As registered dietitians and personal trainers for more than 15 years, one of the questions we have consistently been asked is: What are the best anti-aging supplements for women over 40?
Many women realize that even if they eat a wholesome diet, it isn’t necessarily enough to keep them healthy and on top of their game, nor is it necessarily enough to help them slow the aging process, especially given that our soil is depleted of nutrients, which can easily put us all at risk for nutrient deficiencies, or the very least, sub-optimal levels of nutrients.
Optimal nutrient levels provide our body with the support it needs for peak metabolic function. And for those women who enjoy a few cocktails now and then or who eat a few too many processed foods, they may need even more support to achieve these levels. Avoiding these habits is the first step, however, it can be a good idea to help our bodies with anti-aging supplements.
From a little too much sugar now and then to the fluctuating hormones associated with perimenopause to the subtle decline in metabolism and bone density, there are targeted ways to combat these changes. Specific, quality anti-aging supplements can enhance our well-being, ensuring that an active lifestyle is not hampered by health issues.
We’re sharing three of the top anti-aging supplements every woman over 40 should consider.
We find them to be game-changers for us and our clients!
1. Omega-3s.
We’re huge fans of quality omega-3 supplements, and they are something we will always take even though we eat the recommended servings of carefully sourced, low-toxin fatty fish—the benefits and research are just too compelling not to.
Omega-3 fatty acids are potent inflammation fighters, so they help all systems in the body and provide many benefits, including fighting damage and oxidative stress that occurs with aging; fighting off chronic disease (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.); keeping the brain healthy; as well as helping to shut down the inflammation that makes weight loss more challenging!
The most important omega-3s are DHA and EPA, which provide some of the most powerful health benefits. The best sources of DHA and EPA are fatty, cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, anchovies, and tuna.
If I eat fish, do I need an omega-3 supplement?
The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings (six ounces) of fish per week to get the omega-3s to fight the chronic inflammation that’s linked to all diseases, including obesity, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, heart disease, etc., but many people struggle to meet the recommendation.
Often, if they do meet them, they’re not choosing fatty fish with high levels of DHA and EPA but rather lower-fat white fish with low levels like cod, catfish, flounder, sole, etc. In addition, the concern with eating fish is toxins, like mercury and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which are in the water and are harmful, man-made chemicals that accumulate in the fish. These toxins build up in our blood as we eat the contaminated fish.
For this reason, it’s best to consume wild fish (not farm-raised, since farm-raised fish contain more contaminants) from cleaner remote waters, like Alaska and the Pacific Ocean, choose smaller fish with less time for toxins to accumulate, and remove the skin before cooking.
How do I know I have the right omega-3 levels?
Still, for many, eating fish presents its fair share of challenges. And while we personally love sardines and salmon and choose ours from cleaner water sources and eat 6 ounces weekly, we still take a high-potency, pure fish oil to reap the rewards, particularly because we know we have high levels of oxidative stress from everyday living and we want to be sure we raise our blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids to the ideal range. We test our blood levels fairly frequently, and we check on our clients as well.
When we check our clients’ blood levels for omega-3s, as they begin to achieve optimal levels, we witness what the science shows—they start improving nutrient absorption into their cells as the cell membranes become less stiff and more pliable from a reduced proportion of inflammatory fats and increased anti-inflammatory fats.
This allows nutrients to easily enter the cell to carry out its functions, and this is when they say they feel better—they see improvements in their mood, the quality of their skin (and hair!), and energy levels! Plus, this is when weight loss typically becomes easier for them! Game-changing!
Surprisingly, we often find that even our clients who are religiously eating six ounces of fatty fish each week from the cleanest waters fall a bit short of the recommendations when we test their blood levels using the omega-3 index test, so we typically suggest that most people supplement with a quality omega-3 supplement, given how much we all need to fight inflammation (the root of all disease).
What are the other benefits of consuming adequate omega-3s?
Omega-3s also help to counteract the fatty acid imbalance that most women (and men!) have in their diet; people eating a Westernized diet consume significantly more omega-6 oils than omega-3 oils. Processed foods are rich in refined omega-6 oils, which are inflammatory and linked to cancer, autoimmune disease, heart disease, weight gain/obesity, and more.
