What should change about nutrition after fifty?

Nutrient requirements are not fixed across a lifetime. After fifty, some go up and some go down, and the second part is the one usually missed.

What goes up?

Calcium. The recommended intake set by the US National Academies' Food and Nutrition Board, as published by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, rises to 1,200 mg a day for women over 50 and for everyone over 70.

Vitamin D. The figure is unchanged at fifty — 15 micrograms, or 600 IU, a day — and rises to 20 micrograms or 800 IU only above 70. Under the annex to Thai Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 447 (B.E. 2566), vitamin D contributes to normal absorption of calcium and phosphorus.

Protein remains necessary throughout, and under the same annex protein contributes to growth and maintenance of muscle mass.

What goes down?

Iron, for women. The recommended intake falls from 18 mg a day between 19 and 50 to 8 mg after that, the same as for men.

This matters, because it means a formulation that suited one stage may not suit the next. Carrying on with the same iron intake without revisiting it is not a good default.

What should be watched with B12?

Absorbing vitamin B12 relies on a specific process in the stomach, so the amount eaten and the amount taken up are not always the same figure.

How do you choose a multivitamin?

Read the actual nutrient table rather than the wording on the box. The points to look at are whether iron is included, and how much calcium and vitamin D it carries.

What if you take regular medication?

Speak to a doctor or pharmacist, since some nutrients interact with medicines and people take more of them as they get older.

Dietary supplements are not intended to prevent, treat or cure any disease.