More than 60% of American women take supplements. Should you be one of them? And if so, what should you take?
Women’s health nurse practitioner Melissa Tharpe of Novant Health Pelvic Health Center - Winston-Salem breaks it down by decade.
Before you begin a supplement: Talk to your doctor, nurse practitioner or other health care team member.
Here’s why it’s important to talk to your ob-gyn or primary care clinician before you begin a supplement:
- Safety: Many supplements can interact with medications and with each other. And it can be easy to accidentally take too much of a certain supplement, leading to potential health problems. Your clinician can provide individualized guidance based on your health history and medication list and make sure you’re taking a safe dose. (To encourage you to consult with your clinician, we aren’t providing supplement doses in this article.)
- Effectiveness: There’s a lot of marketing hype surrounding supplements. Your clinician can tell you whether the supplement you’re considering has an evidence base — or just a good PR team.
- You might need blood work first: It’s not always necessary to test for a deficiency before starting a supplement, but for some conditions it’s helpful to get a baseline measurement (a “before supplementation” picture). If you have one of those conditions, your clinician will order blood work and track your condition over time to make sure supplementation is helping.
Good health starts with a visit to a primary care doctor.
Common women's supplements by decade
Supplements for women in their 20s and early 30s
Women in their 20s and 30s should focus on getting their nutrition from a balanced diet.
After that, common supplements for this age group include:
- Vitamin D for bone health
- Omega-3s for heart health
- An iron supplement if you have risk factors for iron deficiency anemia (like heavy periods, being a vegetarian or vegan, or having a digestive condition like celiac disease, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis).
If you’re sexually active, taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid is a good idea since many pregnancies are unplanned.
Women in this age group are often bombarded with supplement recommendations on social media. It’s easy to overspend on beauty or "hormone balancing" supplements that promise a lot and deliver very little.
For example, here are three supplements hyped for this age group:
- Biotin does help hair growth if someone is truly biotin-deficient — but most people aren’t.
- Collagen can offer some benefits for joint comfort and skin elasticity and hydration, but it works best as a complement to good nutrition and not as a replacement for it.
- Many “pre-workout” supplements contain stimulants like caffeine — so be cautious about how that affects your sleep quality and your cardiovascular health if you have any heart conditions.
Supplements for women in their 20s, 30s and 40s who are trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding
If you’re trying to conceive
In an ideal world, you’d begin focusing on what’s called “preconception health” 3 to 6 months before you want to become pregnant.
This includes stopping smoking and drinking, reaching a healthy weight, making sure you’re up to date on vaccinations, going through your medication and supplement list with your doctor to make sure they’re pregnancy-safe, and talking to your doctor about any health conditions you need to manage before and during pregnancy.
You may also want to begin taking a supplement in case you become pregnant.
Common supplements for women who are trying to conceive include:
- A prenatal vitamin with folic acid, DHA, calcium, choline, iodine and vitamin D
- An iron supplement
If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding
Good nutrition, stress management and consistently taking prenatal vitamins are extremely important during pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding. Quality sleep matters too — even when pregnancy or a newborn makes that difficult.
Supplementation is important for your baby’s development, and builds reserves in your body for what may become deficient due to pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Common supplements for pregnant and breastfeeding women include:
- A prenatal vitamin with folic acid, DHA, choline, calcium, iodine and vitamin D.
- An iron supplement, since a woman’s iron levels tend to drop around the 26- to 28-week mark of pregnancy. Sometimes, iron is included in a prenatal vitamin.
- An omega-3 fatty acid supplement, if your diet does not include fish.
If you’re pregnant unexpectedly, Tharpe's message is reassurance: “You haven't harmed your unborn baby by not taking a supplement before your pregnancy. Just start that prenatal vitamin as soon as you learn you’re pregnant.”
There are also supplements you shouldn’t take in pregnancy, including high-dose vitamin A, some herbal supplements, and “detox,” weight loss, or energy supplements.
If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your clinician about any medication or supplement before taking it to make sure you’re not doing any harm to you or your baby.
Supplements for women in their 40s and 50s
Some women in their 40s are breastfeeding, while others are dealing with menopause symptoms. By their early 50s, most women have transitioned into menopause.
Common supplements for this age group include:
- Calcium with vitamin D for bone health
- An omega-3 fatty acid supplement for heart health
- An iron supplement if you have risk factors for iron deficiency anemia (like heavy periods, being a vegetarian or vegan, or having a digestive condition like celiac disease, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis)
These women should focus on maintaining bone and muscle health through strength training and weight-bearing exercise. If you’re consistently strength training, a supplement called creatine may enhance those efforts — it’s a naturally occurring compound that supports muscle strength and recovery.
Many women deal with hot flashes, sleep disturbances, weight gain, mood swings, brain fog, decreased libido, vaginal dryness or some combination of the above. While prescription medication or hormone replacement therapy will provide the most effective relief, some specific supplements could be a good short-term option to treat certain mild symptoms, including:
- Soy isoflavones for hot flashes
- Black cohosh for hot flashes and improved quality of life
- Melatonin for improved sleep
- Magnesium glycinate for improved sleep quality
Beyond that, many supplements claim to address menopause symptoms, but most lack strong evidence.
Supplements for women in their 60s and beyond
Health goals for women in these decades should include maintaining strength and supporting cognitive, heart and bone health.
Common supplements for this age group include:
- Calcium with vitamin D for bone health
- An omega-3 fatty acid supplement for heart health
- A vitamin B12 supplement, to prevent vitamin B12 deficiency that can come with age
Strength training, weight-bearing exercise and eating enough protein are all important. If you’re consistently strength training, a supplement called creatine may enhance those efforts — it’s a naturally occurring compound that supports muscle strength and recovery.
You may have heard about supplements that claim to help with memory loss and anti-aging; based on the existing evidence base, these are overhyped.
Key takeaways when choosing women’s supplements
A supplement can enhance — but not replace — healthy lifestyle behaviors in women of all ages. Supplements can be a support, not a foundation.
Before starting a supplement, talk to your clinician to make sure you’re taking something safe and effective.
And if you’re already taking supplements, send your clinician a MyChart message or bring your current supplement list to your next appointment and ask your clinician to review it with you. Together, you can make sure what you’re taking is actually helping you achieve your health goals.
FAQs
Capsules and tablets often provide more reliable dosing. Gummies and chews often contain added sugar and sometimes have lower nutrient levels compared to tablets or capsules. But if a gummy vitamin is the vitamin you will take, that’s what works for you.
For safety, only purchase supplements from a reputable source. Choose a product that has gone through voluntary, independent testing for quality and safety and has the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or NSF International seal on its box.
Yes. Taking too many supplements can interact with some medications and can even cause toxicity.
Always bring a list of all the vitamins and supplements you are taking to your doctor visits.
A probiotic supplement can be helpful for certain women. They aren’t one-size-fits-all, as there are different strains. Talk to your doctor before starting one so that you're getting the right probiotic for the right reason. For example, many doctors recommend taking probiotics while you’re taking a course of antibiotics. You should space them apart when you take them by two to three hours.
As human beings, we strive to feel better, do better, be better. When these products are being hyped every day online, on TV, on social media, then it’s natural to think, “Let me see if this works.”
The biggest drivers of health for women are focusing on sound nutrition, moving our bodies, getting the most effective sleep that we can and managing stress. When those are in place, supplements can fill in the gaps, but they’re not going to replace those healthy habits.
If a product claims to fix your problems, cure your disease, make you sleep better, or have more energy without having to do these foundational things, that’s a clue that it’s hype. Supplements are a support — not the foundation.