A diet high in Omega-6 and low in Omega-3 increases inflammation and inflammatory diseases such as heart disease and autoimmunity. This is why people with autoimmune diseases often find large benefits in their symptoms when they get more omega-3s, particularly from DHA and EPA. Most Americans have omega-6 oils to omega-3 oils in a ratio of about 16:1 when the ideal ratio is about 4:1.
Research also shows that consuming adequate omega-3s is linked to everything from maintaining memory and cognition to fighting anxiety and depression, which are especially important as women age, beginning in their late 30s. Given that omega-3s improve blood flow, it makes sense that cognition would be improved as nutrients and oxygen can more efficiently reach the brain. In short, omega-3s are one of the best anti-aging supplements for women over 40, and everybody in general. They are our one of our top recommendations for natural anti-aging supplements to integrate into our diets.
What makes a quality omega-3 supplement?
A quality omega-3 supplement will contain mostly DHA and EPA, which help to tame inflammation and keep the heart, eyes, and brain healthy. When choosing an omega-3 supplement, make sure your supplement is third-party tested to ensure:
- potency (to make sure the ingredients in the supplement are actually what the label says they are),
- purity (virtually undetectable levels of heavy metals, PCBs, and other environmental toxins),
- freshness (no fishy burps, oxidation, or rancidity), and that they’re non-GMO (so they don’t contain genetically modified proteins, genes, etc.).
- If the brand of supplement you use won’t release their Certificates of Analysis (COAs) to show that each product passes these tests and meets the highest levels of standards, don’t use them.
Although fish oil supplements are typically safe for most people, check with your doctor before taking them since they may interact with some medications, like anticoagulants. Get a discount on our favorite supplement here.
2. Magnesium
Magnesium is a GAME CHANGER! Every one of our clients takes a quality magnesium supplement and sings its praises. Magnesium is a nutrient we all tend to be low in, just from stress levels alone. We need it for more than 300 enzymatic processes in the body, including energy production, nerve and muscle function, relaxation, protein synthesis, and blood sugar and blood pressure control, just to name a few. Magnesium also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body and brain relax as well as fight anxiety. It also increases GABA, which helps the body unwind and sleep better.
Fatigue and sound sleep are two things with which many women over forty struggle. So getting adequate magnesium is important. Research shows that magnesium supplementation has the potential to improve sleep quality and decrease insomnia. (Our clients and we both have experienced this benefit from magnesium for years, and we have ALL witnessed improved sleep quality!) Getting a good night’s rest is one of the most anti-aging things you can do for your body!
Despite magnesium being found in common healthy foods like grains, green vegetables, nuts, and seeds, most people don’t get enough magnesium because the soil is depleted, which means so is our food! Also, magnesium needs increase during times of stress, and it’s easy to deplete magnesium in the body. Ironically, at times when people are dealing with a lot in their lives, they tend to put their health on the back burner and eat less of the foods with the most magnesium.
This is actually when it’s more important to step up your healthy diet and focus on increasing magnesium. Yet, it’s when people are reaching for quick fuel sources that are typically higher in sugar and fat that stress the body even more.
Magnesium, another anti-aging supplement to easily find
Personally, our diets are packed with magnesium-rich foods, but we take a quality supplement since these days it truly is a challenge to get enough magnesium with the changes in our environment. Plus, we know we often have high levels of stress that raise our magnesium requirements even more.
Magnesium glycinate is typically the form we recommend for relaxation since it tends to also be gentle on the stomach and is one of the best-absorbed forms. We take it every night about one-half hour to one hour before bed, and for most of our clients, this is the time we recommend they take it, especially if they tend to experience stress or anxiety or have trouble falling asleep.
Generally, we recommend between 200 and 400 mg/day and tweak doses as we see what doses our clients best respond to. We also recommend our clients take magnesium (usually 2-3 capsules with our preferred brands) if they feel a tension headache or extra stress that may trigger a migraine. For our clients with high levels of stress throughout the day, they often take one magnesium pill in the morning or afternoon as well. This is one brand we use; get a 5% discount.
