To replace iron lost monthly in menstrual flow, women need more iron than men: 18 milligrams of iron daily for women (ages 19 to 50 years), compared to 8 milligrams for men. (After age 50 or so,women need 8 milligrams of iron daily, too.)

Where do you get iron? Among the best food sources are meat and poultry. Beans, eggs, and whole-grain and iron-enriched cereals, breads, and other grain products supply iron, too, but you’ll need to partner them with a vitamin C–rich food or a little meat to maximize their absorption.

To boost iron benefits from food, enjoy:

• A citrus or a tomato garnish with quiche, an omelet, or a vegetarian dish
• Chopped ham or smoked turkey to flavor bean chili, or rice and beans
• Vitami C–rich fruit or fruit juice with meatless meals. Try orange slices on a peanut butter sandwich or tomatoes with a rice-bean dish.
• Strawberries or melon on your breakfast cereal

Start today to care for the “you” inside.

• List five personal joys or successes. Tell someone about them.
• Give yourself permission to stop whatever stresses you. Take control of just one stressful moment at a time. Do it again tomorrow, and the next day, too.
• Do something small for yourself, perhaps a 15-minute walk before dinner. Hug yourself for your success.

The next time you head for the “fast-food lane,” try one of these seven easy ways to eat smarter:

1. Downsize. For fewer calories and perhaps less fat, sugar, or sodium, order regular, not supersize, portions.
2. Color your sandwich! Add tomato, lettuce, and peppers to your burgers, subs, and deli sandwiches.
3. Mind your buns. Order your sandwich with whole-wheat bread or buns if you can.
4. Trim the trimmings. Go easy on creamy spreads, such as mayo, tartar sauce, and special sauce. Go for catsup, mustard, or barbecue sauce instead.
5. Stay “side” wise: Split a small order of fries or onion rings. Order a salad (light on dressing) instead; go for slaw or fruit.
6. Sip smart. Pick your beverage for better nutrition—milk for a calcium boost, or juice instead of soda.
7. Look for options: wraps, stir-fry bowls.

But what if you like salty tastes? Then try to retrain your tastebuds. The less salt you eat, the less you’ll want. After all, you weren’t born loving salty tastes. You learned it, so you can unlearn it, too. Taste before you shake today; a dish may not need more salt.

If food needs a flavor lift:

• Pep it up with pepper. Chili peppers or hot pepper sauces come in different degrees of “hot.”
• Add a splash of vinegar. Herbed, balsamic, wine, or rice vinegar give a flavor spark to sauces, soups, and salads.
• Use MSG for flavor with one-third the sodium in the same amount of salt.
• Shake on a salt-free herbal blend.

As a phytonutrient, capsaicin may have antioxidant—cancer-fighting or heart-protective—action. Their vitamin C and beta carotene also make chilies healthful,with red chilies having more beta carotene than green ones.

To reduce the “fire” if you cook with chilies:

• Protect sensitive skin. Wear rubber gloves, or wash your hands carefully after handling chilies. Never touch your eyes or any sensitive places when you handle hot chilies.
• Remove the seeds and the inner membranes. That’s where most capsaicin resides.
• Soak chilies in cold salty water for about 60 minutes.
• Go easy. Add just a little chili pepper at a time.
• Drink milk or eat yogurt. The protein in dairy foods binds to and washes capsaicin away.

How can you avoid it? Frequent handwashing, proper cooking temperatures, and prompt refrigeration, for starters. Just as important is to keep food safe from cross contamination. Always separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood, which may harbor “unfriendly” bacteria, from food that’s ready to eat.

How well do you prevent food-borne crossovers? Do you . . .

• Use one utensil to taste, another to prepare food.
• Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood on your bottom refrigerator shelf to make sure their juices don’t drip onto other foods.
• Always use separate plates: one for raw meat, poultry, or seafood, another for cooked foods.
• Use two cutting boards: one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood; the other for bread, fruit, vegetables, and other foods that are ready to eat.
• Before using them again, wash knives and mixing spoons.
• Keep clean—hands, dishcloths, counters.

A longer, more intense workout may offer more health benefits—if you’re active already (and if your doctor says it’s okay). Start gradually: perhaps walk faster or longer, or lift heavier weights.

If you’re ready, try this to crank your physical activity up a notch:

• Alternate your pace. If you’re walking already, alternate.Walk for a minute, then run or walk even faster for a minute, and so on. Same thing works for swimming and cycling.
• Go the distance. And make it farther, perhaps extending your walk a mile or two through an interesting neighborhood or pleasant park. Or spend 10 more minutes on the exercise bike or cross trainer.
• Set a new goal that’s realistic for you. Join a fun run, fun walk, or bike-touring event.

Meal skipping is no way to lose weight—although some people think it is. Often it leads to overeating on snacks, or at the next meal, resulting in even more calories consumed and perhaps more pounds gained.

Even if you’re rushing today, take time to eat.

• Stop for a deli sandwich to go. Ask for tomato slices and other veggies. Order a carton or bottle of milk with it.
• Pack whole fruit, crackers, and cheese to take along.
• Buy ingredients for a speed-scratch meal at home: precut veggies and skinless chicken strips for a fast stir-fry, or mixed salad greens and deli meat for a quick chef ’s salad.

“Beans” actually refers to the whole legume family: chickpeas (garbanzos), lentils, peanuts, and soybeans—as well as black, kidney, lima, navy, and pinto beans, and many others.

Legumes are well known for their protein and fiber benefits, especially in meatless dishes. Count on them for phytoestrogens that may be cancer protective and for folate, which protects against birth defects and may be heart-healthy, too.

These products are formulated to fill nutrition gaps. They may have more folate for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy heart, more iron to replace what’s lost in menstrual flow, more calcium to protect against menopausal bone loss, soy with isoflavone’s hormonelike benefits to relieve the discomforts of menopause. Except that women need more iron, these same foods may benefit men, too.

That said,with too many fortified foods, you may overdo on nutrients, especially if you take a supplement already. Traditional foods can fill in any nutrition gap just as well, and perhaps for less cost.

If you reach for gender-targeted foods:

• Read the label. Check the sugar, sodium, and calorie content on the Nutrition Facts. Buy only if they fill a need you don’t meet another way.
• Be realistic about the promise. Remember, no food offers a magic bullet for health.