3 Nutrients Every Midlife Woman Should Have on Her Radar

September Midlife Roundup [2025]

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

It’s September! This is my favorite time of year. I love back to school and the fact that fall is coming. It motivates me.

Since realizing that I need more structure, I’m using AI to create my daily schedule. And it’s helping!

I am also using it to help me meal prep on the weekend. I’ve tried meal prepping a bunch, and it’s finally working. Just plugging what I need to do on Sunday and having AI set up a schedule for me has been very helpful.

I set a timer and try to do it in about 2 hours. If AI says I can, then I can!

One thing ChatGPT suggested was to have a base, always making chicken and a whole grain but alternating the sauce. I’ve been focusing on making lunches, and I like bowls with protein, whole grains, and veggies. I spend way too much time in the kitchen at lunch.

I’m also prepping an at-home salad bar by cutting veggies, boiling eggs, and draining beans, storing them in this cool container. It also helps that I’m trying to stay occupied now that my daughter’s in college.

Enough about me. Today, I’ve got three new studies—all focused on micronutrients --followed by some good reads. So let’s get to it.

Vitamin D and Telomeres

The Vitamin D and Omega-3 (Vital) randomized control trial is a large 6-year trial looking at vitamin D (2000 IU) and fish oil (1g) in women over 55 and men over 50. I’m skeptical about this trial, just like I am about a lot of micronutrient supplement studies.

I am not a big fan of setting up nutrient trials like drug trials and giving a “one-size-fits-all” dose of a vitamin like D. (I’m also not a fan of just taking supplements without understanding how much you need)

These types of studies work great for drugs because the drug is a treatment designed for a specific outcome. And you don’t normally have this drug in your body already.

But with vitamins, we’re looking to understand what is optimal for body functioning. And we already get vitamin D from food and the sun. So, randomly giving a supplement without testing or monitoring blood levels is ludicrous to me. The researchers tested some subjects, but not even half.

So far, the Vital study hasn’t found that 2000 IU of vitamin D really helps with heart problems or cancer. A secondary analysis showed that the vitamin D group had a 17% reduced risk of advanced cancers (metastatic or fatal). When separated into BMI, those with a BMI of 25 or less had a 38% reduction and those >25 had an 11% reduction, and those >30 had none.

Hmmm…. could that be because the heavier you are, the more vitamin D you need to increase blood levels? How great would have been if they had tested everyone in this trial? They could analyze the data based on blood levels.

In this latest study published in the July edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the vitamin D group was found to have longer telomeres, losing fewer base pairs (140) than placebo group. The researchers estimate that equates to about three years of aging.

If this is replicated in another randomized trial of vitamin D supplements, I think this could translate into clinical effects for chronic diseases of aging. We’re already seeing that vitamin D does reduce inflammation; it reduces advanced cancers and cancer deaths, as well as autoimmune diseases. This could provide a biological mechanism.

-Anastassios Pittas, professor of medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, Scientific American

Nitrates and diabetes risk

This study, published in the August edition of Nutrition and Metabolism, followed over 2000 people free of diabetes or prediabetes aged 21-70 (average age 39.6) from 2018 to 2022. They estimated their intake of nitrates and nitrite using a food frequency questionnaire.

Most of their nitrate consumption came from vegetables (95.7%). Those in the highest quartile of nitrates compared to the lowest had a 35% reduced risk of pre-diabetes and a 32% reduced risk of type 2 DM with a modest intake of nitrates.

The key process here is the conversion of nitrates into nitric oxide (NO) through the nitrate–nitrite–NO pathway. When insulin is released, it tries to boost NO levels to widen blood vessels, especially in muscle, so glucose can move in. If the body can’t make enough NO, this contributes to insulin resistance. Getting more NO from dietary sources provides the body with an extra supply.

You (my readers) already know how important this is, even though there’s been no publicity. And my paid subscribers know a little bit more about why I’m so obsessed with NO.

But there was press 2 years ago about a study looking at nitrate/nitrite additives and type 2 diabetes risk showing a positive association.

Nitrates + bad = press release. Nitrates + good = silence. Ugh!

Much more needs to be done to help consumers understand the difference between nitrate sources from vegetables—which make up the majority of our intake—and the added nitrates found in processed meats.

Alzheimer’s, omega-3 fatty acids, and women

A new study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia Journal looked at how unsaturated fats affect men and women’s brains.

Researchers from the UK studied blood samples from people with Alzheimer’s and healthy controls finding that women in the early stages had lower levels of unsaturated fats, like omega-3s, compared to women without the disease.

This affected AD independently of cholesterol, LDL, and apolipoprotein B

The researchers did not see the same occurrence in men with or without the disease. These researchers speculate that the changes in fat levels are sex specific, affecting mostly women.

“This has not been done before,” said first-author Dr Asger Writland in this press release. “The results are very striking and now we are looking at how early in life this change occurs in women.”

Studies like this can’t determine whether reduced unsaturated fatty acids are cause or a consequence of the disease. But this is not the first study to show a relationship between omega-3s and brain health in women.

In the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), a cohort of 6706 older (>65), healthy women found that those with higher levels of omega-3 index had a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease and a slower rate of cognitive decline over 10 years.

For every 1-standard deviation increase in DHA+EPA, they found that dementia risk decreased by 8%. An earlier study in this group found that those with a higher omega-3 index had higher hippocampal volume.

Ammann et al, 2017, Prost Leuk and EFAs

I like this study because it looks at actual levels of omega-3s versus just giving a supplement.

Let’s not forget that some research suggests that estrogen helps women convert plant-based omega-3s into the more active forms, DHA and EPA. After menopause, this ability declines, and it looks like hormone therapy doesn’t restore it.

That’s another reason why DHA and EPA are VITAL nutrients for midlife women.

READ: 6 At-Risk Micronutrients for Women Transitioning Menopause

3 powerhouse nutrients

In my mind, these three nutrients are among the most important for midlife women. Nitrates are technically not a nutrient but hopefully will be one someday.

When there’s testing available, that’s always my first choice in deciding supplementation. In my Biomarker Guide, I provide guidance on tests. I try to keep my vitamin D right above 50, and it takes 2000IU per day in the summer and about 3000IU in the winter.

Omega Quant has an omega-3 index test that guides into choosing supplementation based on your results with a goal of >8%.

There’s no real test for NO, but I recommend eating nitrate-rich veggies twice a day, and skipping mouthwash and meds that mess with stomach acid unless directed by a healthcare provider.

I’m always amazed at how such simple changes can really make a difference. Send to a friend who may not know.

Are you actively looking at these nutrients in your diet and/or testing?

Posts and articles that caught my eye

There were two notable articles in the NYT. One is about seniors heavy lifting: Pumping Iron is Their Secret to Aging Well and the other, 10 Menopause Myths the Experts Can’t Stand.

I recently wrote about iron deficiency, and then I saw this article in the Guardian mentioning a scientific breakthrough on iron testing coming out by 2028. Yay!

Dr. Louise Oliver posted on Instagram about the new British Menopause Society Tool for Clinicians that checks for sleep disordered breathing.

I loved this piece by Lisa-Marie Cabrelli at A Call for Heroines: While Everyone Panics About AI, Midlife Women are Having the Last Laugh.

That’s all I’ve got time for this roundup. Leave a comment letting me know how you are doing.