Have you ever stopped to think: what are mums’ daily nutrients? Ever since we learned the term “healthy living,” we have succumbed to the idea that healthy eating means eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding junk, fatty, and sugary foods, and consistent exercise.
While that still remains to be true, we actually miss out on a lot of other nutrients that are necessary for our female bodies. The biggest reason is we don’t have proper education about our nutritional needs as we go through life. We learn about it in high school and take what we learned as we age.
In truth, when coming up with a diet or meal plan we need to know what women’s and mums’ daily nutrients and essentials are. With this, we can properly track what we lack and need in the meals we consume every day.
7 Important Nutrients That Women and Mums Need Daily
As it turns out, our nutritional needs change as we go through different life stages. The nutrients we will need as a child differs from the ones we will need once we reach adulthood, parenthood, and seniority.
On the other hand, we need to incorporate certain ingredients and meals into diets that cater to women’s and mums’ daily nutrients and needs. So, in this article, we will give a run-down of the 7 most essential nutrients for mums and women alike.
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1 – Calcium
We all know calcium is for our bones. But, as it turns out, it’s beneficial for other reasons too. Consuming more calcium will also help in the proper functioning of our hearts, muscles, and nervous systems.
If you want to know if you are deficient in calcium, be on guard for frequent muscle cramps, weakness, numbness, tingling in the fingers, and abnormal heart rate.
| Age | Required daily calcium intake |
| Adult women | 800mg |
| Pregnant and breastfeeding mums | 1000-1200mg |
| Women above 51 years of age | 1000mg |
Foods that are rich in calcium are milk, yoghurt, cheese, beans, sardines, and green leafy vegetables. Because of women’s and mums’ daily nutrients and essentials, we need to remember meals or snacks rich in calcium.
Now, keep your required daily intake in mind, because exceeding the required amount can lead to kidney stones, irregular heartbeat, muscle cramps, and twitches.
2 – Folic Acid
If you’ve been pregnant before, this nutrient might already be familiar to you because your OB prescribed it as one of your prenatal vitamins. Your OB might have mentioned this nutrient helps in the development of your baby’s brain and spine formation.
For women who are not pregnant, folic acid helps in their red blood cell formation, which our bodies need. You’ll know you’re low in folic acid if you’re frequently tired, always short of breath, pale-looking, and suffer from hair loss.
The amount of folic acid that you’ll need as an adult woman is 400mcg. If you’re pregnant or a breastfeeding mum, consume at least 500-600mcg of folic acid. Foods that are high in folic acid are wholegrain bread, eggs, nuts, leafy greens, beans, peas, lentils, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli.
Again, consume within your required limit or else suffer a B12 deficiency which can cause irreparable damage to your brain. We definitely don’t want that.
3 – Iodine
You can thank this nutrient for your regulating your metabolism. Infants and kids also benefit from this nutrient; it strengthens their brain and bone development.
Fatigue, weight gain, dry hair and skin, constipation, and feeling chilly are the symptoms you ought to look out for if you are low on Iodine.
Adult women need at most 150mcg and pregnant and breastfeeding mums need 220-290mcg of Iodine. Go over this amount, and you can be at risk of hyperthyroidism. Fish, shellfish, milk, cheese, yoghurt, and eggs are some of the foods that are rich in Iodine.
4 – Iron
This nutrient is responsible for sending oxygen all over your body. So, this is definitely an essential nutrient. You’ll know you are iron deficient if you notice fatigue all the time, pale skin, shortness of breath, brittle nails, hair loss, and sensitivity to cold.
| Age | Required daily iron intake |
| Adult women | 18mg |
| Pregnant and breastfeeding mums | 27mg |
| Women above 60 years of age | 8 mg |
Consume iron only within your limit or you could get constipation, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Foods that are high in iron content are red meat (beef and pork), shellfish, beans, spinach, and chickpeas.
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5 – Vitamin A
As kids, we were taught that vitamin A is good for our eyes. Apart from that, it also helps in improving our immune function and reproduction. It also helps in the prevention of different illnesses and diseases. As we grow older, this vitamin becomes an essential part of women’s and mums’ daily nutrients.
If you experience fatigue, often get infections, and struggle in conceiving, you might have a mild deficiency in iron. A more severe deficiency causes eye problems such as night blindness, severely dry eyes, white patches on the whites of the eyes, and dry skin or hair.
Adult women should consume at most 750mcg of vitamin A. When you exceed this limit, you could be at risk of blurry vision, sensitivity to bright light like sunlight, dry skin, bone pain, nausea, and vomiting.
6 – Vitamin B12
If you’re happy and you know it, then you are high in Vitamin B12, because this nutrient helps in serotonin production – the chemical that sends messages to our brains to make us happy. Other benefits of this nutrient are improved brain function, nerve tissue health, production of red blood cells, and energy levels.
When you’re low on Vitamin B12, you will experience fatigue, weakness, nerve damage, megaloblastic anaemia, depression, memory loss and dementia.
Consume only 2.4mcg of Vitamin B12 if you’re an adult woman, and 2.6 mcg if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Going beyond these figures can cause breakouts, headaches, nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
Beef, tuna, fortified nutritional yeast, sardines, and cheese are high in vitamin b12. So, you might want to include those in your diet.
7 – Zinc
Zinc boosts your immunity and metabolic function. It also helps reduce inflammation. Deficiency in zinc will cause delayed wound healing, hair loss, poor appetite, and decreased sense of smell and taste. It also triggers depression and poor immunity.
Adult women should be consuming 8mg while pregnant and breastfeeding mums should be consuming 10-12mg of Zinc. Don’t go over these limits because you can be at risk of nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, abdominal pain or cramping, headaches and diarrhoea.
Foods you can eat that are high in zinc are red meat, poultry, oysters, nuts, seeds, and fortified breakfast cereals.
There you go, ladies – the top 7 nutrients that you will need. We recommend reading these related articles to help you get better at eating healthy for your body.