is critical for young women. It’s important to remember a few key things about this age group. The young girl/woman will be experiencing a growth spurt, which may be accompanied by what is known as growing pains.

Healthy habits will assure her full attention span and enough energy to participate in school activities and classroom learning. Her body is also preparing for the beginning of menstruation. Puberty begins and the brain starts its process of sending messages to the hormonal system and the reproductive organs begin to develop.

Good nutrition along with a vitamin supplement will also ready her body for excellent reproductive health and potential childbearing. Most importantly, by the age of 20, if she has developed these few health habits, the young woman is likely to carry those into her adult years.

Ages 20-39

If a female person is developmentally on course and is dedicated to maintaining optimum health, she should remain healthy in her later years. These years of 20-39 are when women become busy with careers and/or having children or starting a family.

Many experts agree that this is also a time when women will postpone or neglect their own health in order to provide care for others. Remember, you are not going to be able to provide much help, care, or assistance for others if you yourself are ill, exhausted, or nutritionally deficient. Let’s discuss how women can avoid this trap and ensure their own good health.

• Eat healthy foods. Avoiding unhealthy fats and consuming raw fruits and vegetables go a long way in staying nutritionally stable.
• Watch your dieting habits. While there are many diet plans out there, the simplest is almost always more effective. Watching portion size and the ingredients (fat, calories, and sugar) in foods will often net the best weight loss results. It’s wise to note that losing or maintaining your desired weight means one thing, there need to be more calories burned than what has been consumed. This can be accomplished with:
• Exercise. Whether you are a regular attendee at the local gym or work out at home, there are certain types of exercise that will benefit you the most. One exercise routine must raise your heart rate (cardiovascular health). Another should include free weights or weight lifting in some form (bone health and strengthening). Additionally, walking, dancing and swimming can tone the body. Weight loss in pounds alone will make you happy when you step on the scales but most women want that loose skin (abdomen, underarms, and thighs) to tighten up as well. If you just can’t find the time to exercise, try these activities:
• Park in the last open parking space far away from the storefront and walk.
• At home, grab some large juice bottles that have indented areas for carrying or milk jugs and do some curls.
• Take the stairs instead of elevators in public places
• Take a stroll through your neighborhood every night after dinner
• Visit your gynecologist every year for a PAP test (more often if your doctor suggests or your last one came back with an abnormal result). PAP tests are essential for maintaining a healthy reproductive system. They are used to detect cervical cancer and infections among other things.
• Perform your own self-breast exams.
• Make an appointment at age 39 for your first mammogram.
• Take regular multivitamins every day. Add other supplements including calcium, Fish Oil and Vitamin C. Do some research on the types and amounts of vitamins and/or supplements you could be taking. Also, it has been found that women in these childbearing years are lacking in the amount of folic acid they need. Insufficient amounts of folic acid have been linked to birth defects of the brain in newborns. These birth defects can be avoided if a woman takes sufficient amounts of folic acid before she conceives and during the early, first trimester of pregnancy.
• Not least of all, are these tips for good health that most informational sources rarely mention.
• Find a spiritual path or connection. These are highly personal so I won’t offer any suggestions. Women have chosen a religion, nature, prayer, rituals, a quiet room, and many others to find that place within themselves where they can be at peace.
• Keep your mental health a priority. Talk to a professional therapist if you need some guidance or direction.
• Avoid unhealthy relationships. If you are being abused in any manner by anyone, seek help

While all these tips for the age 20-39 group will keep a woman in optimum health, most of these need to be implemented and continued into the later years as well.