A woman's nutritional needs vary over her lifetime because of hormonal changes and conditions such as pregnancy and lactation. If you're a woman over 50, your nutritional needs are not the same as they were in your 20s, 30s and 40s. By educating yourself about your special dietary requirements, you can avoid some of the deleterious effects of inadequate vitamin intake.
Water-Soluble Vitamins
Water-soluble vitamins are those that dissolve in water. If you take too much of a water-soluble vitamin, the excess amounts will be excreted in your urine. The good thing about water-soluble vitamins is that it's harder to consume amounts high enough to cause toxicity. The bad thing about water-soluble vitamins is that you need to get your daily allotment, because, with the exception of B-12, your body cannot store a backup supply. The water-soluble vitamins are C and the B complex. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises women over 50 to consume B-12 in crystalline form, which is the type of B-12 found in supplements and fortified foods. This type of B-12 is easier for older people, whose stomachs may no longer produce enough hydrochloric acid to separate B-12 from some foods to absorb this particular nutrient.
Water-Soluble Vitamins: USDA Recommendations
The 2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines list the daily dietary reference intakes for water-soluble vitamins for women over 50 as follows: 75 mg of vitamin C; 1.2 mg of thiamine; 1.1 mg of riboflavin; 14 mg of niacin; 1.7 mg of vitamin B-6, or pyridoxine; 400 mcg of B-9, or folate; and 2.4 mcg of vitamin B-12.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins are not excreted in your urine. Excess amounts are stored in your fat tissue. This can make fat-soluble vitamins harder to remove from your body if you take too much. Women over 50 need more vitamin D than their younger counterparts because of a decrease in their skin's ability to synthesize vitamin D.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins: USDA Recommendations
The 2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines list the daily dietary reference intakes for fat-soluble vitamins for women over 50 as follows: 700 mcg of vitamin A; 15 mcg of vitamin D; 15 mg of vitamin E; and 120 mcg of vitamin K. Choline, though not strictly a vitamin according to the Linus Pauling Institute, is listed as having a dietary reference intake of 550 mg per day.
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