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Women have achieved equality in many areas of our society, including athletic
opportunities. In fact, some women’s world records are better than the men’s record in
the same event only 20 years ago. Women, in fact, are arguably better ultra-distance
athletes than men. But one place where men and women are different is in their dietary
needs. Due to societal pressures, menstruation and the specter of osteoporosis, women
need to pay special attention to three areas:
Undereating
Women in our society are subject to social, economic and emotional stigmas about their
weight. You need only look at the waif-thin models on the covers of women’s magazines
to understand the social ideal. It can be quite difficult to feel good about yourself
when you live in a world that rewards thinness and punishes those who are overweight.
As a result, many female athletes and active women believe that severely restricting
their food intake will help them train and perform at a higher level while at the same
time enhancing their overall appearance.
For most women, this a futile endeavor. Restricting food intake can cause depleted fuel
stores in the muscles. The result is low energy for workouts and the activities of
daily life. If you don’t eat enough to fuel your workouts, the body utilizes muscle
tissue instead, leading to reduced strength and muscle wasting. Chronic fatigue is
another direct result of undereating along with the possibility of stress fractures
from insufficient calcium intake. Ultimately, your athletic performance will
suffer—exactly the opposite result you expected when you began to restrict
calories!
It’s easy to say but hard to do: Accept your body type and eat enough to fuel your
daily activities, including exercise. Forcing yourself to conform to an unrealistic
body image is dangerous and unhealthy.
Calcium
Lack of sufficient calcium is one of the most pressing women’s nutritional issues.
Why? Low calcium intakes can lead to poor bone health and eventually to osteoporosis.
In addition, calcium is critical for the conduction of nerve impulses, for heart
function, and also for muscle contraction. Pretty important stuff.
When calcium in the blood is low, the body withdraws it from the bones. (Your bones
contain 99% of the calcium in your body while the rest circulates in the blood stream).
That’s why an adequate supply of dietary calcium is so important. The RDA for calcium
is 800 mg/day for adult women and 1,200 mg/day for women under age 24. However, the
National Institutes for Health recommends a higher intake for pre-menopausal
women—1,000 mg/day. Postmenopausal women who aren’t on estrogen need 1,500 mg/day.
Get calcium from your diet if possible. Good sources include skim and low-fat milk,
yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese. Sardines, oysters, broccoli, and greens like kale,
collard, turnips, and mustard are also excellent sources. You might also consider
foods fortified with calcium. Orange juice is a good example. Take calcium supplements
as a last resort because too much calcium can increase the incidence of urinary tract
stones.
Some substances interfere with calcium intake. These include high intakes of protein
and caffeine because they are diuretic, and calcium is leached from the body in the
increased urine production. So go easy on coffee, tea and caffeine-laden sodas. And
forget the protein-heavy diets so popular right now.
Iron
Iron deficiency is the nation’s most common nutritional deficiency affecting almost
40% of women between ages 20 and 50. Iron is important for athletes because it is
needed to form the hemoglobin that transports oxygen in the body. Hemoglobin levels
below 12 gr/dL are considered evidence of anemia, and symptoms include reduced
endurance—not what you want if you’re on an exercise program!
Women are more likely to suffer from iron deficiency anemia than men because of
menstrual blood loss and insufficient dietary iron intake from low-calorie diets.
Surprisingly, some athletic activities can accelerate the destruction of red blood
cells due to trauma. The heel strike in running is an example.
The RDA for iron is 15 mg/day, but the average woman consumes only 10 mg/day. Animal
sources of iron are best because iron from animal sources is absorbed better than that
from plant sources. Combining animal and plant iron increases the iron absorbed as
does eating foods with vitamin C. Another trick—prepare food in cast-iron cookware.
Red meat is probably the best source of iron (one mg of iron per ounce of red meat),
but if you’re a vegetarian, many foods are iron-enriched. Also, beans, peas, split
peas, and some dark-green leafy vegetables are good sources of iron.
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