Vitamins for Women Over 50: What Changes and What to Check on a Label

After 50 the one UK reference figure that changes for a woman is iron, which falls from 14.8 mg a day to 8.7 mg; calcium stays at 700 mg, vitamin D at 10 micrograms, vitamin B12 at 1.5 micrograms, folate at 200 micrograms and magnesium at 270 mg, and no other vitamin or mineral figure moves until 65 and 75, when energy, thiamin and niacin ease down and protein edges up.^{1, 2} What changes instead is the body: oestrogen falls at the menopause and bone density can fall quickly in the years after it, vitamin B12 from food is absorbed less well with age, and the NHS asks women who have been through the menopause to keep vitamin A under 1.5 mg a day from food and supplements together.^{10, 14, 17} A "50+" label is therefore read like any other: the per-daily-dose column against the UK figure for your age, not the percentage, because the nutrient reference value (NRV) behind the percentage sits above the UK amount for most nutrients and below it for a few.^{1, 3} This page belongs to the vitamins and minerals guide; how to choose a multivitamin for women covers the years before 50.

Evidence at a glance

• UK figures: the government tables change one value for women at 50 (iron, 14.8 to 8.7 mg) and, at 65 and 75, only energy, protein, thiamin and niacin among the vitamin, mineral and energy lines.¹
• Iron after the menopause: in 4,451 adults aged 50 and over in England, 10.9% of women had a ferritin below 30 micrograms per litre without anaemia; in 6,362 Canadian women, iron deficiency affected 4.0% after the menopause against 16.0% before it, and raised iron stores 21.0% against 2.7%.^{6, 7}
• Multivitamin trials: 21,442 US adults, 12,666 of them women aged 65 and over, 3.6 years, no change in cancer (hazard ratio 0.97) or cardiovascular disease (0.98); three trials pooled by sex, women's cancer risk unchanged (1.00); 5,203 adults aged 60 and over, global cognition 0.07 standard deviations better on a daily multivitamin.^{18, 19, 20}
• Not tested: a multivitamin with iron against one without in women over 50; we found no such trial.

Sources checked on 2 November 2026.

What changes in the UK figures at 50?

Only iron: the reference nutrient intake for women falls from 14.8 mg a day at 19 to 50 to 8.7 mg from 50, the same figure as men, because the iron lost with periods no longer has to be replaced.^{1, 2} Every other figure in the government's adult tables is the same for a woman of 50 as for a woman of 30: vitamin A 600 micrograms, vitamin D 10 micrograms, vitamin B6 1.2 mg, vitamin B12 1.5 micrograms, folate 200 micrograms, vitamin C 40 mg, calcium 700 mg, magnesium 270 mg, zinc 7 mg, iodine 140 micrograms and selenium 60 micrograms.¹ The NHS adds the clause that matters in the perimenopause: "Women having periods after the age of 50 may need the same amount of iron as women aged 19 to 49."² The 10 microgram vitamin D figure comes from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition's 2016 report, which set it for everyone aged four and over, all year, for bone and muscle; the mineral figures date from the 1991 dietary reference values.^{1, 4}

Iron after the menopause: with or without?

Most women past the menopause meet the 8.7 mg figure from food, so a multivitamin without iron is the usual choice; a multivitamin with iron suits a woman whose periods continue, whose ferritin test is low or whose GP has advised it, and the test rather than the birthday decides between them.^{2, 6, 7} The label percentage for iron is of the 14 mg NRV, so 100% NRV is about 95% of a woman's need before 50 and about 160% of the 8.7 mg she needs after it; the NHS line for anyone not under a GP is that 17 mg or less a day from supplements "is unlikely to cause any harm".^{2, 3} Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wordings, where low iron is the cause; a no-iron formula is not a lesser product for a woman whose iron is normal, and a with-iron formula is not a mistake for one whose test says she is short.²¹

Low iron does still happen after the menopause, which is why age alone is a poor guide. In the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a nationally representative cohort of 4,451 adults aged 50 and over followed for 14 years (funded by a National Institute for Health Research fellowship, an Imperial College scholarship, the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health), 10.9% of women had a ferritin below 30 micrograms per litre with a normal haemoglobin, and that group had a higher death rate over the follow-up (hazard ratio 1.58), an association the authors say was driven by women.⁶ In the Canadian Health Measures Survey, a cross-sectional national survey of 6,362 women aged 20 to 79 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), iron deficiency (ferritin below 15) affected 4.0% of postmenopausal women against 16.0% before the menopause, and raised iron stores (ferritin above 150) 21.0% against 2.7%.⁷ After the menopause, then, too much stored iron becomes more common than too little, and too little still affects about one woman in ten, so the ferritin result is the thing to buy by. SACN's 2010 iron report asks health professionals to stay alert to iron deficiency anaemia in "some adults aged over 65 years" as well as in women of reproductive age, and to assess symptoms clinically before advising supplements.⁵

