About 60% of patients who visit practitioners are women,¹ which is why Greens First® Female has set out to utilize the latest in nutrition science to create a line of products specifically designed to provide relief to your female patients from the problems they most frequently encounter at each stage of their lives.
We’re going to take a look at the unique health challenges women face as well as how best to alleviate symptoms and reduce risk factors for disease through changes to lifestyle, nutrition, and supplementation with the OB/GYN-approved Greens First® Female line of professional- grade products.
Greens First® Female makes it easy to address women’s specific and unique needs throughout any stage of their lives by providing thoroughly researched products focused on all-natural ingredients without the potential deleterious side effects associated with prescription medications.
Trust Your Gut (Bacteria)
There are known to be gender-specific variations in the composition of the gut microbiome. This divergence in gut microbiota between men and women may play a significant role in the differences between the prevalence of certain metabolic and inflammatory diseases in each gender.² The composition of our microbiome influences everything from brain health and immune system function to nutrient uptake, weight control, and inflammation, so an imbalance here can throw a number of things out of sync.
There are several bacterial strains that have been shown to be beneficial to women’s health, such as Lactobacillus reuteri, which may help support vaginal and urinary health. It has been found that L. reuteri has antimicrobial properties that can inhibit colonization by pathogenic microbes to maintain a more desirable microbiome composition. It also benefits the immune system by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines and promoting T Cell development and function.³ That means better protection from NCDs as well as support for reproductive health.
Because of this, it’s important to provide female patients with a comprehensive Probiotic supplement, preferably one with at least 10 Billion Colony Forming Units (CFU) per serving of various beneficial bacteria including L. reuteri. It’s also important to ensure that the probiotic supplement is taken with plenty of prebiotic fiber in order to provide the bacteria with fuel to grow and form colonies. Undesirable bacteria love to be fed sugar, while the ones we want to nurture tend to prefer fiber.
Greens First® Female offers a comprehensive, shelf-stable probiotic supplement with 20 Billion CFU of various bacteria chosen for their role in improving women’s health at any age, like L. reuteri, L. acidophilus, and L. rhamnosus, all of which may support vaginal and urinary health. It also contains prebiotic inulin fiber to ensure the bacteria have enough fuel to take hold in the gut, with a unique delivery system that ensures live probiotic cells are protected from stomach acid.
The Role of Nutrition & Diet
One of the fastest ways to improve patients’ microbiome health, reduce body fat, and lower their risk of developing various NCDs is through changing what they eat. Adding nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables to the diet of someone who primarily eats processed foods can be very effective at improving their health. Processed foods, often made with undesirable seed oils and plenty of sugar, can wreak havoc on a healthy microbiome over time and lead to increased inflammation.4 They feed the “bad” bacteria while causing the beneficial bacteria to shrink in number or die out completely.
Fibrous fruits and vegetables do the opposite, feeding the good bacteria and promoting microbiota diversity while helping weed out pathogens, as well as providing a number of important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. A diet full of unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables is also associated with a lower body fat percentage, a key indicator of risk for many NCDs.5
Guiding female patients toward a more nutrient-dense eating plan can also have several benefits for reproductive health, whether it be the menstrual cycle, fertility, or menopause. For example, diets rich in vegetables have been associated with improved fertility, while those with lots of sugar have been associated with poorer fertility outcomes. Plus, obesity leads to a higher risk of infertility, as does being underweight, so balanced nutrition is key.6
In addition, nutrition and lifestyle factors have been associated with the severity of symptoms of PMS and menopause. Smoking cigarettes and eating more sugary or processed foods has been correlated with increased risk of physical, psychological, and behavioral symptoms of PMS in menstruating women, while fruit consumption was associated with a decreased risk.7 Similarly, women with higher intakes of fruits and vegetables have been found to experience fewer menopausal symptoms.8
With 37.5 million women at or near menopause and 45.6 post menopausal women in the U.S., it’s important to have an effective and natural remedy without the risk of cancers or cardiac events associated with prescription medications.9 Greens First® Female’s MenoSolve is a greens powder that is designed to alleviate the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause. It has the Greens First® phytonutrient benefits of 15+ servings of fruits and vegetables per scoop, plus gut-healing probiotics and fiber as well as an array of herbs and vitamins that have been thoroughly studied and shown to provide relief for menopausal symptoms, like Moringa, Red Clover Flower, Royal Jelly, Vitamin B6, and more. MenoSolve is also available in capsule form without the Greens First® base, but with the ingredients for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
Greens First® Female’s ConceEve was created with the intention of promoting fertility in women trying to conceive. Like every Greens First® Female product, ConceEve was formulated by leading OB/GYNs, and it’s based on scientific evidence that certain nutrients may optimize and support the fertility process. It may also support women who have PCOS; it has been shown in numerous clinical studies that the combination of Myo- and D-Chiro-Inositol significantly improves the chance of conception for women with PCOS by improving metabolic function, regulating menstrual cycle patterns, and improving insulin resistance, which are all contributing factors to infertility. It also contains Natural Folate, which has been shown to protect unborn children against serious birth defects.
