The Difference In Nutritional Needs Between Men And Women

“Is there really a difference in nutritional needs between men and women?” My cousin asked that to me awhile ago. Though all of us need same essential elements for our body to function well, quantity of such essential nutrients differ, so I answered to him a big YES. I asked my cousin how come he asked such question to me. He said that as he browse the internet, he came in contact with the best multivitamin for men site. I am happy to know that at his young age he shows concern about health.

CARBOHYDRATES
Because of their body weight, men need more calories and fibers than women. Complex carbohydrates high in fibers from unrefined foods, fruits, and vegetables are the best source of it. Both men and women needs 45-65% carbohydrates of  total daily calories.

PROTEIN
High body weight of men make them to require more protein than women. Too much of protein could deplete calcium level in women making them prone to osteoporosis. But, men have no excuse of consuming too much of protein too because kidney stones and crystallization of fluids in joints could result due to excessive intake of protein. Better check out URIC ACID CRYSTALS in Google for more info about the said stones due to excessive intake of protein.

FATS
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are good for our body, especially for our heart and blood vessels since it help sweep away the bad cholesterol out of our system and lowers triglyceride level. But, two studies in Harvard showed that omega-3 from vegetable source is not good for men. High intake of ALA from vegetable source by men could make them prone to prostate cancer.

CALCIUM
Calcium and vitamin D are good for our bones and in regulating our blood pressure. But, women need more calcium than men. For menstruating women like me, we need to have 1,000mg of calcium daily while menopause women need to take 1,200mg per day. As I have said earlier, men need less calcium. Their daily requirement (for all ages) is just 800mg per day. Too much of calcium intake for men could make them prone to prostate cancer.

IRON
Menstruation could lower our hemoglobin level due to lose of blood. As we all know iron is one of the important component of hemoglobin in Red Blood Cells thus menstruating women need more iron than men and menopause women. Pregnant women need extra iron too for the baby for its development.

But, it does not mean that non-menopause women need more iron that we have to take excess of it. Taking iron supplements is not recommended  unless you are diagnosed of certain type of anemia. Iron supplementation needs doctors advise.

As most people say: Men are from Mars while women are from Venus. That is why we have different nutritional body needs. You need not to scrutinize all the essential nutrients how much you need to take more for you to be healthy. As for me, the best rule is  BALANCE DIET. Too much of good things could be harmful to our health while lacking of it could result to failure in functioning well of our body. BALANCE IS THE KEY.

How Oxygenation In Your Blood Is Measured?

Yesterday we talked about Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes and hemoglobin thus we now know that hemoglobin plays a big role in oxygenation of all cells in our body. In relation to that, we will talk about oximeter today. What is an oximeter? Oximeter is an instrument use to measure oxygen percentage in hemoglobin or simply the oxygenation of the blood.

How oxygen percentage in hemoglobin is measured? Oximeters are usually attached on fingertip or at the earlobe of patient. Then, absorption and saturation of hemoglobin in patient’s blood are recorded using oxymeter’s probe at 650nm-805nm range of wavelength of light.  Please take note that oximeter just measure oxygenation and not oxygen metabolism.

Like any other instruments, there are factors that could cause problem in readings of pulse oximeter, slow blood flow due to venous congestion or vasoconstriction is a great example for it. There are lots of hemoglobin types, 2 of the said types are oxyhemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin (methemoglobin). Carboxyhemoglobin (methemoglobin) can be confused as oxyhemoglobin by pulse oximeter because these two types of hemoglobin are difficult to distinguish. Bright overhead lights and nail varnish could also cause false reading thus, it should be avoided.

Pulse oximeter is not solely for hospital use with a purpose of detecting oxygen related problems and in analyzing if it is necessary for the patient to undergo an oxygen therapy. Mountain climbers,  and people who undergo vigorous exercise like professional athletes uses portable pulse oximeter to measure their pulse rate and oxygenation of the blood too. People who are dependent on supplemental oxygen like pilot flying in non-pressurized airplanes use this instrument to measure the amount of supplemental oxygen needed.

We all know that oxygen is also a form of medication, this kind of medication could not be given without first determining the oxygen level in our blood. That is how important oximeter is to our community.

Know More About Your Red Blood Cells

Know More About Your Red Blood Cells

My friend Lilia has her own car now. It is one of her dreams to have one and finally her dream come true. She said she need to have even a cheap car insurance for her car now thus, she get quotes from car insurances online. Talking about cars, our Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes acts as cars in the body too.

Through circulatory system, Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes take up oxygen from the lungs and deliver the oxygen to millions of cells in our body. From our cells, it carries the carbon dioxide back to the lungs for excretion. It only take about 20 seconds for Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes to circulate within our body, isn’t that a great fact? They could be compared to fast cars with great purpose . They should not be caught by any kind of traffic jam or accident or else our body will suffer.

In normal adult, women has 4-5 million of Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes in every microliter of blood while men have 5-6 million of Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes per microliter of blood. And, for every Red Blood Cell (RBC) or erythrocyte it  contains about 270 million of hemoglobin biomolecules. Hemoglobin contain iron that is responsible for the red color of our blood and protein that transports oxygen to cells of our body.

Lack of hemoglobin is called anemia. With anemia, no enough transport system for oxygen to be carried to the cells thus person may suffer from shortness of breath, chest pain, headache, dizziness, and feeling tired and weak. There is paleness in skin too. And, if anemia will take so long, complication may take place like arrhythmia that could damage the heart.

Like cheap car insurance for your car, we need cheap but nutritious food to ensure our red cells for them to function well. Foods that are rich in iron, vitamin C and other nutrients that could keep our Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes healthy for them to function well. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great for our Red Blood Cells (RBC) or erythrocytes.

Iron Supplements and Iron Deficiency Anemia

You and your family are taking iron supplements? Did you know that too much iron in your body is harmful? Yes, our body needs iron, it is important for red blood cell production but too much of it is harmful to the body. There is a theory that extra stored iron in your body release harmful free radicals that may put you to risk for heart problems, liver damage, cancer,iron overdose in children and other illnesses. Medically speaking when there is an excessive amount of iron accumulated in the blood and tissues is is called hemosiderosis if the accumulated iron in the macrophages causes parenchymal cell injury. If the extra iron accumulates in the parenchymal cells and injures the tissue it is called hemochromatosis.

Because of iron side effects, most doctors agree that it is not necessary to take iron supplements unless your blood test shows that you need it. If the person is anemic, with low hemoglobin and, or hematocrit level in the blood, it does not mean automatically that he is suffering from iron deficiency and need to take iron supplements, always bear in mind that anemia has lots of causes and iron deficiency is just one of them. To confirm that the person is suffering from iron deficiency, the person will undergo a special laboratory test called serum ferritin test.

Again, taking iron supplements are not recommended unless prescribed by your doctor. If you want to make sure that your family family is getting enough iron for their body needsgo for good food sources of iron. Fish, poultry, red meat, shellfish, tofu, potatos, peas, beans, pumpkin seeds and dried apricots are rich in iron, some cereals and other processed foods are fortified with iron too thus, you need not to take iron supplements unless prescribed by your physician.