Constipated? We love this form of magnesium for a little gentle movement. Get a discount here.
The mineral supplement may be unsafe for people who take certain diuretics, heart medications, or antibiotics (1Trusted Source), so check with your doctor or dietitian before taking it.
3. Probiotics
The bacteria in our gut (our gut microbiome) influence all aspects of our health. If you want to stay healthy and feel young and vibrant, research on the gut microbiome as a modulator of healthy aging shows those little microbes in your gut need to have a good balance of healthy bacteria.
Good bacteria in your gut positively influence brain health, cognition, mood, and immunity—including colds and viruses as well as autoimmune diseases—and even help to prevent obesity and diabetes. Given that the gut microbiome influences the entire health of our body, it’s particularly important to support it at any age.
Many factors disrupt a healthy microbiome. If you’ve ever:
- Taken antibiotics;
- Had a stressful event;
- Eaten a diet with a lot of processed foods, or with a lot of sugar, or not enough fiber;
- Drunk alcohol;
- Gotten food poisoning;
- Eaten a good deal of food additives;
- Consumed too many pesticides or hormones in your food;
You most likely could have a disruption and imbalance of the good and bad bacteria in the microbiome, also called dysbiosis. So basically, if you’re like us and all of our clients, your anti-aging supplements protocol would benefit from a top-notch probiotic. (More on why it’s so important to choose a good probiotic is below.)
What can I do to restore my gut microbiome?
A quality probiotic can help restore the gut microbiome. Additionally, it can support women over 35 with better managing the effects of perimenopause (which for some women can start in the 30s), as well as menopause.
When progesterone levels drop during perimenopause and through menopause, research shows that the digestive tract takes a hit, which is one reason why many women experience bloating, gas, digestive issues, and even weight gain. This is why is so important to get probiotics as one of your anti-aging supplements.
While probiotics can help to offset these issues, certain strains can even help to target stress, bone strength, detoxification, and mental health, which are all important at all ages, particularly after 40.
However, not just any probiotic will do what you hope. One reason that probiotics are controversial is that many probiotic supplements don’t contain the strains that they claim in quantities that provide benefits. Since the supplement industry is unregulated, there can be problems with the purity, strength, and even supplements not containing the probiotic the bottle claims.
That’s why we are very careful about the probiotics we recommend for our clients. Especially since we’ve seen probiotics work their magic for our clients, helping them eliminate heartburn, bloating, and gas, get a better night’s sleep, and feel more energetic and younger!
We have helped many of our clients who were struggling with autoimmune issues, weight gain, mental health issues, and so much more, and typically, getting the microbiome in check is a huge piece in each of these. It’s incredible to watch health transformations as the microbiome improves.
This is one of our favorite probiotics. It’s potent and effective, and we’ve used it to nurse many microbiomes back to balance. Get a 10% discount here.
And there it is! The top supplements that we recommend for women over 40! Of course, lifestyle and diet play a major role, but incorporating these supplements into your daily routine can support your well-being.
Karen’s Success Story
Take, for instance, Karen, one of our enthusiastic community members. Karen approached us at 42, expressing concern over the subtle shifts in her energy levels and sleep patterns. Following our recommendations, she introduced magnesium into her routine and was soon raving about her improved sleep quality.
She started to have more energy to work out and be more productive, and she lost the extra weight around her belly that made her feel like she wasn’t as young as she once felt. She also included the probiotics and Omega-3s we suggested she try, and she started to feel more balanced, both mentally and physically.
Today, Karen not only looks forward to her supplement regime but has also inspired friends and family to be more proactive about their health. YAY, Karen! You’re taking the right anti-aging supplements to go back to your best self!
If Karen’s story resonates, or you’re pondering the right supplement blend for your unique needs and curious about working with us the way that Karen did, simply fill out this form!
**Always consult your physician before taking any supplements or become our 1:1 client so we can review what works best specifically for you, your body chemistry, hormones, and lifestyle!
