The 21st century woman leads a busy life, and balancing work, family, and playtime makes jugglers of us all! To keep going and to stay healthy and invigorated you need an optimal diet.

The outward signs of good health are a clear skin, shiny hair, strong nails and a level of energy that you can rely on. Balanced moods, trouble-free reproductive health, and strong bones are also related to nutritional health, and they are all important.

Women have to be in touch with their bodies through the teenage years, reproductive years, through pregnancy and the post-menopausal years.

Cook it (yourself if you can)!
It is important to eat fresh, vital food as often as possible. While processed foods are convenient from time to time, choosing fresher options is usually better. By preparing food you can monitor how much salt you use, to keep blood pressure in check, and avoid excess sugar, which destabilises blood sugar and contributes to weight problems. Choosing healthy oils is important. A fat-free diet is not a healthy one, but selecting olive oil or walnut oil instead of butter to add to vegetables is a good example of how small changes improves health. By choosing these sources of monounsaturated or unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats you improve heart health.

If you can choose organic food then that is ideal as it reduces your exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, but don't avoid eating a piece of fruit, for instance, just because it isn't organic - it is still important to eat that fruit! The new system of traffic lights on many labels is a great help because, at a stroke, you can see if a packaged food is high, medium or low in an ingredient, such as salt. This helps you to balance your diet out easily.

Necessary nutrients
It is most important to get at least five portions daily of a variety of fruits and vegetables - not that difficult when you eat one or two portions with each meal. They are rich in antioxidants to maximise immune health, and fibre to keep your digestion healthy. Antioxidants and zinc (see below) are also needed for perfect skin. Calcium and magnesium are vital for healthy bones and these can be found in green leafy vegetables, such as cabbage or kale, nuts, seeds and canned fish, as well as some dairy such as yoghurts. Vitamin D is also vital for bones and getting out in the sun for half-an-hour a day, and eating oily fish, are the best sources. Nuts and seeds, as well as lean meat and fish, are the best sources of iron and zinc both needed for immune health, tissue healing and nerve health, and iron is needed for energy and is particularly important during years when a women menstruates. Folic acid during pregnancy is essential and it is advised than women take a pregnancy-formulated vitamin and mineral supplement for this.

Hormone health
If you find that hormone imbalance is a problem around period times, or that you suffer from tiredness or mood problems, you could be suffering from blood sugar imbalance. Cravings for sugary foods, colas, coffee or strong tea, a few too many cakes or biscuits, or carbohydrate laden meals such as large bowls of pasta or pizzas are often a sign of this. Balance out your hormones and insulin levels by ensuring that you always eat some protein at each meal - a modest portion of lean meat, an egg, some fish, beans or pulses, or nuts and seeds, with each meal. Add to this a large amount of vegetables and then be modest with the carbohydrates, aiming to eat complex carbohydrates as often as possible. Good examples would be wholemeal bread, brown rice, a modest portion of pasta (rather than a whole mound) or new potatoes. Avoid strong caffeine drinks, colas and too much alcohol. Some people find that avoiding wheat based foods also helps with difficult periods, substituting rice, corn or oats. Also phytoestrogen-rich foods such as soya milk, tofu, chick peas and linseeds are known to help balance female hormones.

Ideal one day meal plan
What would the ideal day's eating plan look like? Of course, life isn't always ideal so don't beat yourself up if you can't resist the odd double-strength espresso or a couple of biscuits, but if life was ideal, this is what it might look like:

Breakfast: Always eat a good breakfast, and use it as an opportunity to get your first portion of fruit and veg in. You have been fasting overnight and your body and brain is craving fuel to work efficiently, and you can't function on thin air alone. A shot of caffeine only raises adrenaline and a bowl of sugary cereal is equivalent to rocket fuel.

Ideal breakfast: Bowl of porridge made with skimmed milk or soya milk. Serve with chopped banana and raisins and flaked almonds. A cup of red-bush (Rooibosch) tea.

Lunch: Eat lunch at a set time daily to keep blood sugar levels even. This is another opportunity for your 5-a-day for all those brilliant antioxidants, and by choosing a vegetarian option (even if you are a meat eater) you increase the amount of fibre in your diet.

Ideal lunch: A cup of spinach (or other vegetable) soup. Wholemeal pitta pocket stuffed with hummus, grilled vegetables and rocket. An organic low-sugar or plain yoghurt and a small bunch of grapes for dessert. A mint tea to help digestion.

Snack: To keep you going in the mid-afternoon choose a protein based snack. This will help to keep you alert.

Ideal snack: A handful or two of mixed seeds and nuts (for example: walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds), dried apricots. A cup of Barlecup (coffee substitute).

Evening meal: Now is your opportunity to relax for the evening. If you prefer a larger lunch and a smaller evening meal you could swap them round. By choosing oily fish a couple of times a week you get all the omega-3s you need for optimal health.

Ideal evening meal: Start with a small mixed salad with walnut oil dressing (rich in essential fatty acids). Grilled salmon steak, with baked potato, and green beans tossed in lightly pan-fried garlic and ginger, drizzled with sesame oil. Baked apple stuffed with dates and served with Greek yoghurt for dessert.