What supplements should I take daily for a woman?

One list, not four: the survey's adult list that a woman starts from, and the first two edits, iron on a test while periods continue and folic acid for any woman who could become pregnant

What supplements should a woman take daily is a question the shelf answers with a women's range, a colour and a price, and the honest answer is one list with four edits, because the daily list the national diet survey writes for a UK adult is the same for a woman as for anyone and her life stages edit it at four points rather than replacing it. The adult list first. Vitamin D through the winter, since skin synthesis stops at UK latitudes between about October and March and a large share of adults have low levels through those months, at a stated dose with its authorised claims for normal bones, muscle function and immune function. Magnesium where the plate is short of the greens, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes that carry it, which the survey finds in a share of women smaller than young men's but real, at a stated elemental dose for its claims for normal muscle and psychological function and the reduction of tiredness. Iodine where the diet has no dairy, fish or eggs, since the UK has no salt iodisation and the survey finds intakes low in young women, with claims for normal thyroid and cognitive function. Omega-3 where the diet has no oily fish, at the adequate intake of 250mg of EPA and DHA, for its heart claim. That list, and nothing from the women's range, is where a woman starts, and the four edits follow her stage. The first edit is iron. A woman with periods is in the population the survey finds short, a substantial minority of women of reproductive age with intakes below the reference and low iron stores, and iron joins her daily list on a ferritin test with a full blood count rather than on the demographic, because unneeded iron is stored rather than excreted and the result decides the dose; it leaves the list at the menopause, when the loss stops and the requirement falls to a man's. The second edit is folic acid, and it is the one edit with public health advice behind it in exact terms: 400 micrograms a day for any woman who could become pregnant, from before conception, because the neural tube closes in the first weeks before most pregnancies are known, until the twelfth week, to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, with a higher prescribed dose for women at increased risk; a woman who is not using contraception and could conceive is on this edit whether or not she is trying.

Two edits made, and a woman in her twenties and thirties has a daily list that reads: the adult list by diet, iron if ferritin says so, and folic acid if she could become pregnant, at doses that are the adult doses, from tubs that need not say woman on them, which is most of the women's range dismissed before its colour is noticed.

The third and fourth edits, pregnancy rewritten with a midwife and the menopause's exchange of iron for bone, who is sent to a doctor rather than a shelf, the worked example, and the verdict

The third edit is pregnancy, and it is less an edit than a rewrite, done with a doctor or midwife and not with a shelf. Folic acid continues to the twelfth week and vitamin D continues throughout at the stated dose, which is the public health advice. Two things come off: vitamin A as retinol, which a pregnancy multivitamin must not contain because high intakes are harmful to the developing baby, so that a general multivitamin is swapped for one formulated for pregnancy or for the two nutrients alone; and the herbal shelf entirely, ashwagandha, the adaptogens, the high-dose botanicals and anything whose safety in pregnancy is unknown, which is nearly all of it. Nothing is added on a shelf's word, since iron, iodine, omega-3 and anything else in pregnancy are decided with the midwife on the woman's own blood results and diet, and the worked example on this page is taken in pregnancy only with that agreement. The fourth edit is the years around the menopause, where the list exchanges one line for another. Iron leaves, since the loss stops. Bone arrives, since loss accelerates in the few years either side of the final period as oestrogen falls: vitamin D continues, calcium comes from food, dairy, fortified alternatives, fish with bones and greens, with a supplement only where the diet cannot supply it, and resistance and impact training load the bone. And the symptom shelf, black cohosh on a traditional registration with liver case reports, soy isoflavones and red clover with small inconsistent trials, and the menopause blends with no claim, gives way to a conversation with a doctor about hormone replacement therapy, which has the largest measured effect on bone and on hot flushes, night sweats and disturbed sleep, decided on a woman's own balance of risks. Two groups are sent to a doctor rather than to this page or any shelf: anyone under eighteen, for whom this site gives no supplement guidance at all, and any woman whose fatigue, mood or sleep has lasted for weeks, since the conditions that mimic a shortfall, an underactive thyroid and low iron among them, are found by a blood test and not by a tub.

