If you are a woman, maintaining your health can be a struggle as you age. You may find that you aren’t receiving adequate nutrition, and the effects of menopause or aging are causing you to feel sluggish, out of energy, tired, or to develop other adverse health conditions. In order to battle the effects of aging and improve your overall health and wellbeing, nutrients that come from vitamins and minerals are an important thing to consider. The following vitamins are considered to be the most important to add to your daily vitamin regimen:

Calcium

It is no mystery or surprise that calcium is an essential part of any woman’s diet regimen. Whether you get your calcium from dairy products and orange juice, or you take a calcium supplement each day, calcium intake is non-negotiable for women. Aside from its many other health benefits, calcium is responsible for helping to support healthy bones and muscles and improve your bone mass. When you get older, your bone mass will decrease, which is why you require calcium even more in order to prevent osteoporosis. A menopausal woman fights bone loss every day. Additional health benefits of calcium include improved dental health, reducing obesity, preventing colon cancer, and overall benefits to your health and wellbeing. The recommended daily dose of calcium is 1300mg for women under 18, 1000mg for women between the ages 19 and 50, and 1200mg for women over 50. No matter how you get extra calcium, even those new chocolatey chews of calcium, it is one vitamin that is vital to women.

Folic Acid

Folic acid, also known as folate or vitamin B9, is part of the B-complex vitamins that improve various parts of your body health and function. Folic acid is responsible for the production of blood cells, which also helps to prevent anemia in women. For women, folic acid is very important during child-bearing years. Even before you become pregnant, you should take the recommended dose of folic acid each day. During pregnancy, folic acid is one of the most important vitamins you can take because it helps to prevent birth defects. If you don’t regularly consume foods with vitamin B9 such as eggs, liver, legumes, or green leafy vegetables, you should take the recommended daily dose of 2.4mcg in pill form. All doctors agree that folic acid is one vitamin that is needed during pregnancy and throughout the years that a woman can conceive.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins a woman can take no matter her age. You may not realize that one of the main sources of vitamin D is sunlight. The UV rays that are emitted through sunlight actually convert into the vitamin D that helps your body to absorb calcium. If you don’t get the sufficient amount of vitamin D each day from the sun, dairy products, or a supplement, your body is unable to use and absorb calcium. Health benefits of vitamin D include the ability to absorb important nutrients for a strong immune system, improved bone and muscle health, preventing rickets, reducing stress and tension, regulating blood pressure, fighting depression, and improving your skin health. The daily recommended dosage of vitamin D for women under 50 is 100 IU (international units) and 400 IU for women over 50. If you are over 70, you should increase your dosage to 600 IU a day.

Iron

If you are a woman who is menstruating, iron is going to be one of the most important vitamins you can take. With menstruation comes the increased risk of adverse health conditions from the loss of blood, which is only heightened when you have an iron deficiency. Even if you are not menstruating, low iron levels in the body can lead to anemia and other negative effects. Anemia tends to be more prevalent during pregnancy. If you’re pregnant, be sure you get an adequate amount of iron in your diet or through a daily supplement. If iron-rich foods such as meat, eggs, beans, poultry, or tofu aren’t part of your regular diet, you should take an iron supplement. The recommended daily dose of iron for women is 10-15 mg, but it should not exceed 20mg because it can cause stomach upset.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, which is also known as cyanocobalamin, is one of the eight B-complex vitamins that are important for overall health and wellbeing. Along with the other B-complex vitamins, B12 has a variety of health benefits including an increase in energy, the ability to fight off many adverse health conditions, and the production of red blood cells that are important for reducing the risk of a host of other medical conditions. Vegetarians tend to be at a higher risk of a B12 deficiency since the main sources of B12 are milk, cheese, meat, fish, eggs, and yogurt. If you don’t include these foods in your diet every day, you should take the recommended daily dose of B12 in pill form, which is 2.4mcg.

Sources:

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/for-women/7-essential-vitamins-for-women.html
http://www.everydayhealth.com/womens-health/vitamins-for-women.aspx
http://www.vitamin-insight.com/basics/daily-intake-chart.aspx