Beverly Mulhhausler - The CSIRO Womens Health and Nutrition Guide

Dr Ja ne Bowe n, Assoc. Prof. Bev Muhl hausler Ge mma W illiams

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More information P A R T Tur ning plans into action s P A R T P A R T

Dr Jane Bowen Associate Profess or Bev Muhlhausler Gemma Williams About the authors THE CSIRO WO MENS HEAL TH & NUTRITION GUIDE

Dr Jessica Grieger Dr Naomi Ka koschke Contributors ABOUT THE AUTHORS / CONTRIBUT ORS

Introduct ion For more than two decades, the CSIRO, Australias National Science Agency, has conducte d researc h into under standing the critical role that food and nutrition plays in our health . WHY A BOOK FOR WOMEN ? NOURISHMENT VERSUS DIETING THE CSIR O W OMEN S HEAL TH & NUTRITION GUIDE

quick and ea sy to prepare suitable for the entire family nutritionally c omplete. EMPHASIS ON SELF - CARE INTRODUCTION

PART ONE

AT EVERY LIFE ST AGE

Hormones a key player in our health and wellbeing In addition to what we eat, how active we are and our other major lifest yle habits , there is another key determinant of womens health: our hormones. Love them or hate them, they are an integral part of who we are and how we experience life. The profound effec t hormones have on our bodies and mind s can be a bit confusing and, because of this, they are ofte n misunderstood . So, lets get to know them a bit better . OESTROGEN Supports repro ductive and sexual d evelopment, which begins when a female reaches pubert y PROGESTER ONE Helps to stabi lise the menst rual cyc le and prepare the body for pregnancy FOLLICLE STIMULA TI NG HORMONE ( FSH ) Stimulates ovarian follicles (tiny sacs in the ovary that contain immature eggs) to mature during the menstrual cyc le LUTEINISI NG HORMONE ( LH ) Helps control the menstrual cyc le and triggers the releas e of an egg from the ovary (ovu lation) THE FOUR MAJOR FEM ALE SEX HORMONES THE CSIR O W OMEN S HEAL TH & NUTRITION GUIDE

HOW HORMONES CHANGE OVE R OUR LIFE TIME PUBERTY MENSTRUA TIO N MENSTRUA TIO N MENOPA USE BIRTH PREGNANCY PROGESTER ONE O ESTROGEN A HEAL THY LIFESTYLE 13

Puberty Pubert y refer s to the phy sical changes that see us matu re from ch ildren into adults capab le of repro duction . increasing brea st si ze; changes in body shape; growt h of pub ic and u nderarm hair; increased growt h rate; menstruation (periods ). THE MENSTR UAL CY CLE M ENSTRUA L PHASE . 14 THE CSIR O W OMEN S HEAL TH & NUTRITION GUIDE

FOLLICULA R PHASE. OVULA TI ON PHASE. LUTEAL PHASE. FOLLICULA R DEVELOPME NT HORMONE LEVELS ENDOMETRIAL LINING FOLLICLE GROWS EGG RELEASED FOLLICLE BECOMES CORPUS LUTEUM OESTROGEN PROGESTER ONE FSH LH UTERINE LINING REBUILDS 0 DAY OF MENSTRUA L CYC LE MENSTRUA L PHASE FOLLICULA R PHASE OVULA TIO N PHASE LUTEAL PHASE A HEAL THY LIFESTYLE

) ca n help to reduce s kin in am mation and decre ase oil product ion. T his mea ns switc hing to wholegr ain breads and cer eals a nd minimising or avoi ding foods w ith added sugar , and sugary drinks. 16 THE CSIR O W OMEN S HEAL TH & NUTRITION GUIDE

STA YI NG W ELL THROUGHOUT PUBE RTY A HEAL THY LIFESTYLE 17 A HEAL THY LIFESTYLE 17

Case Study C aitlyn C aitlyn ha d just turned Her skin ha d sta rte d to fe el oily and sh e noticed p imples appe aring on her fa ce. Sh e'd he ard th at you get more pi mples duri ng pubert y, b ut this was suc h bad timing b ecause shed just star ted high s chool! S he tri ed was hing her face mo re oft en, but it d idnt s eem t o hel p. It also f elt emb arrassing to ask her p arents for advi ce. Caitlyn re ad that some foods could m ake acn e worse, so sh e decided to pay more at tention to what she wa s eating and dr inking. N ow tha t she was walking home f rom sch ool in the aft ernoons, she h ad st arte d buyi ng sugary snacks and dri nks on the way . Caitly n real ised this was so mething she hadn t don e much previousl y. She mad e some changes by bring ing a b ottle o f water w ith her for the walk, and sh e also made s ure tha t she took f ruit to school, which she could ea t as a s nack du ring the day a s well as on t he way home. Afte r just a few day s, Caitlyn s tart ed to n otice he r ener gy leve ls wer e highe r and, after a coupl e of wee ks, she fou nd that she w as gett ing fewer pimples. The cha nges didn t cl ear up her a cne en tirely, but Cai tlyn fel t so mu ch better about h erself. While she fo und it embarras sing t o talk to h er parents about what sh e was g oing thro ugh, s he deci ded it was impo rtant to tell t hem how she w as fee ling. She e xplained that wh ile it w as grea t that they trust ed he r with a bit of m oney fo r the walk hom e, s he had learned t hat gro wing up also me ant tha t she h ad to m ake res ponsible choices a bout her lifest yle. I t felt really good to be ab le to o pen up to her par ents . Afte r this conversa tion, C aitlyn and her p arents talked in mor e detai l about gro wing up and mak ing health y lifest yle c hoices, which r eally helped t he whole family. Caitlyn felt th at she had h er par ents support to help with all the changes she wa s going through, and he r pare nts w ere reminded of the i mporta nce of s tart ing these conver sations, and hea ring what their daughte r had to say. 18 THE CSIRO W OM E N S HE A LTH & NU TR ITION GU IDE