Nourishing Women’s Health: From adolescence to menopause and beyond

Women’s health encompasses the physical, mental, and social well-being of women, and it cannot be understood apart from social context. Indeed, social scientists remind us that health is more than a biological phenomenon. Cultural and political forces, scientific frameworks, social hierarchies, and power dynamics also influence health, and what we know about it. Consider that women were historically excluded from biomedical research, and many women’s specific health conditions and needs continue to be poorly understood. Social factors also shape differences or inequities in women’s health across countries and between social and economic groups. Addressing women’s health therefore requires integrating both biomedical and social perspectives (Short & Zacher, 2022).

One of the ways that social context can influence women’s health is by shaping what we eat. This month, the Global Fruit & Veg Newsletter dives into three recent studies that highlight the important role of nutrition across the life course — from adolescence to menopause and beyond — in shaping women’s health.

The first article (Huiyun Lim et al., 2025) reports that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, soy, fiber, and plant-based fats during adolescence is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer later in life. The proposed mechanisms include hormonal modulation through fiber, reduced inflammation via antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and healthy weight maintenance—all factors known to influence cancer development. These results highlight the importance of promoting balanced eating habits early in life to protect and promote women’s lifelong health.

The second article (Erdélyi  et al, 2023) is a narrative review examining the critical role of diet during perimenopause and menopause. It shows how appropriate nutrition can mitigate the effects of declining estrogen, including increased visceral fat, muscle loss, and heightened risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. The findings emphasize that a balanced diet rich in fiber, quality protein, unsaturated fats, calcium, and vitamin D, combined with moderate weight loss (5–10%), significantly improves metabolic health and symptoms. Restrictive diets, on the other hand, prove ineffective without professional support.

The third article (Guzek et al., 2022) synthesizes 30 studies exploring the association between fruit and vegetable intake and various dimensions of mental health in adult women. Twenty-five of the studies reported a positive influence, linking higher fruit and vegetable consumption to better outcomes in quality of life, self-esteem, affect regulation, anxiety, depression, and even suicide risk reduction. The consistency of these results underscores that what women eat profoundly shapes not only their physical health but also their psychological well-being.

Together, these findings show that women’s health cannot be understood in isolation from nutrition and lifestyle, which are themselves influenced by social context. Women’s bodies are not only biological entities but lived realities shaped by social, cultural, and political forces. Addressing women’s health therefore requires a dual commitment : advancing biomedical knowledge while recognizing the social contexts in which health and illness unfold. From adolescence to menopause, nutrition emerges not just as fuel, but as a powerful determinant of women’s well-being.

Meghan Zacher Assistant Professor of Population Studies

Brown University