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Calcium for women 51 and over
Nine hundred and fifty milligrams a day — EFSA does not raise the calcium figure after the menopause. That surprises people, because bone loss accelerates sharply at exactly that point. The explanation is that the reference intake is not the lever.
EFSA note on this row: unchanged after the menopause
These are published population reference values, not a diagnosis and not a prescription. A reference intake describes what covers a healthy group; it cannot tell you your own status, and no page can. Pregnancy, chronic illness, medicines and malabsorption all change the picture — take those questions to a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or dietitian.
Why the number does not go up
Bone loss after the menopause is driven by the fall in oestrogen, which increases the rate at which bone is broken down. It is a change in bone turnover, not a change in how much calcium the diet must supply, and eating more calcium does not switch it off. EFSA therefore keeps 950 mg a day for women over 25 regardless of menopausal status.
That is a statement about the population reference value. Clinical guidelines for people diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis often specify calcium and vitamin D intakes as part of treatment, and those are different documents answering a different question.
Iron drops at the same moment, and calcium does not
One number does change at the menopause: iron falls from 16 mg to 11 mg a day, because menstrual losses stop. It is worth noticing that the two move independently, since supplements marketed for this life stage often bundle them.
A woman past the menopause still taking a supplement designed around the premenopausal iron figure is taking more iron than her reference intake calls for, with no corresponding change in her calcium requirement.
Vitamin D is the companion, and here it is the harder one
Calcium absorption depends on vitamin D, and vitamin D is the nutrient that is genuinely difficult to obtain at these latitudes for half the year. If bone health is the concern, vitamin D status is usually the more actionable half of the pair, along with weight-bearing exercise and strength work.
Falls prevention belongs in the same conversation: most fractures in this age group happen because someone fell, and muscle strength, balance, eyesight and medication review all bear on that more than a calcium tablet does.
When to involve a clinician
A fracture after a minor fall, a measurable loss of height, a family history of hip fracture, long-term corticosteroid use, or an early menopause are all reasons to have bone health assessed properly rather than managed with a supplement. Bone density measurement and fracture risk assessment exist for exactly this.
How this compares with every other group
| Group | Reference value | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infants 7-11 months | 280 mg | AI | |
| Children 1-3 years | 450 mg | PRI | |
| Children 4-6 years | 800 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 4-10 years |
| Children 7-10 years | 800 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 4-10 years |
| Children 11-14 years | 1 150 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 11-17 years |
| Boys 15-17 years | 1 150 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 11-17 years |
| Girls 15-17 years | 1 150 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 11-17 years |
| Men 19-50 | 950 mg | PRI | 1 000 mg for ages 18-24 |
| Women 19-50 | 950 mg | PRI | 1 000 mg for ages 18-24 |
| Men 51 and over | 950 mg | PRI | |
| Women 51 and over | 950 mg | PRI | unchanged after the menopause |
| Adults 65 and over | 950 mg | PRI | |
| Pregnancy | 950 mg | PRI | no increase in pregnancy |
| Breastfeeding | 950 mg | PRI | no increase while breastfeeding |
Ordinary food against the 950 mg figure for women 51 and over
Top of this list: Tofu, 350 mg in a 100 g serving (a slab) — 37% of the 950 mg figure for women 51 and over. It would take about 3 of those to cover a full day from that one food, which is why a real diet spreads it across several rows.
| Food | Ordinary portion | Per portion | Share of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tofu † | a slab, 100 g | 350 mg | 37% |
| Skim milk | a glass, 200 g | 244 mg | 26% |
| 2% milk | a glass, 200 g | 240 mg | 25% |
| Canned sockeye salmon | half a tin, 100 g | 232 mg | 24% |
| Sardines | half a tin, 60 g | 229 mg | 24% |
| Whole milk | a glass, 200 g | 226 mg | 24% |
| Cheddar cheese | 2 slices, 30 g | 213 mg | 22% |
| Kale | a large handful, 80 g | 203 mg | 21% |
| Yogurt | a small pot, 150 g | 182 mg | 19% |
| Cottage cheese | a small tub, 150 g | 167 mg | 18% |
| Greek yogurt | a small pot, 150 g | 165 mg | 17% |
| Soybeans | a portion, cooked, 150 g | 153 mg | 16% |
† The calcium in tofu comes from the setting agent. Tofu set with a calcium salt is a strong calcium source; tofu set with magnesium chloride (nigari) carries a fraction of it.
Portion sizes are ordinary household servings chosen for this table, not official reference portions, and the shortlist is an editorial one: everyday foods eaten in this region rather than the highest per-100 g entries in the database. A raw per-100 g ranking would be topped by dried herbs, drink powders and fortified breakfast cereals, which answers a different question. The composition data is American, so where US fortification practice differs from European practice the row carries a dagger and the reason. For the full per-100 g ranking of a nutrient, the food-data section of this site publishes one.
The whole nutrient, not just this group
The Calcium reference intake page carries the full age and sex table, the upper level, and what the value type means.
Related pages
Sources: EFSA Dietary Reference Values · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (food composition) · EFSA scientific opinion on dietary reference values for calcium (2015) · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
How much calcium after the menopause?
EFSA population reference intake stays at 950 mg a day. It is not raised after the menopause, because postmenopausal bone loss is driven by falling oestrogen rather than by calcium intake.
Do I need a calcium supplement after the menopause?
Not automatically. Clinical guidelines specify calcium and vitamin D for people being treated for osteoporosis, but that is a treatment decision made with a clinician after assessment.
Does the iron requirement change after the menopause?
Yes. It falls from 16 mg a day to 11 mg, the same as for men, because menstrual losses stop.
Turn a reference value into your own week
TempoLife adds up what you actually ate, so you can see how a real week sits against the figure on this page.