Women’s Contributions In Health & Wellness

International Womens Day
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th and Women’s History Month, which is being celebrated all month long, Hydroxycut is excited to shine a light on some of the powerful and inspiring women.

In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th and Women’s History Month, which is being celebrated all month long, Hydroxycut is excited to shine a light on some of the powerful and inspiring women who have made many valuable contributions to the health and wellness industry through the years. 

The theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is ‘Choose To Challenge.’ This theme resonates with us here at Hydroxycut because we’ve seen real women achieve amazing results – with the success stories to prove it – by challenging themselves and committing to their weight loss journey. While we’ll be highlighting the incredible women who changed the health and wellness industry for the better, we also want to take a moment to remind you of your own strength and ability to accomplish anything that you set your mind to. So, this International Women’s Day, and all month long, let’s #ChooseToChallenge. 

Important Contributions Women Have Made In Health And Wellness

Paving The Way For Female Doctors

Not only was Elizabeth Blackwell the first woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school, she and her colleagues founded the New York Infirmary to help women gain experience as physicians after she graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1849. 

Then in 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African-American woman to receive an M.D. degree. Her book, Book of Medical Discourses, was one of the first publications about medicine by an African American. She also cared for freed slaves in post-Civil War Richmond, Virginia who would not have otherwise had access to medical care. 

Today, about a third of physicians and surgeons working full-time, year-round are women, according to the United States Census Bureau. And in 2019, for the first time ever, women made up the majority of students in U.S. medical schools with 46,878 medical school students (50.5 percent), according to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Introducing The Concept Of Calorie Counting As A Weight Loss Method

Lulu Hunt Peters, M.D., is considered ‘The Mother of the American Diet Book.’ As a female doctor during a time when there weren’t many others, Dr. Peters worked as a hospital superintendent and wrote a health advice column for the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Peters’ bestselling book, “Diet & Health: With Key to the Calories,” which was based on her column, was the first to introduce American dieters to the concept of calories and counting calories as a method of weight loss. 

Making Access To Health Care A Fundamental Right

Eleanor Roosevelt is probably best known as the Former First Lady of the United States who transformed the role of President’s wife and became a policymaker and a public figure in the process. After President Harry S. Truman appointed her to be the head of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1948, she became one of the primary authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By doing this, Roosevelt made certain that access to health care was considered a fundamental right bestowed to all. 

Creating Lifesaving Drugs

After her grandfather died from cancer, Gertrude Belle Elion vowed to find its cure. Over the course of her career as a chemist, she developed 45 treatments that help the immune system overcome cancer, an organ transplant, and the Herpes virus. However, her greatest achievement might be creating the first major drug used to fight leukemia. She won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988. 

Bringing Fitness Into Your Living Room

Exercising in our homes is common today, especially due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that wasn’t always the case. In 1982, Jane Fonda released “The Jane Fonda Workout,” which then went on to sell 17 million copies, earning the distinction of the best selling home movie of all time. The famous actress sparked a national fitness craze in the 1980s and ‘90s with her workout videos, which helped to make fitness more accessible for everyone. 

Designing A Supportive Fitness Bra

Anyone who uses a sports bra can thank Lisa Lindahl for creating it in 1977. After realizing the she needed more support when she was jogging, Lindahl searched for better options. Not finding what she needed, Lindahl decided to make it herself and designed prototypes for a more supportive fitness bra. While today’s sports bras have been updated and upgraded, the initial idea was all Lindahl’s. 

Teaching Us To Consume Fresh, Seasonal Foods

Alice Waters, a food activist and one of the biggest supporters of the organic food movement, helped create a community of local farmers and ranchers dedicated to sustainable agriculture. While consuming fresh, seasonal foods produced sustainably and locally is considered the norm today, that’s in large part due to Waters’ efforts. In 1996, she worked to develop The Edible Schoolyard program at a Berkeley, California middle school. Now, it’s nationally recognized for integrating gardening and cooking into school curriculum. 

Changing The Way Kids Think About Nutrition And Food

First Lady Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden at the White House in 2009 in an effort to strike up a conversation about health and wellness. This led to Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative, which is dedicated to solving childhood obesity and making it easier for kids to pursue their dreams. The Let’s Move! Program brings healthier food into schools, helps kids become more physically active, and makes sure that families have access to healthy, affordable food. 

Teaching People To Love And Accept Their Bodies

Jessamyn Stanley is yoga teacher, body positivity advocate, and the author of Every Body Yogawhich is a book that proves that there’s no such thing as a ‘yoga body.’ She is often referred to as the “yogi who breaks all stereotypes,” and travels the world teaching classes, speaking, and encouraging people of all shapes, sizes, and abilities to take up yoga. When people feel down about their physical appearance, she recommends that they answer the question, “How do I feel?” rather than “How do I look?” because she has found that more often than not the answer to the first question will inform the answer to the second question. 

Prioritizing Women’s And Children’s Health Around The World

As co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates has advocated for prioritizing women’s and children’s health around the world. The Gates Foundation invests in maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition programs in developing countries. Melinda Gates has also become a strong voice in the United States wanting to reduce the gender gap. 

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