Food: A portrait of good health?

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union

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It’s the middle of the day and you’ve either eaten everything in your path or nothing at all. Your head is pounding or you’re about to fall asleep on the first soft surface you find.
Sound familiar?
“[Women] starve themselves through the day; they live on diet soda and coffee, and then they overdo it in the evening,” said Lauri Wright, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Florida and a licensed dietitian.
Wright said not eating a well-balanced diet and skipping meals makes women vulnerable for illnesses and can cause them to eat even more than they initially intended.
Incorporating certain ingredients in a woman’s diet may help with everything from fatigue and migraines to better skin and healthier hair, said Frank Comstock, an emergency medicine and anti-aging physician and author of “Antiaging 101: A proactive preventative health care program.”
Here are some food solutions to combat common health problems among women:

Fatigue
Comstock said the best way to beat fatigue is to avoid processed carbohydrates and sugary foods.
“By balancing the blood sugar, it really tweaks the body into fat-burning mode,” he said. “When we burn fat, the body produces significantly more energy.”
Comstock said many vegetables provide slow-releasing carbs, such as spinach, green beans and broccoli, that could stabilize the blood sugar and provide an immediate perk.
And, if you’re thinking about grabbing some caffeine to combat fatigue, it will only create an artificial perk, Wright said.
“[Caffeine] is a drug, it’s a stimulant, and that can compound the stress a woman is already under,” she said.

Stress
Last year, a study by the University of California-San Francisco found that women experiencing chronic stress indulge in high-calorie, high-sugar snacks, which in turn causes them more stress.
But processed, sugary foods are the worst choices women can make because they cause nutrient deficiencies that increase stress in the body, Comstock said.
Good food options for preventing and coping with stress are antioxidants such as berries and foods rich in B vitamins, such as yogurt, low-fat milk and salmon.

Migraines
Up to 50 percent of headaches and migraines are caused by dietary factors, Wright said.
Wright suggests keeping a food diary for two to three days to try to trace the source of the migraine, and avoiding foods that restrict blood flow, such as caffeine, nitrates found in cured meats and aged cheeses.
Low magnesium rates may also trigger headaches, Wright said. She said fish, beans and spinach, which all have high magnesium levels, could help with migraines.

Hot flashes
The secret to combating hot flashes is in phyto-estrogen foods, Wright said.
The most effective phytoestrogen food is soy in any form, including soy milk, soy beans and tofu.
Wright said in Japan, there’s not a word that translates into hot flashes because they are so infrequent, mostly because of the country’s high soy consumption.
Phytoestrogens also can be found in beans, apples and potatoes.

Better skin, hair and nails
Comstock said he’s worked with patients who had cell inflammation in their bodies because of high sugar and carb consumption. The inflammation resulted in skin issues such as psoriasis and eczema, limp hair and weak nails.
Eating foods with healthy fats, or omega-3 fatty acids, can reduce cell inflammation, Comstock said.
Salmon, sardines, walnuts, almonds and flaxseed are all high in omega-3s. Iron-rich proteins, such as lean beef, lamb, turkey and chicken, also make hair and nails stronger.

Weight loss and belly fat
In the United States, 35.5 percent of women are obese, compared to 32.2 percent of men, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
And last year, researchers from Brookhaven National Laboratory found in a study examining brain scans that women are less able to control food cravings.
Wright said eating fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and nuts can help a woman maintain a healthy body weight.
But if you’re tempted to try a special diet tailored to rid belly fat or cellulite, save your money, Wright said.
“There’s not certain foods that contribute to belly fat or cellulite,” she said. “That really comes from genetics.”

tracy.jones@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4272