Women's Health: Energize your Life With Physical Fitness

A beautiful face isn't enough. To be attractive, a woman must be physically fit, because a woman not only has to be a good writer, teacher or doctor, but has to manage to be a good wife, good mother, and be good looking, good tempered, and well groomed. Being a woman isn't an easy task. If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is practically nothing she can't do.
If you're a woman and suffer from no disease, that does not necessarily mean that you are a healthy individual. The importance of total fitness can never be specified enough as a key component of good health. Hence, it is important to incorporate a fitness regime into your life, especially with the fact that technological advances have reduced physical activity to a bare minimum within and without the house. Do remember that your heart, lungs and muscles are not getting adequate stimulation to produce physiological benefits, and you need to get up and about much more than you do.

Fact is that more than 60% of the women in America do not complete the recommended amount of physical activity per day, and as many as 25% of the entire US female population does not exercise at all. Physical inactivity has been found to be much more pronounced in women as compared to men.

Things to Remember:

• Your exercise routine does not have to be strenuous in order to impart health benefits.
• Whatever your age, you should undergo a moderate amount of physical activity everyday. You may walk briskly for 30 minutes or jog for 15-20 minutes.
• Excessive amounts of physical activity is to be avoided, because in women, excessive physical exertion may lead to injury, greater amounts of activity, risk of menstrual abnormalities and bone weakening.
• If you have a sedentary lifestyle, it is advisable to build your exercise routine slowly but surely, with short intervals (5-10 minutes) of physical activity and later build it up to the desired level of activity.
• Women suffering from heart disease, diabetes, or obesity, must consult a doctor before starting with any new program of physical activity. This hold especially true for women aged 50 and above.

Physical Activity has Several Health Benefits for Women:

• A lesser risk of death from coronary heart disease
• A lesser risk of developing high blood pressure, colon cancer, and diabetes.
• Helps maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Helps control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce body fat.
• Helps control joint swelling and pain associated with arthritis.
• May contribute to the influence of estrogen replacement therapy in decreasing bone loss after menopause.
• Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression and fosters improvements in mood and feelings of well-being.
• Can help reduce blood pressure in some women with hypertension.

In conclusion, it is important for all women to energize their lives with the added advantage of exercise. Don't let it be all about work and no play. Be physically active, enjoy your fitness routines, and watch the benefits follow!

The Whole Woman and Her Whole Wellness: Physical Health and Well-Being

A woman is beautiful as she is! Welcome to the power of women, the power that makes them just as capable, as smart, as funny, and as compassionate as men. More than that, it empowers them to take up her distinctive position in society, at the same time being a daughter, a wife, a mother, homemaker, and all the other roles her considerable responsibilities call upon her seemingly infinite energy. Along with this emotional fluency, skill required to make a family survive and the language of power, the quintessential woman needs to be physically fit as well.


Very few physical disorders are unique to women, or are more prevalent or serious in women. Medical wellness consultants will inform you that the earliest to appear are precocious puberty, anorexia and bulimia. Reproductive health concerns are a major focus of women's health. Cancer is the leading cause of death in middle-aged women. Smoking contributes to numerous causes of death and disability among women.


Lung Cancer: Cancer accounts for maximum deaths among women aged between 35 to 54 years. For years, breast cancer was the leading cancer killer among women, but now lung cancer takes the lead with more and more women taking to cigarette smoking. What makes this change frightening and dramatic is that lung cancer is a preventable disease, yet today it kills more women than breast cancer.


Breast Cancer: There is, however, good news from women health specialists regarding breast cancer treatment. Modification in surgical procedures, research indicating that estrogen receptors respond well to a drug called tamoxifen and experimenting with a new drug called RU-486, along with women taking a more active part in their health care are considerable contributions to the treatment of breast cancer.


Gallstones occur four times more frequently in women than men. Attributed to multiple pregnancies, obesity, and rapid weight loss, the real cause of this disorder is still unknown. Stones are formed in the gall bladder due to a saturation of cholesterol and bile salts that crystallize and collect over time. A number of experimental drugs are being used as an alternative to a surgical approach called cholecystectomy.


Menopause and Osteoporosis: Post-menopausal women often suffer a disorder called Osteoporosis. Lack of estrogen after menopause causes loss of bone mass, resulting in weak bones that are susceptible to easy injury in case of a fall or mishap. There are no symptoms, and that is why Osteoporosis is known as the “silent disease”. Certain steps can be taken to prevent osteoporosis from ever occurring. Women over the age of 50 have the greatest risk of developing osteoporosis and Caucasian and Asian women are more likely to develop this condition. Heredity and less body weight are an important risk factors. Exercise, calcium, vitamin D, and post-menopausal estrogen replacement play an important role in preventing this disorder.


Thyroid abnormalities are four to five times more common among women than among men. While, there is effective treatment, the cause again is unknown. Arthritis and diabetes are other disorders that are more common in women. Lupus erythematosus is a disease in which 90 percent of the victims are women.


Hence, there are quite a few disorders that are more frequent in women than in men or that differentially affect women. While considerable progress has been made to combat most of these, there remains much to be learned about others.



It is every woman's prerogative to form clear questions about her physical health, find clear answers, gain a sense of empowerment through knowledge, and inevitably achieve peace of mind through total wellness. Here is information shared, openly and candidly, associated with women health and wellness. We women need to arm ourselves. We need this knowledge to manage our own care.

