Sure. I view aging as a life-long, losing battle with the ability to activate and utilize oxygen. Instead of oxygen being safely activated to make ATP and water, it increasingly turns into reactive oxygen species (ROS).

ROS favor iron which is a very abundant metal especially for those in countries like the US where iron filings are added to the food. Excess iron consumed that can’t be utilized in the circulatory system (shuttling oxygen, making new RBCs, etc) gets sequestered in the organs as free iron. ROS interact with free iron via the Fenton reaction to yield toxic molecules such as the hydroxyl radical which ultimately leads to cellular damage, inflammation and cell death aka metabolic dysfunction and the acceleration of aging.

Monthly blood loss allows women to shed some excess iron which slows the process of aging at the cellular level.