Women's Health: Vitamins for Women Over 50

Quick Health Scoop

• As you age, your nutritional needs change, and some nutrients are required in higher amounts.
• For women, the hormone changes of menopause bring additional stressors on the body.
• For healthy aging, Women over 50 need to make sure they consume adequate amounts of key vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D, vitaminB₁₂, Omega-3s, magnesium, and potassium.
• Aging can make it more difficult to get enough of certain nutrients through diet alone.

If you’re a woman over 50, do you really need to supplement with additional vitamins and minerals daily? Ideally, if you eat a balanced diet, you should get most all of the nutrients your body needs from fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, eggs and  dairy. However, it can be hard to consistently find and make the right food choices. As you get older, your body requires fewer calories (but still need all the nutrients), so your body needs nutrient-dense foods.¹ To complicate matters, as you age, your body experiences changes, such as in the digestive system, that might make it more difficult to get certain nutrients. The result? Despite your best efforts, you may not be getting enough of key vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body needs to function at its best. To make sure you cover all the bases relevant to women’s health, consider adding certain supplements to your routine.

What Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements Do Women Over 50 Need?

While you might still feel like you’re 20, your body has changed over the years. Along the way, your nutrition needs have changed as well. In fact, mature women (loosely defined as women over 50) face a variety of potential nutrient shortfalls and health challenges.¹ In particular, women over 50 are more prone to be shortfalls  of these key vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

• Calcium. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for women 51 and over is 1,200 mg/day of calcium(up from 1000 mg/day for women under 50).² If you don’t get at least 3 servings of low-fat dairy per day, consider adding a calcium supplement to your daily routine.
• Vitamin D. The RDA for adults is 15 to 20 mcg (600 - 800 IU) of vitamin D daily to support bone health.² The Endocrine Society has also released clinical guidelines that are routinely used by health care practitioners who are working with patients to raise their blood levels of vitamin D. These guidelines recommend 37.5 - 50 mcg (1500 - 2000 IU) vitamin D daily for adults to support consistent blood levels of vitamin D and help those with inadequate vitamin D intake meet their daily nutrient needs.³

To determine how much vitamin D you should supplement, your doctor or healthcare provider can perform a simple blood test (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) to check your blood vitamin D level. To correct deficiency, the Endocrine Society recommends 150 mcg (6000 IU) vitamin D daily for 8 weeks.³ However, we recommend that you talk to your doctor to determine the appropriate Vitamin D supplement amount that is right for you.

• Vitamin B₁₂.² The RDA for women 51 years and older is 2.4 mg/day of vitamin B₁₂.⁴ Vitamin B₁₂ is only present in foods of animal origin, and good food sources include seafood, beef, and turkey.
• Omega-3s. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are found in large amounts in seafood and fatty fish like wild salmon, halibut and sardines. Experts recommend consuming at least two servings of fatty fish per week for general health, which equals 200-500 mg EPA and DHA/day. For those with interest in supporting mood health and heart health, experts recommend 1,000-2000 mg of EPA and DHA/day, with an emphasis on ensuring at least 1000 mg a day of EPA to support mental wellness.^7,8,† If you don’t regularly eat seafood, consider adding an omega-3 supplement to your daily routine.
• Magnesium. The RDA for women 51 years and older is 320 mg/day of magnesium.⁵ Good food sources of magnesium include green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and nuts.
• Potassium. The adequate intake (AI) for women ages 51 and older is 2,600 mg/day potassium.⁶ Good food sources of potassium include dried apricots, raisins, bananas, and spinach.
  

Read More: Vitamins for Men Over 50

How Can Certain Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Help Women Over 50?

While both men and women experience many changes as they age, women in particular, face special challenges, including for their bones. Why? Thanks to the hormonal changes caused by menopause, older women experience decreased levels of estrogen, putting them at an elevated risk for a variety of health conditions, including osteoporosis. Here’s how specific vitamins, minerals and other nutrients may support a healthy woman over 50:

• Calcium. Before menopause, your ovaries produced much of your body’s estrogen, which helps your body absorb calcium in the GI tract. But after menopause, your ovaries have stopped producing this hormone, resulting in different levels of absorption for calcium, which may impact the bones. The result? You face a higher risk of bone loss if you are not on hormone replacement therapy. Calcium is an essential mineral that helps support bone strength. ^† Adequate calcium throughout life, as part of a well-balanced diet, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. 
• Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps build and maintain strong bones by enhancing calcium absorption, supports teeth, muscle and immune health.^†
• Vitamin B₁₂. Vitamin B₁₂ is one of the essential B vitamins that helps make red blood cells, helps convert the food you eat into cellular energy, and is required for proper nerve function.^† Older adults have reduced vitamin B₁₂ absorption in the GI tract and a higher risk of low B₁₂, therefore, adults over 50 should add a vitamin B₁₂ supplement to their routine.
• Omega-3s. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA help support a healthy heart.^† And, DHA is one of the most abundant fats in your brain and in the retina of the eyes. Ensuring you get enough of these important fats is essential in keeping your brain, eyes and heart healthy as you age. ^† .
• Magnesium. Older people are more likely to consume an insufficient amount of magnesium through food alone. This essential mineral assists in muscle relaxation, supports heart, nerve & bone health, and helps produce energy from the foods you eat. ^†
• Potassium. Potassium is an essential electrolyte and helps support heart function as well as nerve and muscle function.^†

Why Do Women Over 50 Need Specially Formulated Vitamins?

Since you want to feel your best at every age, you want to look for the right supplement matched to the right season of your life. For instance, daily women’s multivitamins are geared for teens and women of child-bearing years, often containing a higher dosage of iron to replace the amount lost during monthly menstruation. Prenatal and postnatal multivitamins are designed to provide the essential nutrients that both mom and her growing baby needs. Likewise, vitamins for women over 50 are specifically formulated for the unique nutritional needs of more mature women.

The Bottom Line

Depending on your individual needs, you might benefit from our multivitamins for women to ensure you’re hitting your daily target for a broad range of vital nutrients. Or, you might be getting enough of certain nutrients (like calcium and iron) from your diet, but you may need help with others (such as vitamin D and omega-3s). If you’re unsure what nutrients you need as an older adult, talk to your healthcare professional.

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

References

¹ US Department of Health and Human Services. “Nutrition as We Age: Healthy Eating with the Dietary Guidelines.” July 20, 2021. Accessed June 17, 2022. https://health.gov/news/202107/nutrition-we-age-healthy-eating-dietary-guidelines

² Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, D.C.; 2011

³ Holick MF, Binkley NC, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, et al. Evaluation, treatment, and prevention of vitamin D deficiency: an Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol & Metab. 2011;96(7):1911-1930.

⁴ Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Vitamin B₁₂. Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B₆, Vitamin B₁₂, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 1998:306-356.

⁵ Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Magnesium. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 1997:190-249.

⁶ Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. “4 Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy.” March 5, 2019. Accessed June 17, 2022.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545428/

⁷ American Heart Association. Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/fish-and-omega-3-fatty-acids.

⁸ International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL). Recommendations for intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids in healthy adults. Available at: https://www.issfal.org/statement-3.