Women’s Unique Nutritional Needs Impact Longevity and Disease Risk
Why we need precision nutrition for women
On average, women live longer than men but experience a higher risk of autoimmune diseases. Female biology is accompanied by unique nutritional needs based on physiological and hormonal changes across one’s lifespan.
Women may be especially prone to nutritional insufficiency during certain key periods (menarche, pregnancy, lactation, menopause) of their lives. Iron is the most common nutrient deficiency among young children, adolescents, and reproductive-aged females.
Timing of nutrient intake also influences metabolism in women. The common advice to exercise in a fasted state may backfire in women by blunting fat oxidation. But consuming adequate protein instead of carbohydrates prior to a workout can help women see more improvements in strength and lean body mass, compared to post-exercise nutrition.
Given the unique nutritional needs of women, healthcare would do well to move beyond RDAs and embrace a precision medicine approach to nutrition, consisting of reliable dietary assessments, objective nutritional biomarkers, and multiomics (gut microbiome, metabolomics, proteomics, epigenetics, and genomics).
