Dietary Supplements for Peri- and Early Postmenopausal Women: A Quantitative Proposal Based on Disparities Between Recommendations and Dietary Intakes

Dietary supplement use is increasingly more popular in the United States. Although dietary supplements are not intended to replace intakes from foods, many formulations contain multiple nutrients at levels equivalent to or greater than their corresponding dietary recommendations. Nutrient doses are often justified by expected benefits. Women in the peri- and early postmenopausal stages are becoming the most frequent users of dietary supplements, so consideration of reported dietary intakes by women in this age range (45–60 years) is important for determining appropriate levels of supplementation. Dietary intakes at the 5^th percentile among women in this age group meet 20–80% of the recommended intakes for individual nutrients. Therefore, for most nutrients, the difference between recommended dietary intakes and actual intakes reported by the 5^th percentile represents an adequate level of supplementation. Exceptions to this strategy exist, which relate to evidence of deficiency in the US, the bioavailability of certain nutrients, and putative health benefits not considered in existing dietary recommendations. For some nutrients, there is an overall lack of scientific evidence that supplementation is required at all.