Who still needs iron: heavy or irregular bleeding in the perimenopause, where the NHS says women with heavy periods "may need to take iron supplements"; periods that continue after 50; and a low ferritin on a blood test.² Who should avoid it: anyone with haemochromatosis, the inherited iron-overload condition, whom the NHS advises to "avoid taking iron and vitamin C supplements".⁸ What is ferritin explains the test and why an unexplained low result in a woman past the menopause is a GP appointment, because the cause is looked for before iron is given; multivitamin with iron or without sets the figures out by group, iron and heavy periods covers the ferritin threshold, and how to choose an iron supplement covers treatment-strength products.

Vitamin D after 50

The NHS amount stays at 10 micrograms a day at every adult age, with a daily supplement to consider in autumn and winter and all year if you are not often outdoors, and never more than 100 micrograms a day from everything you take.⁹ On a label 10 micrograms shows as 200% NRV, because the NRV is 5 micrograms; the NHS year-round groups are people who are "frail or housebound", in a care home, or who cover most of their skin outdoors.^{3, 9} The bone context is the NHS's own: vitamin D "helps your body absorb calcium", which is why its osteoporosis advice asks all adults to consume 10 micrograms a day and to consider a supplement; vitamin D contributes to the maintenance of normal bones and teeth and to normal absorption and utilisation of calcium and phosphorus, the authorised wordings.^{11, 21} The fracture trials and the microgram-to-IU table are on the vitamin D guide; the add-up rule for a multivitamin taken beside a separate vitamin D, a calcium-and-D tablet or cod liver oil is on can you take too much vitamin D.

Calcium and bone after the menopause

The UK calcium figure stays at 700 mg a day at every adult age and the NHS expects it from food; what changes is the bone it protects, because the NHS says women "lose bone rapidly in the first few years after the menopause".^{10, 13} The NHS puts the mechanism plainly: "The female hormone oestrogen is essential for healthy bones. After the menopause, oestrogen levels fall. This can lead to a rapid decrease in bone density", and the risk is higher if the menopause begins before 45 or the ovaries have been removed.¹⁰ Its menopause advice for protecting bone is calcium-rich food such as milk, yoghurt and kale, regular strength and resistance exercise, some sunlight and vitamin D supplements, and it adds that "Taking HRT can also reduce the risk of osteoporosis", a conversation for your GP.¹² Calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth, the authorised wording, and the NHS says 1,500 mg or less a day from supplements is unlikely to cause harm.^{13, 21} The calcium NRV is 800 mg, which rarely fits in a one-a-day tablet or gummy, so a multivitamin carries a small percentage and food covers the rest; foods high in calcium has the UK portions, do you need a calcium supplement works out the gap, and can you rebuild bone density carries the exercise and nutrient trials.³

Vitamin B12 after 50

The need stays at 1.5 micrograms a day, but in later life B12 from food is absorbed less well, and the NHS says deficiency affects around 1 in 20 people aged 65 to 74 and 1 in 10 aged 75 or over, which makes B12 the ingredient that earns its place in an over-50 formula.^{14, 15} B12 from food has to be "combined with a protein called intrinsic factor" before the gut can absorb it; pernicious anaemia, which destroys the cells that make intrinsic factor, is the most common cause of deficiency in the UK and "more common in women around 60 years of age", and metformin and proton pump inhibitors are on the NHS list of medicines that "can lead to a reduction in the amount of vitamin B12 in your body".¹⁵ Vitamin B12 contributes to normal red blood cell formation, to normal function of the nervous system and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wordings.²¹

Labels carry B12 far above the 2.5 microgram NRV because once the intrinsic-factor route is full only a small fraction of a large dose gets in. The dose-finding trial behind the high-dose tablets randomised 120 older people with mild B12 deficiency to 2.5, 100, 250, 500 or 1,000 micrograms of cyanocobalamin a day for 16 weeks: the deficiency marker methylmalonic acid fell by 16%, 16%, 23%, 33% and 33%, 647 to 1,032 micrograms a day gave 80 to 90% of the maximum reduction, and the authors put the lowest corrective dose at more than 200 times the recommended dietary allowance (the trial's funding statement is not on the open record; the PubMed entry names no commercial funder).¹⁶ That is a count from a treatment trial, not a dose to copy: the NHS says 2 mg a day or less from supplements is unlikely to cause harm, a 10 microgram daily dose covers the need many times over for a woman who absorbs normally, and a woman with symptoms needs a blood test before a supplement, because starting one first can hide the result.^{14, 15} Signs of vitamin B12 deficiency covers the test; what vitamin B12 does for a woman covers the medicines.

