What are the best supplements for perimenopause?

In the UK, start with the vitamin D advice (10 micrograms a day), calcium from food (700 mg a day), enough protein, and two portions of fish a week. Those carry authorised claims and the largest trials. Beyond that, the case for any particular supplement in perimenopause is specific, and this page says where it is thin.

• Vitamin D at 10 micrograms (400 IU) a day is the UK advice for all adults, with no separate figure for perimenopause. Some people are advised to take it all year.
• EPA and DHA contribute to normal heart function from 250 mg combined a day. That is a claim condition, and two portions of fish a week, one oily, covers most people without a capsule.
• No authorised health claim links any food supplement to a menopause symptom, and this page does not cover symptom questions.

How this page answers the question

There is no single best supplement for perimenopause. The useful starting point is whether you are meeting UK advice for a few nutrients that matter more in this window, and whether your diet or a diagnosed deficiency leaves a specific gap.

In Great Britain a food supplement may only make health claims that are on the authorised register, and it may not claim to act on a medical condition. So the shortlist below is built from two things: nutrients with an authorised claim relevant to what changes in perimenopause, and the trial evidence behind them. Where the evidence is thin, the page says so.

The short list

Vitamin D. Contributes to the maintenance of normal bones, to normal muscle function and to the normal function of the immune system. UK advice is 10 micrograms a day, printed on labels as 400 IU, which everyone is advised to consider from October to March, and which people who get little sun or have darker skin are advised to take all year [5]. There is no separate UK figure for perimenopause. Our vitamin D page has the detail.

Calcium. Is needed for the maintenance of normal bones. The UK reference nutrient intake for adults is 700 mg a day [6]; the 800 mg on labels is the European labelling value. Food is the better route: a pint of milk, or its equivalent in yoghurt, cheese, tinned fish with bones, calcium-fortified plant milks or leafy greens [6]. Supplement the gap, not the whole amount.

EPA and DHA. Contribute to the normal function of the heart, with the claim conditioned on 250 mg of the two combined per day. Cardiovascular risk rises for women across the menopausal transition, which is why they are on the list. UK advice is at least two portions of fish a week, one of them oily [7], and that covers most people without a capsule. If you supplement, compare the EPA and DHA per daily dose on the back of the pack rather than the oil weight on the front; our omega-3 page explains how.

Protein. Contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass and of normal bones. A consensus group recommends 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg of body weight a day for adults over 65, and more for those who exercise [8]; that range is commonly applied to midlife as well. This is a food question before it is a supplement question, and a powder is only a convenience.

What the bone trials show

Because calcium and vitamin D carry the two clearest claims, it is worth being precise about their limits. The largest trial gave 36,282 postmenopausal women 1,000 mg of calcium with 400 IU of vitamin D3 for an average of seven years. Hip bone density was 1.06 per cent higher. Hip fracture was not significantly reduced, and kidney stone risk rose [1]. A meta-analysis across eight trials reported relative reductions of 15 per cent in total fractures and 30 per cent in hip fractures [2], drawing partly on a subgroup of that same trial. Both are trials in postmenopausal, not perimenopausal, women.

So: worth reaching the reference intakes. Not a guarantee against fracture.

Tested for bone density, with no benefit found

Vitamin K2. Three years at 375 micrograms a day, on top of calcium and vitamin D, in postmenopausal women with osteopenia: a bone marker shifted, but bone density and bone structure did not differ from placebo [4].

Creatine alone. Two years at 3 g a day in 200 postmenopausal women: no difference from placebo on bone density, lean mass, muscle function, falls or fractures [3]. Added to supervised resistance training the picture is different, and our creatine page covers it.

What this page does not cover

You will notice this page does not cover the symptom-led questions readers most often ask. That is deliberate. HerStack is published and edited by Suggestic Inc, and our editorial policy applies voluntary restrictions on supplement claims beyond what the law requires, so we leave out some claims even where they might otherwise be permitted. No authorised health claim links any food supplement to a menopause symptom.

If a symptom is affecting your life, that is a GP conversation, and for many women HRT is the intervention with the strongest evidence for the common symptoms of the transition.

Where to start

Vitamin D per the UK advice, calcium from food with a supplement only for the shortfall, two portions of fish a week or a capsule chosen by its EPA and DHA content, and protein across the day. Alongside those, resistance and impact exercise, which our exercise page covers with its sources.

Published by: Suggestic Inc, herstack.co.uk. The HerStack editors. 2026-09-26. This page has not been reviewed by a clinician.