How Much Vitamin D Do Women Need Over Time?

Vitamin D is commonly absorbed into the body from sunlight, but how much do women really need?

Women between ages of 30 and 70 need about 600 international units, and once they're over 70, that number goes up to about 800 IU.

According to Ernestine A. Wright, M.D., FACP, a board-certified primary care doctor with Mercy Personal Physicians Downtown in Baltimore, people can also get vitamin D from food, like milk, juices, some fish and cereal to name a few items. For people who don't spend much time outside and don't eat foods that contain vitamin D, they may want to consider taking supplements.

“Most one-a-day vitamins have 800 international units of vitamin D. So, if you eat a balanced diet and you are out in the sun, then you do have enough,” Dr. Wright said. “But if your baseline levels are low—and my experience is that most post-menopausal women have low vitamin D levels—most of those women, if they're on a multivitamin, they usually need to take an extra dose of vitamin D3, just 1000 mg, to get their vitamin D levels to the range of between 30 and 65, which is what we're aiming for.”

Vitamin D helps with bone health, as well as boosts the immune system. If the vitamin D level is too low, people may feel really tired and have no energy.

On the other end, people can get too much vitamin D, which is called vitamin D toxicity. With this condition, people may feel nauseous and even experience vomiting. It can also increase your risk of kidney stones, so make sure to get checked regularly by a doctor.

View Mercy primary care and geriatrics specialist Dr. Ernestine Wright’s interview regarding women and vitamin D.