Folate and folic acid: the B12 point

Adults need 200 micrograms of folate a day at every age, and the NHS warns against folic acid above 1 mg because higher doses "can mask the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency", which it says "is particularly a concern for older people because it becomes more difficult to absorb vitamin B12 as you get older".^{1, 14} The folic acid NRV is also 200 micrograms, the one nutrient in the table below where the labelling figure and the UK figure for a woman over 50 are the same, so 100% is the UK amount and 500% is the 1 mg NHS line.^{3, 14} Folate contributes to normal blood formation and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wordings; the 400 microgram advice is for women who could become pregnant, and from 13 December 2026 non-wholemeal flour must contain added folic acid under the bread and flour composition rules, which will raise folic acid intake from bread and flour products for most people.^{14, 21, 22} How a GP checks B12 before prescribing folic acid is on folate deficiency symptoms.

Vitamin A after the menopause

The NHS asks women who have been through the menopause, and older men, to avoid having more than 1.5 mg of vitamin A a day from food and supplements together, because more than that on average over many years "may affect your bones, making them more likely to fracture when you're older".¹⁷ The UK figure for a woman is 600 micrograms a day and the NRV is 800, so a multivitamin at 100% NRV already carries more than the UK amount. The NHS's 1.5 mg line is about vitamin A as retinol, which a label lists as "retinyl acetate" or "retinyl palmitate"; beta-carotene, which the body converts to retinol only as it needs it, is listed separately on the label. The NHS adds liver no more than once a week, fish liver oil counted beside any multivitamin, and no vitamin A supplement at all if you eat liver weekly.^{3, 17} Vitamin A contributes to the maintenance of normal vision and normal skin and to the normal function of the immune system, the authorised wordings; the cohort studies behind the 1.5 mg line are on what is vitamin A good for.²¹

What do the trials in women over 50 show for multivitamins?

In the one large trial that recruited women over 65, a daily multivitamin did not change cancer or heart disease over 3.6 years; when three trials were pooled by sex, women's cancer risk was unchanged (hazard ratio 1.00); and in adults over 60 a daily multivitamin gave a small gain in memory and global cognition.^{18, 19, 20} The COSMOS trial randomised 21,442 US adults, 12,666 women aged 65 and over and 8,776 men aged 60 and over, to a daily multivitamin or placebo: over a median 3.6 years invasive cancer occurred in 518 against 535 people (hazard ratio 0.97), the cardiovascular composite in 429 against 437 (0.98), and deaths from any cause did not differ (0.93); it was funded by an investigator-initiated grant from the nutrition arm of a confectionery company, which also supplied study pills and packaging, with partial pill supply from the multivitamin's manufacturer and US National Institutes of Health grants; the paper states that neither company had input into the design or the manuscript.¹⁸ A 2024 meta-analysis pooled COSMOS with two older trials, 28,558 men and 20,542 women in all: cancer incidence was 7% lower across everyone (0.93), 9% lower in men (0.91) and unchanged in women (1.00, confidence interval 0.88 to 1.14), although the difference between the sexes was not itself statistically significant; six of its authors are employees of a personalised-nutrition company and may hold shares in it, a conflict declared on the record.¹⁹ Cognition went the other way: across three COSMOS substudies of 5,203 adults aged 60 and over, two to three years of a daily multivitamin improved global cognition by 0.07 standard deviations and episodic memory by 0.06, an effect the authors equate to about two years of cognitive ageing, in an analysis supported by US National Institutes of Health grants and an investigator-initiated grant from the same confectionery company's nutrition arm, with the tablets donated by their manufacturer.²⁰ Those trials were in well-nourished US adults taking one formula, so they say nothing about a woman whose diet is thin or whose B12 or vitamin D is low, the case the NHS lines above are about; each nutrient carries its authorised role at 15% of the NRV or more per daily dose whatever the outcome trials found.^{18, 21} Is it good to take a multivitamin every day carries the blood-level trials and the men's trial in full.

What changes again after 60 and 70?

