Multivitamins and cognitive decline
Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of dementia affect millions, and as with many chronic illnesses there’s no effective pharmaceutical intervention. I doubt there’s anyone reading who hasn’t been burdened by these horrible diseases in their own family.
So I’m thankful to see this study seeking effective, safe strategies to reduce cognitive decline. It confirms that low cost nutrition interventions can improve or protect our cognitive function.
The results were significant. The adults studied were followed for 3 years and appeared to have slowed their cognitive ageing by 60%!
Could we do even better?
While the research was carried out on adults over 65, I think it’s obvious we can do the best for our brain health by starting as early as possible.
The more we strive for optimal nutrient intakes, the better we’re protected against ill health.
The study used a multi from the Centrum brand. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but you can get much, much better.
So imagine the good you’ll do by taking a high quality multivitamin, starting as early as possible, and being consistent!
And of course by combining supplementing with better food, and lifestyle interventions which I'll discuss more at the end.
Here’s a comparison of a few key ingredients, in Centrum’s multi ('C') vs Pollution Protection Daily Multi ('PP'):
The B Vitamins are likely a main reason for the improvements seen in the study. It‘s definitely important to increase our folate, B12 and B6 intake as we age, to avoid cardiovascular and cognitive disease.
Other quality considerations when choosing a supplement
Like many tablets, the Centrum multi includes bulking or binding agents, colours, and gelatine.
In contrast, City Survivor vegetarian capsules are filled only with the active ingredients, no fillers or colours.
Pollution Protection is a smart formulation. Instead of including tiny amounts of the bulky minerals calcium and magnesium, you instead benefit from premium nutrients in better amounts, for:
- energy
- brain health
- antioxidant protection, key to protecting our cells from damage and premature ageing.
Extra nutrients found in Pollution Protection include CoQ10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, N-Acetyl-Cysteine and Vitamin K2.
Why we benefit from supplements
In the modern world, there’s a nutrient gap between what our bodies need and what we provide them with. Here are a few of the factors contributing to this:
Modern food
However hard we try, modern diets inevitably include ultra processed foods, convenience food, sweets and salty snacks. Causing both a lack in nutrient intake, and an added pressure on the body’s detoxification processes.
Farming
When we cook fresh food, the quality isn’t always as it should be.
Fresh fruit and vegetables have lower nutrient content due to soil issues.
Pesticides add another toxic burden.
Intensively farmed animal products are less nutritious and contain unhealthy fats, while vegan alternatives are often ultra-processed or lacking in protein.
Poor digestion
With age, or medication, poor digestion means we get less Vitamin B12 which impacts cognitive & cardiovascular health. Stress also leads to poor digestion.
Environmental stress
Our bodies simply have too much chemical input to contend with, increasing our need for nutrition to cope.
This all sounds a bit alarmist, but these factors contribute to the increase in chronic ill health. It’s not a random occurrence that we see so much cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cardiovascular disease; it’s all related to lifestyle.
But the good news is we can take back control in many areas:
improving our food
topping up with supplements
and reducing chemicals in the home.
