menopause<\/a> and for roughly five years after their last period, as estrogen levels drop.\u00a0<\/p>\nAfter that, bone loss continues at about 1% per year. Men also lose bone steadily, starting around age 50, at about 1% per year.<\/p>\n
Weaker bones are more likely to break during a fall. And without enough vitamin D, muscle strength and balance can suffer, raising fall risk even more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one reason hip fractures rise sharply in people in their 70s and 80s, Dawson-Hughes explained.<\/p>\n
Still, taking more supplements isn\u2019t always better, especially later in life.<\/p>\n
If calcium intake gets too high, you\u2019re setting yourself up for kidney stones, Dawson-Hughes explained in a news release.<\/p>\n
Vitamin D also has limits. Studies show that people with low vitamin D levels can benefit from supplements, with fewer falls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as doses increase, those benefits plateau and may even decline, Dawson-Hughes said. Older adults with very high blood levels of vitamin D had higher risks of falls and fractures, she added.<\/p>\n
Vitamin D may affect other systems in the body, including immunity and diabetes risk, “but additional research is needed to translate these findings into clinical practice,” Dawson-Hughes said.<\/p>\n
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine notes that:<\/p>\n
Women 51 and older and men 71 and older need 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day.<\/p>\n
Men 51 to 70 need 1,000 milligrams of calcium.<\/p>\n
Adults 51 to 70 need 15 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D daily.<\/p>\n
Adults over 70 need 20 mcg of vitamin D.<\/p>\n
Most calcium in the U.S. diet comes from dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt. If you aren\u2019t getting about two servings of dairy per day, you may fall short.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that case, Dawson-Hughes suggests a 500-milligram calcium supplement daily. If you already eat enough dairy, supplements usually aren\u2019t needed.<\/p>\n
Sunlight helps the body make vitamin D. Folks who spend winters in sunny places like Florida and get regular sun exposure may not need supplements, though.<\/p>\n
But in northern states, the skin can\u2019t make vitamin D between October and March because the angle of the sun is too wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During those months (and possibly year-round if they spend little time outdoors), older adults should consider taking 800 to 1,000 international units (IU) per day, Dawson-Hughes said.<\/p>\n
What’s more, as people age, appetite often drops, making it harder to get enough nutrients from food alone.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why being precise about what you eat becomes more critical, Dawson-Hughes said.<\/p>\n
More information<\/p>\n
Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on vitamin D and calcium<\/a>.<\/p>\nSOURCE: Tufts University, news release, Dec. 16, 2025<\/p>\n
What This Means For You<\/p>\n
Getting the right amount of calcium and vitamin D may help protect your bones as you age, experts say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SATURDAY, Dec 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 As people move into their 50s and beyond, bone health becomes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,63479,137,532,59001,197534,197535],"class_list":{"0":"post-370637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-consumer-news","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-nutrition","13":"tag-senior-health","14":"tag-wellness-library","15":"tag-wtc_aging"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}