Contributed by Dr. Pavithra N Raj, Chief Dietician, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital Yeshwanthpur

Women’s day is celebrated on 8th march every year, the aim is to eliminate discrimination against women.
A Women has different stages of life, and in each stage, she faces a different type of challenge. In this 21st century, women are balancing between family and professional life. Taking care of a women’s diet also plays an important role to keep her healthy mentally and physically.

Every woman is passionate to cook different varieties of food for the entire family. But she is never fussy about the food that she eats and generally compromises on the nutrition part of her diet.
Women generally consume leftover food of previous days since they don’t want to waste the food.
They generally serve the entire family and later consume the last part of the food which may sometime not be enough.
They are various reasons of a woman having low Hb (anaemia), calcium deficiency, underweight, and various other health problems.A balanced diet is basically essential for a women’s health. So, here are some tips to keep the women healthy:

• Never skip breakfast – breakfast means breaking 10 hours of fast from the time of dinner to early morning breakfast. So, having a heavy breakfast dense in carbohydrate is essential to give energy for entire day. It can be a combination of our traditional foods or some continental steamed snacks (idli), Vegetable Upma, dhokla, poha, semia, dosa, pan cake, chapathi with vegetables, Oats or Broken Wheat porridge.
• Lunch like a queen – means balance foods which consist of – Carbohydrates (rice /ragi /wheat/jowar/ millets), High on Proteins (dal, sprouts, egg whites, Chicken, Fish, Curds), high fibre (salads, green Leafy vegetables) Less fat and SAY NO to fried foods
• Dinner should be – Eat early, eat light/ small portion and Eat simple to keep the body weight under control.
• Mid-morning and evening Snacks – can consist of – Cut Fruit, Vegetables Salad, Veg sandwich, soup/ buttermilk, sprouts/ boiled or roasted grams, boiled Egg White or Bhelpuri.
• Hydration: Drinking enough water, buttermilk, milk, Lime juice (No Sugar), clear soups, soups without butter or cream is important. Hydration is necessary for clear skin, hair and to give energy throughout the day.
• Physical Activity – Fat starts burning after 40th minute of physical activity 1 hour Physical activity is a must to keep the body weight controlled and to be away from the diseases conditions.

Women’s Health also should not be neglected after certain age basic Investigations is required