Adults who took a multivitamin improved their memory compared to those who took a placebo, according to a new study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers from Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Harvard Medical School conducted a three-year study to monitor the cognitive effects of taking a daily multivitamin compared to taking a placebo pill, the journal reported.
“Multivitamin supplementation is a safe and accessible approach to maintaining cognitive health in aging,” the study said.
Study details
Associated Press Researchers followed 3,500 people aged 60 or older for three years.
CNN Participants were asked to learn 20 words through a computer program. They were given three seconds to study one word on the screen before another appeared, and were tested on their immediate recall.
The test “measures the function of the hippocampus, which controls learning and memory in the brain,” study leader Adam Brickman told the AP.
“Retested at the end of the first year, the study found that those who continued to take the daily multivitamin were able to remember an average of one more word compared to those who took the placebo,” reports CNN.
He said the cognitive difference between people taking the multivitamin and the placebo pill was “a normal age-related change in memory improvement of about three years.”
The improvement was stronger for participants with a history of cardiovascular disease, Brickman told CNN.
time These benefits were consistent over the course of the study, but did not extend or extend to improvements in other cognitive functions such as reasoning.
the same, Previous study They found greater cognitive benefits for participants who took a daily multivitamin than those who took a placebo.
Dr. Joanne Manson, MD, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who was a researcher on both studies, told TIME, “I think we’re seeing a benefit of multivitamins in general that goes beyond age-related memory loss, a global slowdown.” Cognitive aging based on these two different studies.
Regarding the findings from the two studies, Brickman told CNN, “We’re very excited about this replication because it adds a little more confidence to what we’re looking at.”
“Nutritional supplements will never replace a healthy diet and lifestyle,” Manson told Time, “However, a multivitamin can be a complementary approach, especially in middle-aged and older people — some of whom are beginning to have trouble absorbing nutrients and may be deficient.” Instead of proper nutrition.