Despite what X-famous biohackers preach (looking at you, Bryan Johnson), there’s no escaping the forward march of time. Whether you’re a supermodel, pop star, athlete, billionaire, or regular Joe, age comes for us all, no matter how much exercise, sleep, nutrition, or brain training you throw at it.
And with aging comes a slew of changes to your body, both external (like wrinkles, gray hair, and liver spots) and internal (like brain fog, poor memory, and lower grip strength). Some of these changes can be accompanied by a shift in your nutritional needs. This shift is even reflected in official dietary intake recommendations from the USDA: Several nutrients see “very specific increases after certain ages,” Janice Dada, MPH, RDN, a registered dietitian and intuitive eating counselor, tells SELF.
For women specifically, this transition often occurs around perimenopause and menopause, as declining estrogen levels, progressive muscle loss, the loss of your period, and a spike in bone resorption (breakdown) set a new baseline, Rachel Pessah-Pollack, MD, an endocrinologist at NYU Langone Health and a clinical professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, tells SELF. Here are four nutrients women need more of after 40 and why.
Protein
Why you need more: While the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 doesn’t officially recommend more protein after 40, dietitians and medical experts will often suggest it “to try to combat any muscle wasting,” Dada says. Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle wasting, can start around 40 and is especially common in women, partially because they have less muscle mass to start with. It can eventually progress to the point where daily tasks like hauling groceries, walking, or even standing up become difficult—so increasing your intake of protein, a famous muscle-builder, can help delay the onset and keep you strong enough to function normally.
How much you need: Shoot for one to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (around 0.5 grams per pound), according to Dr. Pessah-Pollack—higher than the standard of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (around 0.36 grams per pound). Older adults may need as much as 80 to 140 grams per day in total, Amy Burkhart, MD, RD, a physician and registered dietitian who specializes in gut health, previously told SELF.
Just keep in mind that leveling up should be “done in combination with an evaluation of your kidney health,” Dada says. Because your kidneys are responsible for eliminating the waste products of protein metabolism, a bigger load puts more strain on those organs, so if you have any kidney issues (like chronic kidney disease), “then we really don’t want to be increasing protein,” she warns.
How to get it: Prioritize high-quality food sources of protein—eggs, lean meats, dairy products, Dr. Pessah-Pollack says. She’s a big fan of the Mediterranean diet for its focus on lean proteins. Still, “protein won’t 100% prevent sarcopenia” alone, Dada says—staying physically active is also essential. “Resistance exercises are absolutely key,” both for muscle mass and overall stability and balance, Dr. Pessah-Pollack adds.
Calcium
Why you need more: Of all the nutrients that women need more of after 40, “calcium is really the most obvious one, and one that I think is top-priority,” Dr. Pessah-Pollack says.
During perimenopause and menopause, declining estrogen significantly raises your risk of bone loss and downstream health issues like osteoporosis. Research suggests up to 20% of bone loss can occur during menopause and the ensuing period, according to the Endocrine Society. If you don’t ingest enough calcium from food or supplements, your body will extract it from your bones, weakening them. Increasing your calcium intake helps “keep a more active reservoir of the calcium available so we don’t have to pull as much from the bone,” Dada explains.
How much you need: Per the Dietary Guidelines, the recommended number of milligrams (mg) of calcium per day rises from 1,000 mg to 1,200 mg after 50, but keep in mind the timing can vary from person to person depending on the age of menopause onset. “If menopause is sooner, then we need to bump that up sooner,” Dada says.
How to get it: Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt are by far the best-known food sources of calcium, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones. Plenty of other foods pack a significant amount as well, including kale, edamame, and fortified plant-based milks. “There’s lots of different ways to get it,” Dr. Pessah-Pollack says.
On that note, you can also explore calcium supplements if your diet doesn’t provide a sufficient amount of the mineral (for context, “it would take about three to four servings of a calcium-rich food per day to get those 1,200 mg,” Dada says). Try to steer clear of particularly high-dose calcium supplements, however: Ingesting too much calcium can increase your risk for health problems like kidney stones and heart issues, Dr. Pessah-Pollack says. Whether you opt for the food or supplement route, you’ll want to space out your calcium doses for optimal results. “Getting it at intervals throughout the day is how we absorb it best,” rather than all at once, Dada says. If your dietary calcium intake fluctuates such that you don’t always get enough from food, she advises keeping a calcium supplement on hand as a backup.
