When it comes to vitamins and minerals, multiple pills aren’t necessary
Published by: AARP
Taking a dietary supplement or two (or five) every day isn’t exactly uncommon. About 70 percent of adults age 60 and older reported taking at least one supplement in the past month — be it a multivitamin or a chocolate-flavored calcium chew, a 2017 study published in The Journal of Nutrition found. About 30 percent took at least four.
Research from AARP found that share to be even higher: 78 percent of adults 50 and older who participated in a 2021 survey said they are currently taking vitamins or supplements. Among adults 65 and older, the percentage shoots up to 83.
But what’s really worth taking? And what should be left on the grocery store shelf?
“In most cases, it is person-specific,” says Lingtak-Neander Chan, professor of pharmacy at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy in Seattle. The decision, he says, should be based on “underlying health conditions, diet, access to food, and other individual factors.”
The majority of older adults can get the nutrients they need from foods in a varied, healthy diet. That said, if you’re worried you’re missing the nutritional mark — your doctor can test you for a deficiency — calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 are three supplements worth considering, Chan says.
That’s right, only three. But they’re mighty important.
Calcium
As we age, our bodies typically don’t absorb vitamins and minerals as well as they used to. The poster child for this is calcium, and a deficiency can lead to bone fractures and, eventually, falls. If you don’t get enough calcium from dairy, leafy greens, and other calcium-rich foods (and women over 50 and men over 70 often don’t, according to the National Institutes of Health), your body sources it from your bones, making them weaker. A lack of consistent, weight-bearing exercise can make this worse.
Postmenopausal women are especially at risk for weak bones. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone due to the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis; for men, it’s up to 1 in 4. A woman’s chance of fracturing a hip is about the same as her risk of developing breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer combined. But a hip fracture is more likely to be fatal for men. So it’s not just women who should mind their calcium intake.
When it comes to supplements, calcium can be found in multivitamin pills and chews; there are also supplements that contain only calcium or that pair it with one other nutrient, like vitamin D.
Vitamin D
Calcium works best when it’s taken alongside vitamin D, which assists in its absorption from the gut. Vitamin D, like calcium, is crucial for bone health. It also supports the immune and nervous systems and may even benefit the heart.
A vitamin D deficiency is often the result of two things that are becoming more common among Americans: obesity and not enough exposure to sunlight. (Sorry, sunlight through a window doesn’t count.) Safe sun exposure is key, of course, because too much can cause skin cancer.
One word of advice: If you take a vitamin D supplement, take it with food for optimal absorption, ideally with a meal or snack that contains a bit of fat.
Vitamin B12
Remember how aging makes it harder for the body to use calcium? And to make vitamin D?
When it comes to vitamin B12, older adults are also at a disadvantage. That’s because aging impacts the body’s ability to absorb this essential nutrient, which plays an important role in regulating blood, nerve, and genetic health, according to the NIH.
Older adults who are vegetarian or vegan, who take the antidiabetic medication metformin, or who take gastric acid inhibitors to treat certain digestion problems are even more likely to be B12-deficient. And just like with vitamin D, people with Crohn’s or celiac disease are also more likely to have a B12 deficiency.
If you do have a vitamin B12 deficiency — and it’s estimated that between 3 and 43 percent of older adults do — you will be more likely to develop anemia. A B12 deficiency can also lead to neuropathy or nerve damage (which may feel like tingling or numbness in your hands or feet), balance issues, depression, confusion, poor memory, and even dementia-like symptoms.