As women age, their nutritional needs change. Their bodies undergo transformations from early development into puberty, childbearing years, perimenopause, menopause, and into post menopause. As Americans overall, men and women eat to many processed foods and not enough fruits and vegetables. For women, the typical American diet can wreak havoc on their bodies through these changes from nutritional deficiencies.
In this blog, I’m sharing the nutritional needs and deficiencies of perimenopause through menopause timeframes. Registered Dietician Kat Barefield provides the backbone for the research and stats I’m using. Her website is dotfit.com.
According to Kat, there are four main nutrients that all women lack. They are magnesium, calcium, iron, and choline. As a woman ages, her requirements of these nutrients change. Overall, regardless of age, most women are not eating the minimum amounts on a daily basis.
For magnesium, it’s found in nuts, whole grains, and greens. The RDA for women aged 19-30 is 310 mg/d, and 320 mg/d for women older than 31. Pregnancy can increase the need by up to 40mg/d. There are no upper limits to magnesium when getting it from foods. If you’re supplementing, Kat says 350mg/d is the safe upper limit.
Declining bone density is a big problem for women as they age. If you don’t like dairy, then you have bigger problems. Calcium is the essential nutrient women need to fight osteoporosis and osteopenia. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Report 2015-2020 says women, older women, and pregnant women do not meet daily requirements for calcium. Specifically, 49.4% do not eat enough calcium from food.
Women aged 19-50 require 1,000 mg/d, and women over 51 require 1,200 mg/d. Three servings a day of dairy, leafy greens, or other fortified foods can give you these calcium requirements. Supplementation can be done, consult your doctor first.
Iron is needed for immune functions, red blood cell production, and provides structures for other molecules. If you workout, your iron requirements increase by 30%. Kat says perimenopausal women fall short of iron requirements and 25% of pregnant women are deficient. 19–50-year-old women need 18 mg/d of iron. If you’re pregnant, you need 27mg/d. Heme iron, meaning from meat, poultry, and fish, is the best type because it’s more easily absorbed. You can eat iron in lentils, veggies, and fortified foods. This type of iron called non heme, is not as easily absorbed.
An important nutrient for brain health, and muscle and nervous system function is choline. Females over 19 years old need 400 mg/d, with pregnant women 450 mg/d, moving up to 550 mg/d if lactating. Eggs, meat, and seafood are your best animal sources, with quinoa, soybeans, potatoes, and kidney beans your best plant-based sources. If you don’t consume many eggs and dairy, you are at risk for being deficient, even from plant-based sources.
Dairy products are your friends as you move from perimenopause into menopause. It contains a majority of the nutrients you need to meet the daily requirements I mentioned, in addition to potassium, protein, vitamin K, and phosphorous.
Fiber rich foods like leafy greens and whole grains also contain magnesium and non heme iron. Women need a minimum of 14g per 1,000 calories daily. For healthier function, you can consume up to 25g of fiber per day.
Higher animal-based protein diets help to preserve muscle mass, reduce hunger pangs, and maintain bone density. You can eat legumes, nuts, and seeds for plant-based options. They do not have as much effect as animal sources because they are incomplete proteins. Animal proteins are great sources of iron, choline, and calcium.
If you have specific risk factors, please consult your doctor before making any changes and starting supplementation. For the generally healthy woman, these suggestions can help you with changes your body is going through in your forties and fifties.
For additional help, please contact me at athleteinthegameoflife@gmail.com. Subscribe to my podcast, The Peale Appeal and sign up for my weekly newsletter on my website, mattpeale.com.