Essential minerals for hormonal balance in women

Women’s health and Essential Minerals for Hormone Balance

A healthy and nutritious diet plays an important role in sustaining the health of both men and women equally. When it comes to women’s health, the deficiency of certain essential nutrients can create a hormonal imbalance that dramatically affects her overall health. The common symptoms of a hormonal imbalance include PMS, menopause, fatigue, weight gain, hot flashes, thyroid imbalance, infertility, and various others. Medical studies show that all these symptoms appeared in the body of a woman due to deficiency of some or one of the mineral deficiencies in her food consumption. This is why, a nutrient rich diet is often recommended whenever any hormonal imbalance is noticed. Here we shall be discussing five of the most essential minerals that are required in a woman’s body to keep up with hormonal balance.

• Calcium: this essential mineral is commonly associated with the bones and teeth of our body. It is quite true as around 95% of calcium is needed to maintain our bone health as well as strong teeth. Women over the age of 50 commonly suffer from osteoporosis which is caused by calcium deficiency and thus millions of them report of fractures annually. The disease is further aggravated by hormonal imbalance (estrogen) in menopausal women. This hormonal imbalance due to calcium deficiency can also cause lower immunity, nerve signalling and cellular health.
• Magnesium: like calcium, magnesium is also required for optimal bone health in a woman’s body. This mineral also helps in various other processes in our body such as making new proteins, muscle activation, nerve communication and also hormonal development. This mineral helps in production of energy and also helps pregnant woman delay preterm birth. The symptoms of hormonal imbalancing like PMS, migraine headaches and muscular cramping and spasm can also be avoided with magnesium.
• Iron: anemia is a very common women’s health problem that is seen in many menstruating woman. This is mainly due to the deficiency of iron in the blood. Iron boosts the hemoglobin of red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the blood stream, therefore its deficiency causes anemia especially in menstruating women as they lose blood during their menstruation cycle. Fatigue, weakness in body, cold hands and feet, rapid heartbeat, and headaches is some of the most common symptoms of anemia. While iron is required for menstruating women, excess of iron can cause problems in women after menopause as large amounts of this mineral can cause hormonal imbalance and lead to a number of problems.
• Zinc: poor dietary habits, hormonal replacement therapies, birth control medications can all lead to a massive deficiency of zinc. Lower levels of this mineral can cause an increased activity of the estrogen hormone in which a woman can suffer with infertility, PMS, and also an increase in the aging process. Zinc deficiency also makes it harder to tolerate stress.
• Selenium: known for its antioxidant properties, selenium is an essential mineral required in a woman’s body for protection against plenty of chronic ailments like heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune conditions. It also regulates the activity of thyroid hormone, estrogen, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone and luteotropic hormone.