5 Underappreciated Nutrients for Women’s Longevity

Author: Douglas S. Kalman PhD, RD, FACN, FISSN

Here’s what women’s bodies actually need as the years add up – not just not what the supplement aisle is selling. 

You’ve no doubt already heard that women tend to live longer than men on average. But that statistical trend doesn’t mean that women should take any aspect of their health for granted. 

An increasing amount of research and real-life experience reinforces the idea that longevity definitely isn't just about years. Let’s face it: We all know someone who seemed to live forever, but whose experience for the last few years… or decades… wasn’t anything we’re eager to replicate. 

Just like men, the biggest-ticket items for women are behavioral: staying active, staying socially connected. But nutrition can be the simplest lever for preserving muscle, protecting the brain, and keeping your cellular machinery running through hormonal shifts that men simply don't experience. These five nutrients have compelling evidence behind them for women's healthspan specifically, and are worth keeping in the daily lineup at all ages.

1. Creatine Monohydrate

Where you get it in your diet: Meat and fish

Creatine has rapidly become the new “it” supplement for women (and everyone else, it seems), and a 2025 review published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Smith-Ryan et al.) laid out the big reasons why: women synthesize roughly 20% less creatine endogenously than men, and they take in 30-40% less through diet on average.¹ That gap has huge consequences for muscle mass, bone density, cognitive function, and mood, and all those often change dramatically (and not very pleasantly) right around perimenopause. 

The review notes that creatine can help blunt the roughly 1.5 lb/year of lean mass women lose during the menopausal transition, especially when combined with strength training. It can improve sleep duration after resistance training days in menstruating women, help support mood, and even support SSRI efficacy. 

With each passing year, another compelling reason comes along for women to take creatine, and another way to take it. Flavorless white powders not your thing? Stickpacks with electrolytes just might be.

2. Glycine

Where you get it in your diet: Meat, fish, dairy, soy

If you hear “amino acids” and think of bodybuilders carrying around neon-colored branched-chain amino acids in gallon jugs, that’s normal. But glycine and lysine – which I’ll discuss next – are aminos of a different type. These two often get confused for one another (or purchased mistakenly), but they serve very different and equally important roles in your body that both have big implications for aging. 

Perhaps most prominently, glycine plays a big role in your body’s production of glutathione, the body's primary internal antioxidant. And emerging research suggests glycine can combat aging and age-related conditions in two ways:

• Decreasing levels of the amino acid methionine, high levels of which are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, dementia, bone fractures, and other age-related diseases and problems.2
• Increasing autophagy, the cellular cleanup process consistently linked to longevity.3

Those are both important, but can also seem a little abstract. But glycine also has a huge benefit that women can feel directly. It helps regulate core body temperature, helping you feeling cool and comfortable at night, which can translate directly into better quality sleep.4 This has made it especially valuable to women who tend to sleep hot, sweat at night, or experience hot flashes during perimenopause.

3. Lysine

Where you get it in your diet: Lean meats, fish, dairy, soy

Sense a trend here? Many of the nutrients women need most as they age come from the foods they’re statistically known to eat least: red meats, organ meats, and animal proteins. This isn’t anyone’s fault; it’s expensive and time-consuming to hit the protein target of a twenty-something gym bro, to say nothing of the environmental and ethical questions. Suffice it to say, this is exactly the sort of gap that supplements are designed to fill. 

Lysine is an essential amino (meaning your body doesn’t make it on its own) and is the most abundant amino in collagen. This means it contributes significantly to collagen production and calcium absorption, both of which become increasingly relevant as bone density and connective tissue integrity decline after menopause.

You may have heard that collagen production itself decreases at roughly 1-1.5% per year with age, but what you may not have realized is that this is a compounding deficit – meaning it grows more severe every year. This has big implications for skin health and appearance, but also joint, bone density, and every woman’s ability to stay active and mobile.

Let’s not forget, after all, what the second biggest cause of injury death is for older men and women alike is after car crashes. It’s falls. Consuming adequate quantities of the amino acids in collagen, like lysine and glycine, can help to build a dam against this nutritional leak.

[Get all of these aging essentials, plus your electrolytes, in TruSpan Daily Longevity Complex powder or stickpacks]

4. Vitamin K2

Where you get it in your diet: Fermented foods, dark meats, dairy

Vitamin K2 does so many things in the body, it’s hard to pinpoint just one. But perhaps most relevant to women’s longevity, it tells calcium where to go.

K2 activates proteins that direct calcium into bone and teeth, and away from arterial walls, where calcium deposits contribute to vascular stiffening and cardiovascular risk.5 That combination makes it uniquely valuable for postmenopausal women, who face simultaneous increases in osteoporosis risk and cardiovascular disease risk as estrogen declines.

A meta-analysis of over 6,000 postmenopausal women found K2 supplementation significantly improved lumbar spine bone mineral density, and a separate three-year RCT found it helped to decrease age-related bone loss, while a placebo group continued declining.5

And surprisingly, bone and cardiovascular health are more connected than most people realize. Loss of bone mineral density has been associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in multiple large studies.6 K2 addresses both sides of that equation.

5. L-theanine

Stress doesn’t just bother you. It actually ages you. Chronic stress accelerates biological aging through cortisol dysregulation and oxidative damage, and women are known to face disproportionate exposure to stress across the lifespan. It’s a sad truth that should surprise no one. 

One supplement that has shown serious potential to help combat stress is the amino acid L-theanine, found in abundance in green tea. In a placebo-controlled crossover trial, 200mg/day of L-theanine for four weeks reduced depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance scores. It also boosted verbal fluency and executive function compared to placebo – welcome news for any woman struggling with “brain fog.” ⁷ 

Animal studies have shown the potential for long-term l-theanine supplementation to translate into longer life and reduced cognitive dysfunction. And although we’re still waiting on human studies to be able to confidently say the same, we can confidently  conclude based on the research that L-theanine contributes to: 

• Improved focus
• Improved rest and sleep quality

And as an added bonus, it’s a supplement that many people report they can actually feel working, with a sense of calm and clarity landing around 30-45 minutes after taking a dose.