Food and nutritional needs differ depending on gender, but other factors must also be taken into account such as muscle mass or hormones.
- Caloric needs are different between women and men.
- But gender is not the only element to take into account, muscle mass and hormones are also very important.
- On a daily basis, the ideal is to eat a balanced diet to cover your needs.
Each day, the amount of calories an active adult needs is between 2,200 and 2,600 calories for a man and 1,800 to 2,000 calories for a woman, depending on the MSD Manual. But why such a difference? Is it only valid for the number of calories? Sereen Zawahri Krasuna, dietician, answers these questions in an article in the Cleveland Clinic.
Different nutritional needs depending on gender
“For some people, your gender may be used as one of many things to consider, but it is not necessarily an accurate reflection of your individual nutritional needs. explains Sereen Zawahri Krasuna. It is not so simple. There are many elements to take into account.”
In terms of vitamins and minerals, needs vary depending on gender:
- Vitamin A: 900 micrograms (μg) for men aged 19 to 50, 700 μg for women.
- Iron: 8 mg for men aged 19 to 50, 18 mg for women.
- Magnesium: 400 milligrams (mg) for men aged 19 to 30, 310 mg for women.
- Potassium: 3,400 mg for men aged 19 to 50, 2,600 mg for women.
“Dietary recommendations are based on scientific studies of large groups of people, which categorize them based on factors such as sex assigned at birth, age groups, and whether they are pregnant or breastfeedingexplains Zawahri Krasuna. The results of this work result in reasonable recommendations based on an overall view of what tends to work for these groups. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every man needs X and every woman needs Y. This is a general recommendation based on what we know to be true for these groups.”
Individual dietary needs
It’s not just gender that matters when defining nutritional needs. Muscle mass is another very important factor. Indeed, the more an individual has, the more calories the body burns, even at rest, and the more “able to convert food into energy more quickly”, says Zawahri Krasuna. Obviously, dietary needs increase depending on muscle mass, which is not always taken into account by general recommendations. They often believe that men have more muscle mass than women, which is not always the case.
Another big factor: hormones. For this reason, certain nutritional needs change for women depending on their age. The example of calcium is convincing:
- 1,000 mg for men aged 19 to 70
- 1,000 mg for women aged 19 to 50
- 1,200 mg for women aged 51 to 70
But menopause is not the only time when a woman’s needs change. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, nutritional references change.
On a daily basis, it is difficult to precisely measure our nutritional intake. So how can we eat as best as possible, based on our specific needs? “You will always have to return to a balanced diet, answers Zawahri Krasuna. If you base your diet on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and unsaturated fats, you can be sure that you are almost assuredly getting the nutrition your body needs.”