Here's an inside look at how women’s bodies work.
1. Some Bacteria Are Good For You
Bugs can be beneficial in certain parts of your body. The average woman’s vagina is loaded with bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and they’re there for a reason: they usually promote cleanliness. By absorbing debris and fighting one another, they help keep the vaginal environment balanced and healthy. Don’t be overzealous with soap and perfume products as this area of your body is designed to look after itself.
2. Thin Bra Straps Cause Headaches
According to doctors at the University of Texas in Dallas, a tight strap that digs into your shoulders can put downward pressure on the cervical nerve that runs from your back to your shoulder. The result can be frequent headaches, neck pain or numbness. Over time, it can cause pain that radiates all the way from your shoulders to your hands. Have your bra size properly measured. Throw away bras with skinny straps that dig in.
3. Women Have More Grey Matter Than Men
Men may have bigger brains, but women have more of the grey matter that’s vital for information processing. This explains why they perform just as well on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size.
4. It’s Essential For women to Drink Safely
“Women’s bodies contain less water and more body fat, which means alcohol reaches the liver more quickly and in higher concentrations than in men. We not only get drunk more quickly, but are also more vulnerable to long-term damage to our heart, liver, pancreas, and nervous system,” explains Dr. Sarah Jarvis. “Hormones play a role, too. Women become even more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol around their period,” she adds. Drink safely—no more than two to three units a day (one unit equals ten milliliters), no more than 14 units a week, with a few alcohol-free days. And be sure to have food when drinking. “Everyone underestimates how much they drink, so be totally honest—or you’re just fooling yourself,” says Dr. Jarvis. “More than six units in one sitting counts as binge drinking, which in the short term doubles your risk of stroke.”
5. The Time of The Month Affects How You Feel Pain
Your perception of pain alters during your menstrual cycle. Burn your hand around that time and it may hurt more. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that estrogen is vital for regulating the brain’s natural ability to suppress pain. Just before ovulation, when estrogen levels are highest, the brain’s natural painkilling system responds more powerfully, releasing chemicals to dampen pain signals. But when estrogen levels fall, the system is less efficient.
6. Our Bodies Aren’t Designed To Walk Upright
“If women walked on four legs, they’d have fewer pelvic floor problems,” says Jeannette Haslam, a physiotherapist specializing in women’s health. In women’s bodies, the pelvic floor muscles have a lot of work to do. “We have the weight of the bladder plus the strain of pregnancy and childbirth. The pelvic floor is the only area of the body that undergoes such stresses,” says Haslam. To strengthen it, tighten the muscles around your back passage, vagina, and front passage and pull up inside as if you’re trying to stop passing urine. It should feel like a ‘lift and squeeze up’ inside. Aim for 10 quick pull-ups and 10 slow, holding in for four seconds, three times daily. Do as many as you can and build up gradually.
7. Women’s Brains Make Less Serotonin
It may be why women are two to three times more likely to suffer depression, and why a low carb diet can leave you irritable. Eating carbohydrate0rich food, such as fruit, bread, rice and pasta, stimulates the production of serotonin—a neurotransmitter that helps to boost mood.
8. One in Four Women is Iron Deficient
“A recent nutrition survey shows many women aren’t getting enough iron,” says Bridget Aisbitt, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation. Iron helps make hemoglobin, found in red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the body tissues. Red meat is the best source of iron; it’s also found in dried fruit and green leafy vegetables. Avoid tea and coffee with meals—they can hinder iron absorption.
9. Giving Up Smoking Has Greater Benefits For Women
Women smokers may be at a higher risk of heart attack than men who smoke, and women are prone to developing incurable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which kills more women than breast cancer. Smoking also increases the risk of at least ten cancers, and women smokers are more likely than men to develop lung cancer.
10. Drugs Can Work Differently For Women
Doctors are finding out that men and women react differently to certain drugs—certain antibiotics and some medication for hypertension are more effective in women, for example, as are morphine-like painkillers.
11. We’re All Very Different
Vaginas and cervixes come in many shapes and sizes. “If you find smears uncomfortable, tell the nurse or doctor as speculums do come in a variety of sizes,” advises Dr. Kate Worsley, head of medical development at Marie Stopes International Global Partnership, a foundation which provides information on sexual and reproductive health. “Sometimes women feel discomfort because the doctor or nurse has to search for the cervix. Wombs and cervixes can be tilted at various angles in different women and it may be hard for the doctor or nurse to find it immediately.
12. Killer Heels Really Are Bad For Your Health
Worn too often, high heels can cause painful bunions, calluses, and corns—and it’s not just the feet that suffer. High heels can affect your posture, putting stress on the spine, resulting in back problems. Long periods of wearing high heels can shorten calf muscles, leading to back, hip, and knee difficulties.
13. Diabetic Women are More At Risk of Heart Attack
“A man with diabetes has double the risk of heart disease; for women, the risk is raised up to seven times,” says Dr. Vahini Naidoo, nuclear cardiologist at the Roayal Brompton Hospital.
14. Gum Disease Can Trigger premature Birth
Studies show that women with severe gum disease may be twice as likely to have a pre-term baby and may be at more risk of pre-eclampsia. Researchers at the University of Alabama think bacteria from diseased gums can trigger increases in the levels of compounds that induce labor. By giving pregnant women regular gum treatment, the team reduced premature births by up to 84 percent.
15. Women Wake More Quickly From Anesthetics
Women come round faster—in an average of seven minutes rather than the 11 it takes men to recover; possibly because women are less susceptible to anesthesia.
16. Aspirin Protects Women Against Stroke
Researchers from the Women’s Health Study found that while a daily aspirin reduced the risk of a first heart attack for middle-aged men, it doesn’t for women. But aspirin reduces women’s risk of stroke (an effect not seen in men) and reduces risk of heart attack in women of 65 and more.
17. Women Need To Take More Care of Their Bones
Women comprise 80 percent of those with osteoporosis. After menopause, levels of estrogen—the hormone that protects against bone loss—fall and women can lose up to 20 percent of bone mass in the first five to seven post-menopause years. But osteoporosis is preventable: Take weight-bearing exercises, don’t smoke, and get plenty of calcium and vitamin D.
18. Genes Affect Orgasms
If you’re among the one in three women who rarely or never climaxes during intercourse, it may be due to genes. When doctors at St. Thomas’ Hospital compared to 4,000 female twins they found that the ability to reach orgasm was genetic. This may have developed originally as a way of weeding out less desirable men—that is, if a man can’t bring a woman to orgasm, he is probably not a good long-term mate.
19. Heart Disease Symptoms Can Be Different
“For some women, the symptoms of heart attack are the same as in men, although women may be more likely to experience indigestion-like pain around the breast bone, shortness of breath, overwhelming tiredness, and feeling generally unwell, rather than the classic, crushing chest pain,” says Dr. Naidoo. “The important thing is to take symptoms seriously, whatever your age, and know your risk.”
20. It’s harder For Women To Get To Sleep
The US National Sleep Foundation found 50 percent of women had disrupted sleep for two or three days round their period, when estrogen and progesterone levels fall. It’s thought that both these hormones may affect how you sleep—while progesterone may make you feel more sleepy. Peri-menopausal symptoms such as night sweats are also a factor.
21. Alzheimer’s Is a Greater Threat To Women
“There are three times as many women with Alzheimer’s disease as men,” says Professor Clive Ballard of the Alzheimer’s Society. “We’re still not clear why.” However, new research has shown that women taking estrogen had lower levels of the protein beta-amyloid in their blood. In Alzheimer’s disease, beta-amyloid form “plaques” in the brain, which lead to the death of brain cells.
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