Chapter 1 discusses the foods that we need to eat to assure good health: whole grains, legumes, raw seeds and nuts, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, sweeteners, herbs and spices, and water. This chapter covers not only the nutrient benefits of these foods and how best to include them, but also their role in relieving and preventing a variety of female health problems and other health issues. Be sure to incorporate these foods abundantly in your daily diet while enjoying their good flavors and textures.

Whole Grains
Whole grains are the seeds of various grasses and are often referred to as "cereals." They have been the mainstay of the human diet for thousands of years, as our body's main source of fuel and energy. While the grains consumed in different societies vary greatly wheat in the United States, rice in the Orient they provide the backbone for all diets. In fact, a meal without grain often feels incomplete and somehow lacking.

Whole grains are almost complete meals within themselves, containing fiber, protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins such as B and E complexes, and many minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese. There are three main parts to each kernel of grain: the endosperm, or central core, which is about 80 percent of the entire kernel; the germ, which comprises about 3 percent; and the bran, which encompasses 15 percent of the kernel. Whole grain products contain all three parts of the grain and have a high concentration of nutrients. However, when grain is refined in milling to produce white flour products, the germ and bran are removed, leaving only the endosperm. As a result, most of the essential nutrients of the grain are removed, leaving a devitalized product.

The nutrients of whole grains help promote good overall health. They also have a tremendous effect on relieving the symptoms and reducing the risk of a wide variety of female related health problems. Whole grains have a very potent effect on regulating estrogen levels in the body, through their high levels of phytoestrogens (natural plant estrogens), their fiber content, and their high levels of vitamin B complex and vitamin E.

Many whole grains are excellent sources of phytoestrogens. Whole grains contain lignans, cellulose like materials that provide structure to plants. Lignans have been found to be weakly estrogenic and can bind to the estrogen receptors of cells. As a result, they can provide additional nutritional support to menopausal women deficient in this hormone. In addition, certain plants like buckwheat are excellent sources of the bioflavonoid rutin. Like lignans, many bioflavonoids are estrogenic and can help to regulate the effects of our own body's estrogen on sensitive target tissue like the breast and uterus. Rutin is particularly helpful in its ability to strengthen capillaries and reduce heavy menstrual bleeding in transitioning menopausal women. Studies attest to this. Bioflavonoids have been used, along with vitamin C, to reduce heavy bleeding in transitioning menopausal women and women with bleeding due to fibroid tumors and spontaneous abortions. In fact, an early study done at the University of Tennessee Medical School in 1956 found that the bioflavonoid vitamin C combination allowed 78 percent of high risk women to carry their pregnancies to full term.