Your nutritional needs change over time and, with that, the right multivitamin for someone in their 20s is very different from the best multivitamin for women over 50.

If you’re a woman over 50 of age group, experts say there are certain nutrients you want to make sure your multivitamin contains. Those include:

• B12. “Anybody who is not eating a lot of meat needs to be supplementing with B12,” says Kathryn Boling, M.D., a primary care physician at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center. “As you get older, your ability to absorb B12 drops.” B12 is “good for your brain,” Dr. Boling points out.
• Calcium. Calcium helps support strong bones, Dr. Boling notes, and it’s important to help lower the risk of developing osteoporosis. “If you don’t drink milk, consume dairy products, or have anything that’s calcium-fortified, you will need to supplement,” Dr. Boling says. “Since women lose up to 1/5 of their bone in their first five to seven years after menopause, I tell all women that at least 1,200 milligrams of calcium is necessary on a daily basis,” says Gloria A. Bachmann, M.D., associate dean for women’s health at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.
• Vitamin D. Estrogen helps protect your bones and, as you enter menopause, the decline in estrogen can lead to bone loss, says women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D. “Supplementing with calcium and vitamin D becomes vital in the fight against bone thinning and osteoporosis.”
• Magnesium. Magnesium also helps contribute to strong bones, Gans says. It can even prevent leg cramps, something that perimenopausal women tend to struggle with, Dr. Boling says. “It’s miraculous” for leg cramps, she adds. F
• Fiber. “Fiber helps to keep blood sugar in check, can help with weight management, and helps lower LDL—bad—cholesterol,” Keatley says. (Just don’t take your fiber with medications or other vitamins or it may carry them out of your body.
• Riboflavin (B2). “Good for eyes, skin, hair, and nails this little vitamin also helps convert carbohydrates to energy and may help prevent migraines,” Keatley says.
• Vitamin E. This is a “powerful antioxidant that works inside your cell,” Keatley says.
• Folic Acid. “It’s good for the heart and proven to lower levels of homocysteine, which has been tied to heart disease,” Dr. Wider says.

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