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• Posted December 20, 2025

What Older Adults Should Know About Calcium and Vitamin D

As people move into their 50s and beyond, bone health becomes a bigger concern, and how much calcium and vitamin D you get can make a real difference.

That’s because bone loss speeds up with age, especially during and after menopause, said Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes, a senior scientist at Tufts University’s Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston.

Women lose about 3% of their bone mass each year during menopause and for roughly five years after their last period, as estrogen levels drop. 

After that, bone loss continues at about 1% per year. Men also lose bone steadily, starting around age 50, at about 1% per year.

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. 

That’s one reason hip fractures rise sharply in people in their 70s and 80s, Dawson-Hughes explained.

Still, taking more supplements isn’t always better, especially later in life.

If calcium intake gets too high, you’re setting yourself up for kidney stones, Dawson-Hughes explained in a news release.

Vitamin D also has limits. Studies show that people with low vitamin D levels can benefit from supplements, with fewer falls. 

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.

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.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine notes that:

• Women 51 and older and men 71 and older need 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day.

• Men 51 to 70 need 1,000 milligrams of calcium.

• Adults 51 to 70 need 15 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D daily.

• Adults over 70 need 20 mcg of vitamin D.

Most calcium in the U.S. diet comes from dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt. If you aren’t getting about two servings of dairy per day, you may fall short. 

In that case, Dawson-Hughes suggests a 500-milligram calcium supplement daily. If you already eat enough dairy, supplements usually aren’t needed.

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.

But in northern states, the skin can’t make vitamin D between October and March because the angle of the sun is too wide. 

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.

What's more, as people age, appetite often drops, making it harder to get enough nutrients from food alone.

That’s why being precise about what you eat becomes more critical, Dawson-Hughes said.

More information

Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on vitamin D and calcium.

SOURCE: Tufts University, news release, Dec. 16, 2025