Daily multivitamin improves memory in older adults, study finds

The effect of a daily multivitamin on memory in the study seemed stronger in people with heart diseasefound the researchers.

These people started the study with poorer memory performance, but after a year of taking the multivitamin, their memory was similar to that of people without heart disease.

This suggests that the multivitamin fills nutrient gaps in a person’s diet, according to the authors. Other research found that some people with cardiovascular disease may be deficient in certain micronutrients.

The results show average changes, so some people taking a daily multivitamin saw greater memory improvements, and others less.

Taking a daily multivitamin does not appear to improve other types of brain function such as memory retention, recognition of a novel object, and executive function — the ability to plan, concentrate, and juggle multiple tasks.

A limitation of the study is that the majority of participants were white and more educated. The results may therefore not apply to other groups.

“I would feel more comfortable if these results were replicated in a more generalizable cohort,” Marc A. EspelandPhD, professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told Healthline.

The study authors point out that the memory improvements experienced by the multivitamin group are small and therefore may not be noticed by people.

However, “even small effect sizes can lead to large population-level health benefits,” they wrote. Also, a daily multivitamin is relatively inexpensive, they added, and could be taken by most people.

Espeland said the findings are consistent with findings from a separate COSMOS studypublished in 2022, in which he participated.

In this study, which involved more than 2,200 seniors, he and his colleagues found that people who took a daily multivitamin saw improvements in their overall cognition, memory, and executive functions.

As with the new study, the effect was stronger in people with cardiovascular disease, which is a dementia risk factor.

In a separate space paper From the COSMOS study, published earlier this year, Espeland and his colleagues also found that a daily multivitamin seemed to help people who developed dementia during the study.

“Among people who progressed from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, if they used multivitamins, the decrease [in overall cognition and executive function] seemed to be less,” he told Healthline.

“This potentially indicates that these multivitamins could provide benefits even to people with [cognitive] illness,” he added.

Espeland warns that more studies are needed before widely recommending a daily multivitamin for the elderly, especially as others research found no benefit of a daily multivitamin on cognitive outcomes.

Many factors influence memory and other cognitive abilities. A key element is food.

In the new study, the researchers assessed people’s eating habits at the start – the two groups were similar to the average american diet. Accordingly, they do not believe that diet affected the average memory changes observed in the two groups.

Some clinical trials have shown that dietary interventions can improve memory. For example, the SPIRIT Dietwhich was developed by researchers at RUSH University, was related to better cognitive performance in the elderly.

This diet is a hybrid of Mediterranean And DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

Holland said he expects dietary interventions such as the MIND diet to have a greater impact on cognition than multivitamins. However, taking a pill every day can still be helpful, he added, especially given the high cost of fresh fish, berries and other nutrient-dense foods.

“In a multivitamin, you’re not going to get the same amount and quality of vitamins and minerals that you would get in a broad nutrient diet,” he said, “but you fill in the gap in some of these potentials [micronutrient] deficiencies. »

Plus, “if you’re not going to change your diet, bridging with a supplement isn’t a bad idea,” he says.

He also pointed out that a healthy diet is just one way to reduce your risk of age-related cognitive problems. It’s also important to have “physical activity, socialization, cognitive activities, as well as the quantity and quality of sleep,” he said.

New research shows a modest short-term cognitive benefit from taking a daily multivitamin, and subjects with heart disease who took a daily vitamin saw the greatest improvements in memory.

More rigorous studies are needed to determine whether multivitamin use impacts long-term cognitive function.

Multivitamins may provide general health benefits when taken in conjunction with a healthy, wholesome diet. Balanced diet.

When considering multivitamins, remember that dietary supplements are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safety or effectiveness. Ask your healthcare team about adding a daily multivitamin to your health regimen to determine if it’s right for you.