A pair of studies confirm concerns by many health experts that the Baby Boomer generation in America and their elders isn't receiving adequate daily nutrition. The problem: As older Americans reduce how much food they eat every day, their intake of basic nutrients that keeps their minds and bodies healthy for the long haul falls too.

Even more worrisome, that one nutritional variable may contribute to health complications down the road, ballooning America's estimated health costs alone for Baby Boomers over age 65 by 2030 to some $16 trillion.

Considering an estimated 70 million Americans will hit their retirement years by 2030, what experts consider a healthcare crisis today could be a mere bump in the road compared to what looms ahead.

However, this damaging trend can be reversed to some degree, according to a study by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance.

Increasing the intake of calcium with vitamin D, folic acid and lutein (with zeaxanthin) among seniors could save more than $24 billion in America's health care costs over a five-year period.

Dietary Supplement Information Bureau March 10, 2009

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Vol. 109, No. 3, March 2009, p. 422-429