Nutrition and Exercise Tips to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

The following are research-based nutrition recommendations for reducing breast cancer risk.

Obesity: Obesity is associated with increased breast cancer risk especially after menopause. Even moderate weight loss can have a positive effect, but the goal is to achieve a healthy weight.

Dietary Fat: There have been many studies examining the relationship between breast cancer incidence and fat intake, but a relationship between dietary fat and breast cancer occurrence has not been shown. However, since fat is high in calories and a diet high in saturated fat is not heart-healthy, a low-fat diet is recommended.

Alcohol: The consumption of alcohol is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Total avoidance of alcohol or a limit to one drink per day is recommended.

Fruits and vegetables: Fruit and vegetable consumption may not significantly reduce breast cancer risk, but fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals and antioxidants that may be protective against other cancers and heart disease. A minimum of five servings per day is recommended. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts should be included as part of the diet.

Soy: There is conflicting opinion about the intake of soy foods for women who had estrogen-positive breast cancer. Whole soy food products such as soy nuts, soy beverages and soybeans can be included as part of a healthy diet. A conservative recommendation for women who have a history of estrogen-positive breast cancer is three servings of whole soy foods a week. Concentrated sources of soy, such as soy protein powders, soy pills or supplements with concentrated isoflavones should be avoided.

Exercise: Regular physical activity is beneficial for breast cancer prevention, reduction of heart disease, osteoporosis and weight management. Studies have provided evidence that exercise can reduce breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Source: http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1000494317.html

Diet Tips to Stay Healthy During Menopause

Menopause is the point in a woman's life when menstruation stops permanently, signifying the end of her ability to have children. Known as the "change of life," menopause is the last stage of a gradual biological process in which the ovaries reduce their production of female sex hormones--a process which begins about 3 to 5 years before the final menstrual period. This transitional phase is called the climacteric, or perimenopause.

At menopause, hormone levels don't always decline uniformly. They alternately rise and fall again. Good nutrition and regular physical exercise can also affect menopause. Nutritional requirements vary from person to person and change with age.

A healthy premenopausal woman should have about 1,000 mgs of calcium per day. A 1994 Consensus Conference at the National Institutes of Health recommended that women after menopause consume 1,500 mgs per day if they are not using hormonal replacement or 1,000 mgs per day in conjunction with hormonal replacement.

Foods high in calcium include milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products; oysters, sardines and canned salmon with bones; and dark-green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli. In calcium tablets, calcium carbonate is most easily absorbed by the body.

If you are lactose intolerant, acidophilus milk is more digestible. Vitamin D is also very important for calcium absorption and bone formation. A 1992 study showed that women with postmenopausal osteoporosis who took vitamin D for 3 years significantly reduced the occurrence of new spinal fractures. However, the issue is still controversial. High doses of vitamin D can cause kidney stones, constipation, or abdominal pain, particularly in women with existing kidney problems.

Other nutritional guidelines by the National Research Council include:

Choose foods low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Fats contain more calories (9 calories per gram) than either carbohydrates or protein (each have only 4 calories per gram). Fat intake should be less than 30 percent of daily calories.

Eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grain cereal products, especially those high in vitamin C and carotene. These include oranges, grapefruit, carrots, winter squash, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and green leafy vegetables. These foods are good sources of vitamins and minerals and the major sources of dietary fiber. Fiber helps maintain bowel mobility and may reduce the risk of colon cancer. Young and older people alike are encouraged to consume 20 to 30 grams of fiber per day.

Eat very little salt-cured and smoked foods such as sausages, smoked fish and ham, bacon, bologna, and hot dogs. High blood pressure, which may become more serious with heavy salt intake, is more of a risk as you age.

Avoid food and drinks containing processed sugar. Sugar contains empty calories which may substitute for nutritious food and can add excess body weight.

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Physical and Medical Wellness

Wellness is a state of most favorable conditions for standard body functions. Wellness approach is to make adjustments in your day to day habits and routines that would optimize the conditions of your body organs for normal functioning.

Wellness is entirely different from treating illness. It is actually preventing illness. Normally if a patient has high blood pressure, a standard medical approach would be to choose a drug that lowers blood pressure, and ask the patient to take the drug but in medical wellness we recommend to adopt or remove those habits by which body heals and maintains itself well.
A complete physical and medical wellness can be defined as a “pain-free” state of body achieved by natural therapies like Yoga, Aerobics, and Cardio Exercises etc. Fighting for complete physical wellness brings you an open-ended opportunity for vitality, vibrant health, and an enhanced experience of life.

Medical wellness combines classical medical services with wellness. Individual medical counseling and care are an essential part of this offer. The emphasis is on preserving and upgrading health based on a prior psychophysical check-up in at Kothari Clinic at Delhi. During this, modern medical diagnostic methods and procedures and the clinical viewpoint of treating health disorders are employed. In addition to classical medicine, medical wellness also offers the services of complementary medicine.

Our main focus at MedicalWellnessWorld.com is on well being of Women because women in India face many serious health concerns. As adults, women get less health care than men. They tend to be less likely to admit that they are sick and they’ll wait until their sickness has progressed before they seek help or help is sought for them. Dr.Usha Kothari, our medical wellness consultant, is a gynecologist with 25 years of experience treating illness in women. Now she is keen to make Indian women aware about their natural health and well being. At Dr. Kothari’s Clinic everyone women will get personal guidance and a customized Personal Health Program will be drafted for her as per the problems she faces.