As you age, maintaining optimal health becomes increasingly important, and choosing the right supplements after age 50 can play a crucial role in enhancing your overall well-being. With natural changes in metabolism, bone density, and muscle mass, specific nutrients become vital for supporting your longevity and preventing age-related health issues.
In this blog, we’ll explore the most important supplements after age 50 that can help you stay active, energetic, and healthy. From boosting immune function to improving heart and brain health, the right supplements can significantly improve your quality of life in your golden years.
Health supplements or dietary supplements can be helpful for you at any age. You could also experience bad side effects, like dangerous drug interactions with your prescription drugs. They may not work for you at all.
If you’re 50 and above, there are a handful of supplements that you may require as an aging adult. This is because aging can result in a decline in your nutrient status or an increase in your need for specific vitamins and minerals. For these reasons, you may need to take a few supplements.
It’s important that you understand the supplements you’re taking and the rationale for them. If you are contemplating taking health supplements, discuss them with your doctor.
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What are health supplements?
Health supplements are products that are meant to give you extra nutrients that you might not be able to get from your normal food intake. Usually, they have herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, or other ingredients that are meant to help you get more of the nutrients you need every day.
For example, health supplements can be capsules, tablets, powders, gummies, extracts, or liquids. People take health supplements for many reasons, such as to boost their immune system, improve the health of their skin, improve their athletic performance, or deal with specific health problems like heart health or bone strength.
It’s important to note that supplements are meant to complement, not replace, a balanced diet, and it is advisable to consult with your doctor before starting any new supplement regimen.
Health supplements may contain enzymes, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fiber, herbs, or other plants. Sometimes, the ingredients in health supplements can be added to your drinks and foods. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription to buy health supplements.
Should you take health supplements after age 50?
The best way to get the nutrients you need is by eating a variety of healthy foods. However, you may not be consuming enough vitamins and minerals from your diet on a given day. When that happens, your doctor may recommend a dietary supplement to make up for your deficient nutrients.
If you are thinking about using health supplements, your first step is to do as much research as you can on any supplements you are considering taking. If in doubt, speak to your doctor, pharmacist, or a licensed dietitian. It’s possible that a supplement may not work for you even though it worked for someone else you know.
Also, a supplement may not necessarily be safe or healthy for you just because its label describes it as “natural.” It might have negative or untoward effects on you as an individual.
The health supplement may either weaken or strengthen a prescription medication that you’re already taking. It can also potentially hurt you if you have certain medical conditions.
Talk to your doctor about supplements after age 50
Before starting on nutritional supplements, you should talk to your doctor. Do this, especially if you have health issues that certain health supplements may make worse.
Don’t try to diagnose or treat any medical condition with a supplement without first discussing it with your doctor. Always remember that some medications can interact with health supplements that you may be taking.
Health Supplements After Age 50
If you’re over age 50, you may need more of certain vitamins and minerals than you did as a younger adult. If you don’t consume enough of them in your daily diet, your doctor or a nutritionist can advise you whether you need to change your diet or take a vitamin or mineral supplement to boost your intake of those components.
Here are some of the health supplements that you may need as an aging adult over 50:
Vitamin D
This is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps your body to absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus. Calcium and phosphorus are critical for building your bones and are important health supplements after age 50.
Studies have shown that vitamin D can reduce the growth of cancer cells, help control infections and reduce inflammation in your body.
Vitamin D production in your skin is the primary natural source of vitamin D. You may have insufficient levels if you live in a place where sunlight is limited in winter or because you have limited sun exposure due to being inside much of the time.
This hormone is harder to produce in your skin as you age. If you spend more time indoors and are not exposed to sunlight, your vitamin D levels can deplete.
Your doctor may frequently use your blood test to check your vitamin D levels to determine if a supplement is necessary for you. If you have low vitamin D levels, it can lead to certain health conditions, including bone loss, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, depression, and cancer.
Vitamin D deficiency may occur from a lack in your diet, poor absorption, or your metabolic need for higher amounts. If you’re not eating enough vitamin D and you don’t receive enough ultraviolet sun exposure over an extended period, a deficiency may arise.
Vitamin D is not naturally found in many foods, but it is added to some foods to make them healthier. Because it is hard to get enough vitamin D from food, health supplements may be the best way for you to get it.
What You Can Eat to Get Vitamin D
Vitamin D3 is the best form of vitamin D supplement because it comes from animals and is active. Few foods are found to be naturally rich in vitamin D3. These can be found most easily in fatty fish and fish liver oils. Smaller amounts can be found in cheese, egg yolks, and beef liver.
There is some vitamin D2 in some mushrooms, and some mushrooms that are sold in stores have more vitamin D2 because they are exposed to a lot of UV light. Vitamin D is added to a lot of foods and health supplements, like cereals and dairy products.
