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A recent executive order signed by President Joe Biden to improve women’s health research made headlines as reproductive health remains a key issue in the 2024 US presidential election. The March 18 directive is notable for its purpose of integrating women’s health across federal agencies and promoting new research. The timing couldn’t have been better.
For centuries, medical researchers have studied only men, downplayed or completely ignored gender differences, and extrapolated their results to women. However, women are not physiologically the same as men. The most obvious characteristic is the onset of menstruation. woman Because of puberty and two X chromosomes, we often receive incomplete, poor, and even harmful medical advice.
This long-standing lack of women-based research, due to sex and gender bias, spoke to Dr. Stacey Sims, an exercise physiologist and nutritional scientist based in Mt Maunganui, New Zealand, about how women eat. and was driven to dedicate his career to deciding whether to exercise. optimal health. “If we address our physiology, recognizing that women are women and men are men, and women are not little men, imagine the (health) results,” she says. He gave a TED Talk in 2019.
read more: Lab rats are overwhelmingly male, which is a problem.
A good example is cardiac arrest. In 2007, it was known that women were almost twice as likely to die from a heart attack and reported more symptoms related to acute coronary syndromes than men; The National Institutes of Health study still did not recommend distinguishing between heart attack symptoms. between a man and a woman.
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Dr. Stacey Sims, an exercise physiologist and nutritionist, said women of all ages should focus on strength training to reduce their risk of dementia (not shown).
Women are still significantly underrepresented in the medical literature, according to a 2022 study published in Women’s Health Report. Misogynistic attitudes persist as well. The National Institutes of Health also implemented a policy in 2016 requiring researchers to consider gender as a variable in biomedical research, with mixed results.
Since this policy began, the number of studies including women has increased significantly. However, in 2019 bibliographic analysis (a rigorous means of analyzing large amounts of data) found that the majority of over 700 medical studies were unable to analyze the resulting data by gender, limiting its usefulness. It was shown that
Sims, who is also the author of Roar, a science-based book detailing gender differences in exercise and nutrition at different life stages, recently shared her thoughts on the topic with CNN.
Consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program. Stop immediately if you feel pain. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
CNN: Is it possible that in 2024, medical research on women still isn’t as advanced?
Dr. Stacey Sims: know! Isn’t it strange? Historically, when you think about who developed science and research, women were pushed aside from the beginning. Men say, “Oh, women are inferior to us. They have smaller brains.” Even Darwin said that women aren’t as smart because they have smaller brains. So when you think about the scientific method and how it started, who was in that room? It was all men. No one questioned the small number of women included in the study. They believed that women were smaller versions of men, and that anything that worked for men would work for women as well. It’s really hard to change traditions.
Provided by Stacey Sims
Dr. Stacey Sims said women should prioritize consuming more protein to support muscle building, especially as their bodies age.
One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that I appreciate is that it forced researchers to stand up and say, “Oh my gosh, we really need to look at gender differences.” This is because while the new coronavirus infection was more severe in men, the side effects of the vaccine were more pronounced in women. Long-term coronavirus infections have also hit women harder, affecting their brains more than men. That’s why, rather than generalizations, we are seeing one after another being published that are truly excellent science and are specific to gender.
CNN: What are the basic things every woman should do when it comes to exercise?
Sims: Any movement is fine, but it is more important for women to do strength training and resistance training. It’s more for brain health. If we look at resistance training and the neural pathways it creates, we can see that it can actually help reduce dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. And there are also gender differences. But historically, women weren’t taught to do resistance training. However, women from young to old should do strength training.
CNN: Does strength training have other effects as women approach menopause?
Sims: yes. From the age of 40 to his 50s, hormones begin to change, which greatly affects body composition. We lose muscle and begin to gain body fat. But having lean body mass from strength training can really help slow down that rate of change. Strength training also protects your bones and helps maintain your balance and proprioception (awareness of where your body is in space). Men don’t see these changes from their late 50s to their 70s.
CNN: What about the differences in physical activity between men and women when it comes to cardiovascular function?
Sims: Men can get away with almost everything. Women already have the ability to go long and slow, so we do not need to do such exercises. Our bodies are already there. What we need to do is high-intensity training, real high-intensity intervals of 30 seconds or 1 minute. This helps women increase their metabolic rate, reduce visceral (deep abdominal) fat, and most importantly, keep the gut microbiome diverse and improve cardiovascular health. So if you look at all the research on high-intensity workouts, moderate-intensity workouts, and low-intensity workouts, you’ll see that we need to focus on strength training in addition to high-intensity workouts.
CNN: Do women recover from exercise the same way as men?
Sims: There is a difference in blood pressure immediately after exercise. Women experience vasodilation so all the blood goes to the periphery, while men experience vasoconstriction and all the blood returns to the heart where it is pumped out faster and recovers faster. That’s why women tend to feel light-headed and a little dizzy after an intense session because of all the blood pooling. Drinking something cold immediately after exercise brings blood back to the center, reduces metabolites, and starts repair processes.
CNN: What about the nutritional differences between men and women?
Sims: There’s a lot of debate surrounding protein intake and how low the recommended daily intake for women is. This is also based on studies of cadavers of men aged 70 to 80 years. So while protein is important for both men and women, it should be emphasized for women as well. Especially as women get older, they become more anabolically resistant to exercise and protein intake, because their bodies respond less to exercise and protein intake. To strengthen muscles. Therefore, to obtain muscle protein synthesis, you need to eat more protein after exercise and do higher loads or higher amounts of resistance training.
Generally, women should consume 1 to 1.1 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. If you’re doing strength training, consuming 15 grams of protein before your session and 30-35 grams after your session will strengthen your muscles and promote repair. For cardiovascular work, eat 15 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbohydrates beforehand. Carbohydrates help raise blood sugar levels because women’s bodies raise blood sugar levels faster. However, protein is only needed after that. 30 grams to 35 grams or 40 grams. For perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women.
CNN: There’s been a lot of hype lately about the benefits of intermittent fasting, long, slow workouts in zone 2, and other fads. Are these equally beneficial for men and women?
Sims: Most of the trends out there are great for men, but for women it’s a different story. My voice is always like this. “Let’s explain why what we see in the public is not appropriate for women. And let’s explain what is not appropriate for women.” teeth Is it suitable for women? ” Because no one is used to stopping and saying, “Yes, I heard this.” But what was the population in which it was studied? If it was studied in men, it might not be so good for me as a woman. Now, what do I deserve? ” There are too many steps.
Melanie Rajicki McManus I’m a freelance writer specializing in hiking, travel, and fitness.
