3 Supplements You Should be Taking if You're Over 40 Years Old & Female

Do you take supplements? Do you need to take them? Which ones should you take? Read on to find out more & to ensure you are able to reap the benefits

If you spend anytime in the Menopause Support Group Facebook group you will have heard me ‘occasionally’ mention supplements. LOL

The reason that I talk about them so frequently is that while as a Nutritional Therapist I always prefer people to get their nutrients from food first, sometimes it’s just easier to get a quick improvement to our health by taking a supplements.

When we are feeling like crap with anxiety, depression, tiredness, insomnia, brain fog and ALL the other symptoms that we are dealing with, adding MORE to our load can be JUST. TOO. HARD.

These days when you are just so busy running around trying to stay on top of life, working out what foods you need to be eating more of can be too difficult. And from my experience of working with thousands of women over the last 28 years I know that these vitamins and minerals can make such a HUGE difference to the way that you feel. Which is why I suggest the easiest first step to take on the road to recovery is to add in some supplements that can literally take you one minute to take in the morning and yet can yield you SUCH amazing results.

You see the demands on our bodies increase so much at this stage that unfortunately there are just some all-too-common nutrients that we simply don’t get enough of. And they’re absolutely critical to optimal health and wellness. Especially as we age and at this stage.

Here I’ve sifted through all the supplements that are available on the market and boiled them down to three that can have the best effect for us.

Supplement #1: Vitamin D

If you live in North America, Canada and the UK chances are you are low in vitamin D. It’s the “sunshine vitamin” and we just aren’t able to hang out in shorts every day of the year. Even if we did we’d probably use sun protection too as that’s what we’ve been told we need to do.

Vitamin D is very important for everyone but especially women over 40. Want to know why?

It helps to protect our bones!

Vitamin D helps our body absorb and keep the calcium we get from our food and drinks. And we all know that calcium is one of the main things our bones are made of.

Want to know something funny about vitamin D (but it’s true, I swear)?

People who get enough vitamin D tend to fall less frequently. Especially as we get older.

Seriously!

Vitamin D can help your bones stay strong and help you fall less. Win-win!

This is the one I recommend – VITAMIN D

If Vitamin D is not working then you may have a problem with absorption. In that case the first things to think about are:

Do you have healthy bowels? A pro-biotic can help with vitamin D absorption.
Vit D is a fat soluble vitamin and needs you to have healthy fats in your diet. Think Omega 3. Include oily fish, seeds, nuts, avocados, olive oil, grass fed butter in your diet.
You may be deficient in magnesium which means vitamin D can’t be used by the cells and results will remain unchanged. You can take this is supplement form (see below), or rub an oil on your skin.

Supplement #2: Magnesium

There is a large article in the FILES section of the group but the basics are that Magnesium is an essential mineral needed for over 325 reactions in your body.

Yes, 325!

As with vitamin D it’s very common for us to simply not get enough. Not even the 320 mg per day that’s recommended.

Low levels of magnesium have been linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, low bone density, anxiety, depression, insomnia, headaches and even migraines.

Magnesium is found in so many healthy whole foods like beans, nuts, seeds and green leafy vegetables. In fact, the magnesium element is central to a plant’s chlorophyll – it’s actually what causes green plants to be green! And most of us just don’t get enough green plants into our bodies on a regular basis. (You know I have a recipe with green leafies for you later this week, right?).

Magnesium is a very common supplement and is often added to multivitamins but to ensure you are getting the correct level that YOU need it’s best to take a separate supplement.

I’m based in the UK and here is the one I use and recommend:

Magnesium (up to 320-400mg daily) – MAGNESIUM

Supplement #3: Omega-3s

We’ve all heard that we need to get more omega-3 essential fatty acids, right? They’re good for our hearts, brains, and help to reduce inflammation.

These are all good things when it comes to our health and wellness.

But not all of us are ready, willing, and able to eat fish three times per week.

While fish oil supplements contain the “brain healthy” fats called EPA and DHA, those two are not technically the “essential” fats. The plant omega-3 known as ALA is essential and that is because our bodies can convert ALA into EPA and DHA when necessary.

Omega-3 supplements can be found in forms of flax oil, algae oil, fish oil, or even fish liver oil.

This is the one that I use and recommend: SUPER OMEGA 3

Pro Tip: Fish liver oil (e.g. cod liver oil) also contains vitamin D so check your labels and add the amounts together to know how much vitamin D you’re actually getting.

Conclusion:

Three supplements to consider now that you’re a 40+ female are: vitamin D, magnesium, and omega-3s.

Always read the supplement labels to see if there are warnings that would make them inappropriate for you.

And, of course if you have any medical conditions or take medications or other supplements it’s always a good idea to speak with your doctor before starting anything new.

If you want to learn a whole lot more about supplements that benefit menopause then CHECK OUT THE SUPPLEMENTS 101 FOR MENOPAUSE GUIDE HERE

NOT IN THE UK BUT WANT TO ORDER?

If you are in the US or Canada all of these supplements are available there too from www.naturessunshine.com