Vitamin D
Why you need more: Winter famously tends to send vitamin D levels plummeting thanks to the shorter days and reduced sunlight exposure, but aging is also a risk factor for a deficiency. More than 35% of women in the US are deficient in vitamin D, and postmenopausal women diagnosed with osteoporosis are especially prone, according to a 2010 article in the Journal of Oncology Practice. “With age, our skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D from sunlight,” Dada explains. As if that wasn’t enough, declining kidney function also affects your body’s ability to activate vitamin D internally—and low vitamin D also hurts your calcium levels, since the vitamin mediates calcium absorption.
How much you need: Between ages 40 and 50, “you want to get 600 international units (IU) per day,” Dr. Pessah-Pollack explains—the same as all younger female age groups, according to the Dietary Guidelines. But once you enter the postmenopausal stage, often around 50 or over, that amount “increases to somewhere around 800 to 1,000 IU per day,” she says. (FYI, the guidelines’ recommendation is more conservative: 800 IU per day only after age 71.)
How to get it: While “it’s a little harder to get vitamin D in food” compared to calcium, Dr. Pessah-Pollack says, it’s still doable. By far your best option is fatty fish such as mackerel and sardines, though Dr. Pessah-Pollack notes that many beverages (including milk) are fortified with vitamin D these days, too.
If you’re considering starting a vitamin D supplement, consider checking your vitamin D levels beforehand via a blood test to determine exactly how much in the red you are, according to Dada. If you’re deficient rather than simply insufficient, for example, you might need to take a “loading dose” (a high initial dose intended to raise your levels rapidly) to start with, and then a “maintenance dose” (a lower dose intended to keep your levels adequate) from there, Dada explains.
Vitamin B12
Why you need more: Your ability to absorb vitamin B12 declines as you age owing to natural changes in your GI tract. Specifically, your digestive system can stop producing as much stomach acid, which is necessary to release B12 from the protein in food so it becomes available for absorption. People over 60 commonly deal with this issue, according to Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute. In fact, 18% of postmenopausal women are deficient in vitamin B12, a 2025 study published in the Indian Menopause Society’s Journal of Mid-Life Health found.
How much you need: While the Dietary Guidelines’s blanket recommendation for adult women is 2.4 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B12 per day, older adults may actually need to eat 10 to 12 mcg to take in a sufficient amount, according to the Mayo Clinic. (FWIW, the guidelines do recommend increasing your vitamin B6 intake from 1.3 to 1.5 mcg for women over 51, by contrast.)
How to get it: Vitamin B12 is really only found in protein-rich animal products, like eggs, fish, and milk, Dr. Pessah-Pollack says. If you avoid or limit these types of foods (or otherwise don’t take in adequate B12 naturally take medication or have a medical condition that otherwise puts you at higher risk of a deficiency), you may want to take a B12 supplement to be safe. Because the B12 in supplements isn’t bound to protein, it doesn’t pose the same malabsorption issues as you’d see with B12 in food.
Magnesium
Why you need more: Magnesium levels tend to drop during and after perimenopause in tandem with estrogen levels, as estrogen helps your body absorb and retain magnesium. Not only can sufficient magnesium prevent bone loss—since magnesium is involved in vitamin D activation and thus calcium absorption—, it can also help alleviate some of the unpleasant side effects associated with this life stage, like hot flashes, night sweats, and insulin resistance. Lower magnesium intake has even been correlated with reduced hip bone density in postmenopausal women. In fact, one study found 84% of postmenopausal women diagnosed with osteoporosis had a magnesium deficiency.
How much you need: The Dietary Guidelines recommends 320 mg of magnesium for women over 31 through women over 51, up from 310 for women ages 19 to 30.
How to get it: Magnesium is plentiful in high-fiber foods like green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, and it can also be found in fortified products like breakfast cereals. Despite its natural abundance, “I constantly get the question of, ‘Do I need a magnesium supplement?’” Dr. Pessah-Pollack says. Her answer is typically no. For magnesium, as with most nutrients, “you really don’t need a supplement unless you’re deficient or really at risk for deficiency,” she says. (And the only way to know whether you are is by asking your healthcare provider for a blood test.) Eating a balanced diet should do the trick for the majority.
Keep in mind that the recommended amounts outlined above could change depending on your specific health requirements (say, if you take a medication, have a medical condition, or have undergone a surgery that impairs nutrient absorption). Some common examples include celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, or a gastric bypass procedure, along with taking a class of medications known as proton pump inhibitors (which are prescribed to reduce stomach acid production), or loop diuretics (prescribed to treat fluid retention).
And if it helps clarify your post-40 nutritional priorities further, there’s actually one nutrient you need less of once you hit menopause: iron—you know, for obvious reasons.
Related:
- 5 Women on What It’s Really Like to Be in Menopause Before 40
- How 4 Real Women Manage Menopause Symptoms at Work
- This Nutrition Trick Might Delay Menopause
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