Vitamin Needs for Women

If a woman has an ideal diet, she won't need to take vitamins. According to the Mayo Clinic, vitamins and dietary supplements are meant to complement your diet, not be a substitute for food. Taking a vitamin cannot replicate the nutrients and other benefits that you derive from eating food, such as vegetables and fruits; however, vitamins are necessary if you aren't eating enough or are eating the wrong things.

High Risk

• Women who especially need to take vitamins include those who are pregnant, are postmenopausal, experience heavy bleeding during their menstrual periods, are vegetarians or consume less than 1,600 calories a day, according to the July 2009 Special Report on Vitamins and Minerals, a supplement to the July issue of the Mayo Clinic's Women's Health Source.

The Sunshine Vitamin

• Older people, in particular, typically don't get enough sun exposure, which can result in vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is nicknamed the sunshine vitamin because the body produces this vitamin when exposed to the sun. Taking vitamin D with calcium can slow down or even prevent osteoporosis, which is porous bone disease. Postmenopausal women run a high risk of getting osteoporosis because they no longer produce estrogen. Strong bones will prevent bone fractures. The Mayo Clinic notes that new research has discovered that vitamin D also reduces the risk of autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, as well as reducing muscle weakness and pain, certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. Postmenopausal women are as likely to develop a cardiovascular disease as men, even though premenopausal women are much less likely to have heart disease.

Vitamin C

• Vitamin C, when derived from food, can lower cancer and heart disease rates; however, whether vitamin C supplements provide equal benefits remains unclear. If you take vitamin C with zinc and other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, this may slow down age related macular degeneration.

Niacin

• Niacin, which is one of the complex of B vitamins, helps convert food to energy. Niacin also helps improve cholesterol levels as well as circulation. If taken in high doses, it can lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, and triglycerides as well as raise HDL, or good cholesterol. Unfortunately, high doses of niacin or more than 1,000 mg per day can cause liver damage.

Questions About Vitamin E

• Vitamin E may not provide benefits equal to that of dietary sources, according to the Mayo Clinic, and may be harmful if too much is taken. Vitamin E supplements may increase the chance of heart failure or even be fatal. However, diets that are replete with antioxidants, of which vitamin E is one, are believed to lower the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Discuss this with your physician and get her input and suggestions.

Folic Acid

• If a woman intends to get pregnant, or if a woman is sexually active and could get pregnant, she should be taking folic acid, which is a B vitamin that is utilized by the body to manufacture DNA. According to Health.state.ny.us, folic acid can prevent birth defects (neural tube defects) but only if being taken during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Neural tube defects include spina bifida, which means the opening of the spine, and anecephaly, where the brain fails to develop. To protect your future fetus, take 0.4 mg folic acid daily. Folic rich foots include green vegetables, navy beans, kidney beans, lentil, garbanzo beans, orange juice, rice, pasta, enriched bread and fortified cereals.