5 Best Vitamins for People Over 50 💊

Which supplements you should — and shouldn’t — take for the healthy aging.

Grandparents

One friend swears by CoQ10. Another insists she’d never make it out of bed without her vitamin D tablets. Your mother is shocked you don’t take a multivitamin. Your colleague believes if a little is a good thing, a lot must be better, so he takes way more than the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of various supplements.

There is a lot of good, a lot of bad and a whole lot of confusing information out there, making it tough to figure out which vitamins and supplements you should — and should not — be taking.

“Dietary supplements, in some cases, can help people get adequate amounts of essential nutrients.”

— Carol Haggans, consultant, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

“People can get all the nutrition they need by eating a variety of foods, but dietary supplements in some cases can help people get adequate amounts of essential nutrients,” says Carol Haggans, a scientific and health communications consultant with the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “There are some nutrients that can benefit people over 50.”

Read on for our experts’ top recommendations. (And check out this Frontline documentary from PBS on supplements and safety, released in January 2016.)

Vitamins That Belong On Your “To Take” List

These five vitamins are worth taking after age 50, experts say:

1. Daily multivitamin for seniors

Research hasn’t proven whether multivitamins help you stay healthier longer, says Haggans. “They just help fill in nutrient gaps that you might not even be aware of; there doesn’t appear to be any harm in taking one as directed,” she says.

Nutrient needs do vary by age, gender and life stage. For example, the RDA for vitamin D goes up as you age. Postmenopausal women don’t need as much iron as younger women. Experts agree it make sense to get a multivitamin marketed to seniors because manufacturers try…