Little in the UK tables: for a woman, energy falls from 2,000 kcal a day at 19 to 64 to 1,912 at 65 to 74 and 1,840 at 75 and over, niacin falls with it to 12.6 and 12.1 mg, thiamin to 0.7 mg at 75, and every other vitamin and mineral figure stays where it was at 50.¹ The practical point is the energy line: the same 700 mg of calcium, 1.5 micrograms of B12 and 8.7 mg of iron have to come from fewer calories, so a smaller appetite, not a change in need, is the reason an older woman runs short.¹ Three NHS lines carry most of the weight from 65: vitamin D all year, not only in winter, for anyone "not often outdoors", frail or housebound, or living in a care home; B12, because the 1 in 20 and 1 in 10 deficiency figures are the 65 to 74 and 75 and over age bands; and bone, where the NHS says people over 60 "can also benefit from regular weight-bearing exercise", brisk walking and keep-fit classes included, alongside the 700 mg of calcium and 10 micrograms of vitamin D.^{9, 11, 15} Frailty, falls, unplanned weight loss, difficulty swallowing and the nutrition drinks sold for them are medical matters for a GP or a registered dietitian, and the NHS iron page itself says to speak to one for more advice.² For a woman over 60 or over 70 the label question is the same as at 50, read against the 65 to 74 and 75 and over columns; the appetite changes, the figures do not.

How to read a 50+ label against the UK figures

Read the per-daily-dose column against the UK figure for your age, not the percentage: for women over 50 the NRV behind the percentage sits above the UK figure for 13 of the 18 nutrients that have both values, equals it for folic acid and sits below it for four (vitamin D, potassium, copper and selenium).^{1, 3} The table gives the 18 pairings from the retained labelling regulation and the government's tables; the last column is what 100% NRV delivers as a share of the UK figure for a woman aged 50 to 64, rounded to the nearest 5%.^{1, 3}

"50+" on a pack is not an authorised health claim: the GB register has no age-group claim, and the health wordings a UK label may carry are the nutrient ones from the register, which are the same at any age.²¹ So the five lines to read are iron, present or absent, against the section above; vitamin B12, present at any amount; vitamin D at or near 10 micrograms, which the table shows as 200%; vitamin A under 1.5 mg once liver and fish liver oil are counted; and vitamin B6 at or under 10 mg across everything you take, the NHS supplement ceiling.^{2, 9, 14, 17} How to read a supplement label walks through every line of the panel and high strength or 100% NRV holds the NHS ceilings for adding products together.

What we don't know

• Whether a multivitamin with iron or one without serves women over 50 better. We found no trial that compared the two in this group, so the UK figure and a ferritin test, not a trial, are the basis for the choice.^{2, 6, 7}
• Whether 100% NRV amounts change anything measurable in a well-nourished woman over 50. COSMOS tested one US formula in older adults not selected for any shortfall and found no change in cancer or heart disease; its authors ask for the cognition finding to be confirmed in a more diverse group.^{18, 20}
• How current the NHS figures are. The NHS vitamins and minerals pages quoted here were last reviewed in August 2020 and the B12 and folate anaemia pages in February 2023, each past its review date; the figures stand until the NHS changes them.^{2, 9, 13, 14, 15, 17}

Frequently asked questions

Do women over 50 need a multivitamin?

Not as a rule: the supplement the NHS names for every adult is vitamin D at 10 micrograms a day in autumn and winter (all year if you are not often outdoors); it says vegans may not get enough B12 and that B12 becomes harder to absorb with age; calcium it expects from food.^{9, 13, 14} A multivitamin earns its place when the diet is thin, the appetite is smaller or a blood test has shown a shortfall, and then the label is read against the UK figures above, not the age on the box.¹

Should a multivitamin for women over 50 have iron?

Not usually, because the UK figure falls to 8.7 mg at 50 and most women meet it from food; with iron if your periods continue, a ferritin test is low or your GP advises it, and never with haemochromatosis.^{2, 8} About one woman in ten over 50 in England had low iron stores without anaemia, and raised iron stores affected one postmenopausal Canadian woman in five, so a test, not your age, decides.^{6, 7}

What vitamins do women over 60 need?

The same amounts as at 50, with three NHS lines carrying the weight: vitamin D at 10 micrograms all year if you are frail, housebound or in a care home; B12, because deficiency affects around 1 in 20 people aged 65 to 74 and 1 in 10 aged 75 or over; and 700 mg of calcium with weight-bearing exercise for bone.^{1, 9, 11, 15} Among the vitamins and minerals the tables change only thiamin and niacin at 65 and 75, as energy falls and protein edges up.¹

Is a 50+ multivitamin different from a normal one?