The worked example is for the plate at any stage, at a dose the word woman does not change: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% of the 375mg reference intake that the UK sets for adults of either sex, two capsules with the evening meal, carrying the authorised claims for normal muscle function, normal psychological function, normal nervous system function and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue and no claim about women, periods, pregnancy or the menopause because none exists, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium with the certificate on request, UK made under GMP and BRC, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day, and taken in pregnancy only with a doctor or midwife's agreement. The verdict on what supplements a woman should take daily is one list with four edits: the survey's adult list by diet, vitamin D in winter, magnesium where the plate is short, iodine and omega-3 by what the diet lacks; iron on a ferritin test while periods continue; folic acid at 400 micrograms for any woman who could become pregnant; a rewrite with a midwife in pregnancy that keeps folic acid and vitamin D and removes retinol and the herbal shelf; and an exchange of iron for bone around the menopause with a conversation about hormone replacement therapy; at doses that are the adult doses, from tubs that need not be pink.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

What supplements should a woman take every day?

The adult list the national diet survey writes for anyone, edited by her stage: vitamin D through the winter, magnesium where the plate is short of the foods that carry it, iodine where the diet has no dairy, fish or eggs, and omega-3 where it has no oily fish; then iron on a ferritin test while periods continue, folic acid at 400 micrograms a day for any woman who could become pregnant, a rewrite with a doctor or midwife in pregnancy that keeps folic acid and vitamin D and removes vitamin A as retinol and the herbal shelf, and an exchange of iron for bone around the menopause with a conversation about hormone replacement therapy; the doses are adult doses and the tubs need not say woman.

Should all women take folic acid?

Any woman who could become pregnant, whether or not she is trying: the UK public health advice is 400 micrograms a day from before conception, because the neural tube closes in the first weeks before most pregnancies are known, until the twelfth week of pregnancy, to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, with a higher prescribed dose for women at increased risk such as a previous affected pregnancy, diabetes or certain medicines; a woman not using contraception is on this edit, and a woman who cannot become pregnant is not.

What supplements should I avoid when pregnant?

Vitamin A as retinol, which a pregnancy multivitamin must not contain because high intakes are harmful to the developing baby, so a general multivitamin is swapped for one formulated for pregnancy or for folic acid and vitamin D alone; and the herbal shelf entirely, ashwagandha, the adaptogens, high-dose botanicals and anything whose safety in pregnancy is unknown, which is nearly all of it; everything else, iron, iodine, omega-3 and any mineral, is decided with a doctor or midwife on the woman's own blood results and diet, and nothing is added on a shelf's word.

Do women need iron supplements every day?

Only while periods continue and only on a ferritin test: a substantial minority of women of reproductive age have intakes below the reference and low iron stores in the national survey, and iron joins the daily list on the result of a ferritin test with a full blood count, which decides the dose, since unneeded iron is stored rather than excreted; at the menopause the loss stops, the requirement falls to a man's, and iron leaves the list, so that a women's multivitamin carrying iron at a hundred per cent by demographic is the wrong shape for a woman past her periods and an unmeasured dose for one before.

Is there a different supplement dose for women?

For most nutrients, no: the UK nutrient reference value for magnesium is 375mg for adults of either sex, the vitamin D dose is the same, creatine and protein are dosed per kilogram, and iodine and omega-3 are set by what the diet lacks rather than by sex; what a woman's stage changes is which lines are on the list, iron while periods continue, folic acid when she could become pregnant, a rewrite in pregnancy and bone around the menopause, and a product with woman on the front has changed its colour and its price rather than its dose.

Sources

1. The UK public health advice on folic acid: 400 micrograms a day from before conception until the twelfth week of pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects, with a higher prescribed dose for women at increased risk, and a pregnancy multivitamin should not contain vitamin A as retinol. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/folic-acid-updated-government-advice
2. The UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey: a substantial minority of women of reproductive age have low iron stores and intakes below the reference, a large share of adults have low vitamin D status in winter, iodine intakes are low in young women, and magnesium intakes fall below the reference in many adults, with B12 deficiency concentrated in older adults, vegans and those on metformin or acid suppressants. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey
3. The iron and cognition trials in women: iron supplementation in iron-deficient women of reproductive age improves attention, memory and learning in randomised trials, with the gain proportional to the rise in ferritin and haemoglobin, and no cognitive benefit in iron-replete women. PubMed record
4. The menopause and bone literature: bone loss accelerates in the years around the final menstrual period as oestrogen falls, resistance and impact training and adequate vitamin D and dietary calcium slow it, and hormone replacement therapy, decided with a doctor, is the treatment with the largest effect on bone and on vasomotor symptoms. PubMed record

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