These foods contain a lot of vitamin D:
Most people in the United States consume less than recommended amounts of vitamin D. As stated earlier, the best form of vitamin D health supplements you may take is vitamin D3.
As an older adult, you’ll need to take about 800 IUs of vitamin D3 every day to help reduce your risk of falls and fractures. If you want to get more vitamin D, talk to your doctor about taking a vitamin D supplement or eating cereals with added vitamin D, fatty fish, or milk with added vitamin D.
Calcium
This is one of the most essential minerals that your body requires on a daily basis. Calcium works with vitamin D to keep your bones strong at all ages. If you’re an older man or woman, bone loss can lead to fractures.
Calcium can also improve the health of your heart and lower your blood pressure. Not having enough of it can cause osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become fragile.
Calcium can be found in milk and milk products, dark green leafy vegetables like kale, canned fish with soft bones, and foods that already have calcium in them, like breakfast cereals. A cup of milk has about 300 mg of calcium that is easy for the body to absorb.
If you’re a woman over age 50, you need about 1,200 mg (milligrams) of calcium health supplements each day. If you’re a man, you’ll need a daily requirement of about 1,000 mg if you’re between age 51 and 70 and 1,200 mg after age 70. You should not take more than 2,000 mg a day.
Vitamin B12
This vitamin is beneficial for the good health of your nerves and red blood cells. This energy-giving vitamin is difficult to absorb in your digestive tract. As you get older, this absorption decreases dramatically.
Approximately 1 in 31 elderly adults aged 51 or older have low vitamin B12 levels of below 200 pg/mL. Additionally, since vitamin B12 is only found in animal products and fortified foods, a vegetarian diet might not give you enough of it.
While older persons require the same amount of vitamin B12 as other adults, you may have problems absorbing this vitamin as you get older. If this happens, your doctor may tell you to eat foods like cereals that have been fortified with this vitamin or take B12 supplements.
Meat and dairy products are the only natural sources of vitamin B12. If you follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet, you may not get enough of this vitamin. Talk to your doctor to find out if it is okay for you to take a B12 supplement.
The recommended daily dose of vitamin B12 health supplements is 2.4 mcg (micrograms). Keep in mind that if you take medicine for acid reflux, you may need a different form. Feel free to talk to your doctor about this further.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a key component in making several parts of your body run smoothly—your heart, muscles, nerves, bones, and others. It plays an important role in helping more than 300 other enzymes carry out various chemical reactions in your body, such as:
- building proteins and strong bones
- regulating blood pressure
- regulating blood sugar
- helping with muscle and nerve functions.
Magnesium also acts as an electrical conductor that contracts your muscles and makes your heart beat steadily. As you get older, your magnesium intake becomes less.
Aging also causes decreased absorption of magnesium in your gut and increased excretion in your urine. Also, you’re more likely to be on medications for chronic diseases that can lower magnesium storage in your body.
The recommended dietary allowance of magnesium health supplements for adults is 400-420 mg daily for men and 310-320 mg for women.
If you have a magnesium deficiency, some of the symptoms you’ll experience may include muscle spasms or muscle tightness, chronic constipation, high blood pressure, and environmental allergies. Magnesium deficiency is also often present if you suffer from diabetes or heart disease.
It is found in plant foods like dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, legumes, seeds, whole grains, and fortified cereals. It can also be found in poultry, fish, and beef.
Potassium
All of the tissues in your body require potassium, which is an essential mineral. It is another important electrolyte that helps in reducing your blood pressure and maintaining electrolyte balance within the cells in your body.
It is found naturally in many foods and as a health supplement. It’s a good idea to ensure that you eat enough potassium-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and dairy products like milk and yogurt. This will go a long way toward ensuring that your blood pressure stays within normal ranges.
There are some medications that can affect potassium levels in your blood. Therefore, it is important that you check with your doctor before taking a potassium supplement. The recommended health supplements dietary allowance (RDA) for women aged 19+ is 2,600 mg and 3,400 mg for men aged 19+.
Omega-3 fatty acids
These are essential fats and are health supplements that form an integral part of the cell membranes throughout your body. They affect the function of the cell receptors in these membranes and provide the starting point for making hormones that regulate blood clotting, relaxation of artery walls, contraction, and inflammation.
Omega-3 fatty acids are heart-healthy and help protect your arteries from the inflammation that can cause cholesterol deposits in your body.
Most often, aging comes with inflammation. The best way to avoid this is to eat foods that reduce inflammation, like foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. Fish, vegetable oils, nuts (especially walnuts), flax seeds, flaxseed oil, and leafy vegetables are all good sources of Omega-3.
You can take a health supplement or eat two to three ounces of fatty fish like mackerel, salmon, or sardines every week. When purchasing these health supplements, it is crucial to guarantee that they are packaged in a light-resistant container.
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