Often in two lines, iron left out and B12 included, and sometimes in vitamin D at 10 micrograms; "50+" is a description, not a claim, so compare the per-daily-dose column against the table above rather than the name on the front.^{1, 3, 21}

Sources

1. Public Health England. Government Dietary Recommendations: energy and nutrients for males and females aged 1 to 18 years and 19+ years. August 2016, tables 2, 4 and 6 (vitamin figures from the 1991 dietary reference values and SACN Vitamin D and Health 2016; mineral figures from the 1991 dietary reference values). gov.uk.
2. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: iron. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
3. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as retained in GB law, Annex XIII, nutrient reference values and significant amount. legislation.gov.uk.
4. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Vitamin D and Health, 2016 (the 10 microgram reference nutrient intake for everyone aged 4 and over). Publication page. gov.uk.
5. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Iron and Health, 2010; recommendations published 25 February 2011. Publication page. gov.uk.
6. Philip KEJ, et al. The prevalence and associated mortality of non-anaemic iron deficiency in older adults: a 14 years observational cohort study. British Journal of Haematology, 2020. Observational cohort, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, 4,451 adults aged 50 and over, 14 years; funded by a National Institute for Health Research fellowship, an Imperial College scholarship, the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health; one author's institution has received research funding from an iron-medicine manufacturer for a separate trial. PubMed 32072619.
7. Chang VC, et al. Iron status and associated factors among Canadian women: results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Journal of Nutrition, 2023. Cross-sectional national survey, 6,362 women aged 20 to 79, 2009 to 2017; Canadian Institutes of Health Research. PubMed 36788041.
8. NHS. Haemochromatosis: treatment. Page last reviewed 29 March 2023 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
9. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: vitamin D. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
10. NHS. Osteoporosis: overview and causes. Pages last reviewed 13 October 2022 (review overdue). nhs.uk and nhs.uk/causes.
11. NHS. Osteoporosis: prevention. Page last reviewed 13 October 2022 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
12. NHS. Menopause: things you can do. Page last reviewed 19 May 2026. nhs.uk.
13. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: calcium. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
14. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: B vitamins and folic acid. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
15. NHS. Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia: overview and causes. Pages last reviewed 20 February 2023 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
16. Eussen SJ, et al. Oral cyanocobalamin supplementation in older people with vitamin B12 deficiency: a dose-finding trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2005. Randomised double-blind dose-finding trial, 120 older people with mild deficiency, 16 weeks; PubMed lists research support from a source other than the US government and no commercial funder; the funding statement is not open access. PubMed 15911731.
17. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: vitamin A. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
18. Sesso HD, et al. Multivitamins in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease: the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 21,442 US adults (12,666 women aged 65 and over, 8,776 men aged 60 and over), median 3.6 years; funded by an investigator-initiated grant from the nutrition arm of a confectionery company, which also supplied study pills and packaging, with partial pill supply from the multivitamin's manufacturer and US National Institutes of Health grants; the paper states that neither company had input into the design or the manuscript. PubMed 35294969.
19. Šelb J, et al. Personalization matters: the effect of sex in multivitamin-multimineral-based cancer prevention. GeroScience, 2024. Meta-analysis of three randomised trials, 28,558 men and 20,542 women; six authors are employees of a personalised-nutrition company and may hold shares in it (declared). PubMed 37561385.
20. Vyas CM, et al. Effect of multivitamin-mineral supplementation versus placebo on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COSMOS trial and meta-analysis of 3 cognitive studies within COSMOS. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024. Randomised trial substudy (573) and meta-analysis (5,203 adults aged 60 and over), 2 to 3 years; supported by US National Institutes of Health grants and an investigator-initiated grant from the same confectionery company's nutrition arm, with the tablets donated by their manufacturer. PubMed 38244989.
21. Department of Health and Social Care. Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. Last updated 19 May 2026. gov.uk.
22. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Bread and flour: labelling and composition (folic acid in non-wholemeal flour from 13 December 2026). gov.uk.

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This article is general information, not medical advice. Tiredness, breathlessness, pins and needles, unplanned weight loss or any bleeding after the menopause need a GP appointment, and iron or B12 for a suspected deficiency follows a blood test, not a guess. Report a reaction to a prescribed medicine through the Yellow Card scheme, and a reaction to a food supplement to your local authority's food safety team, which works with the Food Standards Agency.