Keep It Moving
Aside from nutrition, physical activity may be the most effective way for women to improve overall health and reduce disease risk. In addition to the more obvious ways that exercise can be beneficial to women (fat loss, cardiovascular and respiratory health, immune system support), it can also influence hormonal regulation. High levels of endogenous estrogen is a main risk factor for breast cancer in women, and physical activity (especially high-intensity exercise) was found to lower those estrogen levels, thereby reducing breast cancer risk.10 This hormonal regulation through physical activity can also be effective at controlling some of the symptoms of menopause, while inhibiting some of the associated weight gain and muscle loss.11
Recommending that female patients increase their activity level can be a great way to improve treatment outcomes. Even just adding 30 minutes of walking each day to a sedentary lifestyle can lead to various benefits like lowered disease risk and increased weight loss, whether it is one 30 minute walk or 3 shorter 10 minute walks spaced throughout the day. Plus, easing patients into activity with daily walks has been found to be an effective way to promote a more active lifestyle in the long term.12
The Healing Power of Nature
Another place we can look for solutions to the health problems women most commonly face is out in nature. There are many herbs that have been used as medicine for thousands of years, and we now know how and why many of them work and what they do to heal various ailments. Moringa Leaf is known to be rich in Vitamin D, which has its own array of benefits to the immune system and other bodily functions, but Moringa has also been shown to be effective at supporting healthy thyroid function and therefore hormone regulation.13
Ashwaghanda is another herb that may aid in hormonal homeostasis as well as promote quality sleep and reduced stress.14 Red Clover Flower has been shown to be effective at reducing the risk of hot flashes and fatigue, both symptoms of menopause.15 Chaste Berry (Vitex agnus-castus) can help balance hormones, and there is evidence that it may relieve breast tenderness, bloating, and cramps, all of which are symptoms of PMS.16
These are just a small sampling of the vast array of natural herbs that can provide women with health benefits and relief from symptoms of the menstrual cycle. It’s important to consider the role that supplementation can play in helping to promote positive outcomes for female patients.
With an estimated 85% of women suffering from PMS, it is one of the most common afflictions suffered by your female patients. It’s important to provide remedies that don’t have an associated cardiac risk as some prescription products do.17 Greens First® Female’s SeraMense is a dietary supplement featuring a collection of natural healing herbs like Chaste Berry Fruit Powder and Lemon Balm, chosen for their role in reducing the physical and emotional symptoms associated with PMS. It also contains Magnesium and Zinc for added immune support. This proprietary blend of non-hormonal, high quality phytonutrients, minerals, vitamins, and probiotics helps to balance and minimize hormonal fluctuations and target the most common symptoms at their source.
Greens First® Female’s Green Tea with Moringa promotes energy & vitality, hormonal balance, immune function, and inflammation reduction in women of any age. The flavonoids and catechins from both Green Tea Extract & Green Tea Powder act as powerful antioxidants, complementing the anti-inflammatory, hormone-balancing effects of Moringa to provide women with comprehensive relief.
It’s important to recommend that patients attempt to build healthier habits with their nutrition and activity levels, but supplementation with products like these can be a very effective treatment that requires less effort on the part of the patient and provides an all-natural solution.
Create an account with MeyerPT today or contact your personal account manager at 1.866.528.2144 for more information.
*These products and statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
References
(1) Diversity in the Chiropractic Profession: Preparing for 2050; Johnson & Green; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391776/
(2) Intestinal Microbiota Is Influenced by Gender and Body Mass Index; Haro et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4881937/
(3) Role of Lactobacillus reuteri in Human Health and Diseases; Mu et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5917019/
(4) Gut Microbiota: An Important Link between Western Diet and Chronic Diseases; Zumin Shi; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835660/
(5) Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease; Hills, Jr. et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682904/
(6) The Influence of Diet on Fertility and the Implications for Public Health Nutrition in the United States; Panth et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6079277/
(7) Premenstrual Syndrome Is Associated with Dietary and Lifestyle Behaviors among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from Sharjah, UAE; Hashim et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723319/
(8) Higher Intakes of Fruits and Vegetables Are Related to Fewer Menopausal Symptoms: a Cross-Sectional Study; Safabakhsh et al; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32068682/
(9) Menopause Practice: a Clinician’s Guide, 4th Edition;
Marla Shapiro; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3440278/
(10) Effect of Physical Activity on Sex Hormones in Women: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials; Ennour-Idrissi et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635995/
(11) Effect of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise on Estrogen Level, Fat Mass, and Muscle Mass Among Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Females; Razzak et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6619462/
(12) Effectiveness of Long and Short Bout Walking on Increasing Physical Activity in Women; Serwe et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3064872/
(13) Role of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract in the Regulation of Thyroid Hormone Status in Adult Male and Female Rats;
Tahiliani & Kar; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10675284/
(14) An Investigation Into the Stress-Relieving and Pharmacological Actions of an Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) Extract;
Lopresti et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6750292/
(15) Effects of Red Clover on Hot Flash and Circulating Hormone Concentrations in Menopausal Women: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis;
Ghazanfarpour et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4678495/
(16) Systematic Review of Premenstrual, Postmenstrual and Infertility Disorders of Vitex Agnus Castus; Rafieian-Kopaei & Movahedi; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308513/
(17) Comparison of Metabolic and Hormonal Profiles of Women With and Without Premenstrual Syndrome: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study; Hashemi et al; https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5035673/
Greens First Greens First Female - Green Tea Vitality Formula 
Greens First Greens First Female SeraMense PMS 
Greens First Greens First Female - ConceEVE Reproductive Support 
Greens First Greens First Female MenoSolve