Which calcium figure applies after menopause?

Follow the figure used by the service that treats you. UK guidance keeps one adult amount through the menopause years. US guidance is higher for women from 51 to 70, to lessen bone loss after the last period. The result shows both, which helps if a clinic letter uses the other country's number.

Can I get enough calcium without dairy?

Sardines eaten with the bones, tofu set with a calcium salt, and a fortified plant drink can make up the day. Read the packet: many organic plant drinks are not fortified, and tofu counts only when a calcium salt set the curd. Treat kale as an extra. Greens high in oxalate are a weak main source.

Do I need a vitamin D test?

Ordering a blood test is a GP decision. Public advice here is a daily amount, with a supplement to consider through the darker months. Take questions about a bone-density result, kidney stones or poor absorption to that same appointment.

Weight and diet

Calcium and vitamin D checker

Add today's portions and compare estimated calcium with the NHS 700 mg target and the US 1,200 mg target, then see how a vitamin D supplement compares.

By Ines Kovac. Published 20 October 2026. 7 minute read.

Summarize with:

A clear glass bottle of milk on a wooden table, beside a small white jug, a bowl of brown eggs, and a blue-striped cloth.

Once periods have stopped, clinics quote two calcium targets, and it is hard to tell which one today's meals reach. The NHS calcium page says adults aged 19 to 64 need 700 mg a day. The NIH consumer fact sheet lists 1,200 mg a day for women aged 51 to 70.

Tick the portions below and the form adds them up. A vitamin D supplement is compared with 10 micrograms (400 IU) a day, which is the adult amount the NHS vitamin D page gives. NIAMS cites 600 IU up to age 70 and 800 IU after 70. These totals are estimates from published portion averages, not a diagnosis or a prescription.

Meals for weight, bones and heart are covered in Diet and menopause: weight, bones and heart.

Add today's portions

Bone health after menopause

Women lose bone rapidly in the first few years after menopause, and their risk of osteoporosis is higher than men's (NHS: osteoporosis). Bone loss remains rapid for several years once the ovaries stop producing oestrogen (NHS: food for strong bones).

Calcium, vitamin D, diet and exercise help slow that loss.

How much calcium after menopause

The NHS page gives one figure for adults from 19 to 64. That same amount is what it uses in the menopause years. The NIH professional fact sheet raises the allowance for women older than 50, from 1,000 mg in younger adult women, to lessen bone loss after the last period. The consumer table and the NIAMS page linked above both list that higher amount for ages 51 to 70.

If your care is outside the UK, use the calcium target your own clinician follows. The total is shown next to both the NHS target and the US target.

Calcium is absorbed best at 500 mg or less at one time, so split a large supplement across the day. The box under the food list is for milligrams from tablets or powder. The NHS warns that more than 1,500 mg a day, meals and tablets together, could lead to stomach pain and diarrhoea. For adults 51 and older, the US upper intake is 2,000 mg a day, with tablets counted as well as meals.

Vitamin D for menopause

Consider a daily supplement in autumn and winter. In those months the sun is often too weak for the skin to make that UK amount. US guidance changes with age: 600 IU (15 micrograms) through age 70, and 800 IU (20 micrograms) after 70. Pick the band that matches your age. The form records a supplement only. Meals and time outdoors are left out of the vitamin D total.

Calcium foods: add today's portions

Each row is one portion from the British Dietetic Association calcium sheet. Enter how many of those portions you had today. Use a whole number from 0 to 20, and leave a food at 0 if you did not have it. Brands vary.

Calcium portions today

200 ml milk, any type (240 mg) portions

150 g plain yoghurt (240 mg) portions

30 g Cheddar, a matchbox-sized piece (222 mg) portions

Half a tin of sardines with bones, 60 g (240 mg) portions

100 g uncooked tofu (300 mg if set with calcium chloride, E509, or calcium sulphate, E516) portions

Count this row only when the label names one of those setting salts.

100 ml calcium-fortified plant drink portions

The sum uses 155 mg for this row, the middle of the 120 to 190 mg range per 100 ml. Many organic plant drinks are not fortified. If your carton is far from 155 mg, treat this line as a rough count and use the label.

100 g boiled kale (150 mg) portions

The British Dietetic Association says not to rely on high-oxalate greens as your main calcium sources.

Calcium from supplements today

Milligrams from tablets or powder mg

Enter 0 if you took none. The box accepts 0 to 2,000. A dose over 500 mg is better split, as described above.

Vitamin D today No supplement today 10 microgram supplement (the UK daily amount) 25 microgram tablet Another amount, in micrograms

Micrograms on the label mcg

Age band for the US vitamin D amount 51 to 70 Over 70

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The total appears here as you enter portions.

How the totals are worked out

The milligrams beside each portion are averages from the British Dietetic Association sheet. Brands differ, especially for fortified plant drinks and tofu. When the carton and the row disagree, use the carton. If the total is within 25 mg of a target, the result treats that target as met. The same 25 mg margin applies to the US target.

Targets come from the NHS calcium and vitamin D pages, the NIH consumer and professional calcium sheets, and the NIAMS osteoporosis page. This is general information. For osteoporosis, kidney stones or trouble absorbing food, talk to a GP or a dietitian.

A day that meets one target and misses the other

Milk (200 ml), plain yoghurt (150 g) and Cheddar (30 g) come to 240 mg, 240 mg and 222 mg. Together that is 702 mg. That roughly meets the NHS target. It is 498 mg below the US 1,200 mg target for women aged 51 to 70.

Half a tin of sardines with the bones, 60 g, adds 240 mg. That brings the daily total to 942 mg, which is still short of the US target. Add 100 g of tofu set with calcium chloride or calcium sulphate (300 mg), and the daily total reaches 1,242 mg.

What else helps bones

The NHS bone page includes exercise along with diet. More on meals is in the weight and diet topic. Hormone replacement therapy for menopause explains the treatment. Questions for a first visit are in how to start HRT: what to ask your GP. When periods stop early, read Early menopause: signs, causes and treatment.

My take

I would start with the portions eaten today, and I would skip a calcium tablet until that total is in front of me. In the UK I would aim for the NHS target. If a bone-density report used the higher US figure, I would look at that gap as well. I would keep any single calcium tablet at or under 500 mg.