Vitamin B12: This helps keep your red blood cells and nerves healthy. While older adults need just as much vitamin B12 as other adults, some have trouble absorbing the vitamin naturally found in food.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) plays a key role in seniors' health, helping to protect against free radical damage and strengthen the immune system. While it's not uncommon for some older adults to have low vitamin C levels, serious vitamin C deficiency is rare.
Vitamin B-12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in the health of older adults. Vitamin B-12 is involved in making DNA, red blood cell formation, and proper nerve function1. While more research is needed, low vitamin B-12 levels have also been linked to increased bone fracture risk2.
Basically, we need vitamin D for bone growth and to prevent bones from becoming brittle, and calcium wouldn't be able to do its job without vitamin D. For seniors especially, these vitamin D benefits are essential in the prevention of osteoporosis, a disease resulting in reduced bone density.
Without enough vitamin D or calcium, your parathyroid glands compensate by producing too much of their hormone, a condition called hyperparathyroidism. That can lead to bone weakening (osteoporosis) and increased fracture risk.
The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for people ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years.
Vitamin D is an important nutrient for older adults. Older adults need to consume more vitamin D than they did as younger individuals, but it's not found in many food sources. A great deal of attention is required to ensure that older adults get the vitamin D they need for optimal health.
There are quite a few differences between vitamin D and vitamin D3, but the main difference between them is that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that regulates calcium and phosphorous levels in the body, whereas the vitamin D3 is the natural form of vitamin D produced by the body from sunlight.
If you are an older adult, you should be taking a supplement for B12 as well as trying to incorporate B12 into your diet. It is vital for good health and cognitive functioning. Studies continue to show all the ways it is beneficial for your overall health.
When it comes to the issue of vitamin B12 vs B complex, both types of vitamins are crucial. If you're lacking B12, consume more of it via supplements or food. If you're lacking vitamin B in general, consider B complex vitamins instead. Overall, both vitamins are essential nutrients.
Diets low in B vitamins—particularly folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12—can raise blood levels of a natural chemical called homocysteine. This, in turn, can promote atherosclerosis of the arteries of the heart and brain—resulting in heart attacks, strokes, and dementia.
Most older adults can get all the nutrients they need from foods. But if you aren't sure, always talk with your doctor or a registered dietitian to find out if you are missing any important vitamins or minerals. Your doctor or dietitian may recommend a vitamin or dietary supplement.
According to recent studies, more than 20% of the elderly population are at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency [31]. The prevalence of this deficiency is due to insufficient food intake and malabsorption of vitamin B12 due to degenerative digestive conditions.
Seniors need magnesium for energy production. Magnesium is necessary for the structural development of bones. Aging people require sufficient amounts of the mineral to strengthen bones. The mineral transports calcium across cell membranes, which contributes to normal heart rhythms.
People with certain health conditions including HIV, alcohol use disorder, and Crohn's disease may not absorb vitamin B effectively. Older individuals and people with a vegetarian or vegan diet may also be at higher risk.
Caution is advised if you have diabetes, liver disease, phenylketonuria (PKU), or any other condition that requires you to limit/avoid these substances in your diet. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about using this product safely.
Some side effects of taking too much vitamin D include weakness, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and others. Taking vitamin D for long periods of time in doses higher than 4000 IU (100 mcg) daily is possibly unsafe and may cause very high levels of calcium in the blood.
Yes, getting too much vitamin D can be harmful. Very high levels of vitamin D in your blood (greater than 375 nmol/L or 150 ng/mL) can cause nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, confusion, pain, loss of appetite, dehydration, excessive urination and thirst, and kidney stones.
How to Get Enough Vitamin D As an Older Adult. Adults aged up to 70 years old should be getting at least 600 IU. Adults older than 70 should be getting at least 800 IU of vitamin D. However, some sources say you should consume up to 1000 IU of vitamin D past the age of 70.
In fact, more can be worse," says Dr. Manson. For example, a 2010 study published in JAMA showed that intake of very high doses of vitamin D in older women was associated with more falls and fractures. In addition, taking a supplement that contains too much vitamin D can be toxic in rare cases.
There's no set time of day that's best to take vitamin D supplements. Some people say taking vitamin D supplements at night is an insomnia risk. There's no research to confirm this, but you might want to take your supplement earlier in the day if you think it's screwing with your sleep.
The Institute of Medicine has placed the recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for vitamin D at 600 international units (IU) per day for young adults and 800 IU per day for adults older than 70.
Vitamin D Recommendations
According to the report, children older than 1 years old and adults up to 70 years of age are recommended to consume 600 IU of vitamin D daily and adults greater than 70 years of age are recommended to consume 800 IU of vitamin D daily [40].