There are certain vitamins and minerals that women need to have in their diets. Stress, fatigue, or even low sex drive can be the result of not consuming these essential nutrients. Doctors may prescribe you these vitamins and minerals, but they exist in fresh fruits and vegetables that are easily accessible.
It’s always best to get your nutrients from fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds, legumes, and whole grains. Prescribed supplements can have additional chemicals that may have adverse effects on your body. It’s all about treating your body like a shrine: only honor it with the things that are going to keep it healthy.
The top vitamins and minerals that women need include magnesium, vitamins B12 & D, probiotics, calcium, and biotin. Here are the foods that you can eat to get these nutrients.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 belongs to the B-vitamin complex family. It is important for improving your metabolism and other biological processes. One of the most important functions it has is that it helps produce red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body. The best foods to eat for vitamin B12 include homemade almond milk, spinach, kale, nutritional yeast, fermented vegetables, sea vegetables like kelp, steel cut oats, or potatoes.
Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the most important nutrients you can have in your diet. It helps reduce stress levels, nourishes the heart, supports healthy bones, and helps relieve PMS symptoms. The best magnesium-rich foods include avocados, bananas, Brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, spinach, pinto beans, chickpeas, lentils, artichoke hearts, and okra.
Vitamin D
It always feels good to be in the sun. That’s because vitamin D helps fight depression! It also boosts weight loss and can help you fight off illnesses. While going outside and absorbing the sun’s rays is the best way to get vitamin D, there are foods that have vitamin D. These foods include mushrooms, homemade almond milk, freshly squeezed orange juice, and steel cut oats.
Biotin
Biotin is necessary for fortifying your luscious locks, keeping your nails strong, and nourishing your skin. It also helps nerve, digestive, and cardiovascular functions. You can get more biotin in your diet by eating almonds, sweet potatoes, onions, steel cut oats, carrots, tomatoes, walnuts, and spinach.
Probiotics
Keeping your gut healthy can help your body function optimally. Digestive issues can lead to fatigue, constipation, and certain types of cancers. Probiotics help to promote healthy gut flora, prevent allergies in children, and treat vaginal and urinary infections. The best probiotic foods to eat include sauerkraut, fermented vegetables, kefir, miso soup, kimchi, and kombucha tea.
Calcium
Calcium helps keep your bones strong and is important for healthy heart, muscle, and nerve function. You don’t have to get calcium from dairy. In fact, dairy products can make your muscles or joints function worse. The best vegetarian calcium sources include kale, spinach, kelp, broccoli, rhubarb, kumquats, oranges, figs, and raspberries.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
