What food gives you,
at every stage of life

Cycling years: Low iron is a common, easily missed cause of tiredness in women with heavy periods. A simple blood test (ferritin) can check.

Perimenopause: Periods can get heavier and longer in perimenopause, so iron still matters until they stop.

Pairing plant iron with vitamin C foods (capsicum, citrus, kiwifruit) gives absorption a boost at that meal. Keep tea and coffee an hour or so apart from iron-rich meals.

Spinach and silverbeet contain iron, but your body absorbs little of it. Treat them as a bonus, not a main source.

Pregnant or trying? Skip liver. It's very high in vitamin A.

Cycling years: A 2012 American neurology and headache guideline rated magnesium 'probably effective' for preventing migraines. That guideline was retired in 2015, and the 2026 update covers prescription medicines only. One small trial suggests it may also help period-related migraines.

Perimenopause: Early, low-quality evidence hints it may help sleep and anxiety. It hasn't been tested in perimenopause.

The migraine studies used supplement doses of around 400–500 mg a day. That is above the usual upper limit for magnesium supplements (350 mg a day in NZ, Australia and the US), so take them with your doctor's guidance. Food keeps your levels healthy, but preventing migraines may need more than diet alone.

Cycling years: The period-pain trials used high-dose supplements, not food. Researchers think it may calm the chemicals that drive cramps.

Perimenopause: Bone loss starts in the last years before your final period, so this is a good time to check you're not running low.

Menopause & beyond: Together with calcium, it helps slow bone loss, with the biggest benefit for women who are low or at high fracture risk.

Hard to get from food alone. Most of your vitamin D is made in your skin from sunshine, and some women run low, especially through winter. Your doctor can check.

Cycling years: Benefits showed up after two to three cycles, and higher doses tended to work better.

Oysters are by far the richest source. The trials used supplement doses, so treat food as support alongside proper care for severe pain.

Cycling years: Fish-oil supplements eased period pain and cut painkiller use in several small trials.

Perimenopause: A good time to make oily fish a habit. Eating it regularly is linked with a healthier heart.

Menopause & beyond: Eating oily fish regularly is linked with a healthier heart. Fish-oil capsules haven't shown clear heart protection for most people, and they do not reliably ease hot flushes, despite the hype.

Oily fish twice a week is the simplest target. Plant sources (walnuts, flax, chia) help but convert less efficiently.

Cycling years: Your bones reach their peak strength in young adulthood, so meeting your needs now pays off later. Getting enough calcium may also ease PMS symptoms a little.

Perimenopause: Bone loss speeds up in the last years before your final period, so this is the time to make sure you're getting enough.

Menopause & beyond: Supports bone density, but on its own it does not reliably prevent fractures in healthy women, so the goal is to meet your needs, not megadose.

Aim to meet your region's recommended intake from food first; supplement only to fill a genuine gap.

Calcium is easy to absorb from kale, broccoli and bok choy, but you need generous portions. Spinach calcium is poorly absorbed.

For PMS, skip high-dose vitamin B6 supplements. They can damage nerves.

Perimenopause: A good time to build the habit: a protein food at each meal and some regular strength training.

Menopause & beyond: Experts suggest roughly 1.0–1.2 g per kg of body weight a day for older adults. Protein adds muscle mainly alongside strength training.

Include a protein food at each meal. It's an easy way to reach your total. The total amount and lifting weights matter most.

Cycling years: A foundation of good health across the board.

Perimenopause: Helps with the satiety and blood-sugar swings that come with a changing metabolism.

Menopause & beyond: Strong protection for heart and metabolic health.

Around 25–30 g a day is the target for women. Chilling cooked rice or potatoes adds a little extra resistant starch, which is nice, but small.

Menopause & beyond: Your body absorbs B12 from food less well with age, so after 50 it's wise to get some from fortified foods or a supplement. Metformin and reflux medicines (PPIs) can also lower B12.

Plant-based? This matters at any stage. No plant food naturally contains B12, so if you eat little or no animal food, fortified foods or a supplement are essential.

Cycling years: Folate matters most in the weeks before you conceive and in early pregnancy, often before you know you're pregnant. Food alone isn't enough then, which is why a folic acid tablet is advised if you could become pregnant.

Food alone isn't enough before pregnancy. The advice is a daily folic acid tablet from at least 4 weeks before you conceive until 12 weeks of pregnancy. Some women need a higher 5 mg dose, so ask your doctor or midwife.

In New Zealand, wheat flour for bread-making has had folic acid added since August 2023 (organic bread is exempt). The tablet advice still applies.

Cycling years: You need more iodine in pregnancy and while breastfeeding, when your baby relies on yours for brain development.

Menopause & beyond: Worth a thought if you eat little bread, dairy, eggs or seafood. A small study of New Zealand women after menopause found mildly low iodine levels.

Avoid kelp and seaweed supplements, whose iodine doses vary wildly and can be very high. Check with your doctor before taking iodine if you have a thyroid condition.

New Zealand soils are low in iodine, so since 2009 most shop-bought bread in New Zealand and Australia has been made with iodised salt. Organic bread is exempt, and some rock and sea salts are not iodised.

There's no amount proven safe for breast cancer risk. Alcohol also breaks up sleep.

The World Health Organization's cancer agency lists alcohol as a cause of cancer (Group 1).

In the US Surgeon General's 2025 figures, about 11 in 100 women who have less than one drink a week develop breast cancer by age 80. That rises to about 13 in 100 at one drink a day and 15 in 100 at two.

Perimenopause: Strong evidence for heart health. In one large Australian study, women who ate this way were about 20% less likely to report hot flushes. That's a link, not proof.

Menopause & beyond: Strong evidence for heart health in these years.

It's a pattern, not a single food: plants daily, fish twice a week, olive oil as your main fat, and little ultra-processed food.