UNLOCK THE SECRETS TO A SHARPER MIND with the latest study on the relationship between multivitamins and memory. This essay explores how you might elevate your cognitive prowess. We explore the use of vitamins and memory.
Daily multivitamin supplementation is linked to memory and cognition benefits, according to a 2024 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study.
I want to live a long life but prioritize quality. For me, preserving memory and cognition is a major goal. So, this study immediately caught my attention.
Introduction
A new study, recently published online, reports that daily multivitamin supplementation was beneficial for both global cognition and episodic memory.
Let’s begin with some definitions.
What is global cognition? And episodic memory?
- Global cognition refers to the overall status of our cognition.
- Episodic memory is a type of long-term memory that involves conscious recollection of previous experiences and their context in terms of time, place, associated emotions, etc.
Let’s turn to the new, provocative study.
Context
The new study is the third in a series from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS).
The COSMOS is studying whether flavanols — a natural compound commonly found in foods and drinks such as cocoa, grapes, and teas — or multivitamins reduce the risk for health conditions such as:
- heart disease
- stroke
- cancer
- cognitive decline
Design
For the latest study, researchers analyzed a COMSMOS subset of 573 participants aged 60 or older. They called this group the “COSMOS-Clinic.”
All subjects had in-person cognitive assessments at baseline and two years.
Chirag Vyas, MBBS, MPH, and colleagues also conducted a meta-analysis of more than 5,000 nonoverlapping participants across the three substudies “to evaluate the strength of evidence.”
Global cognition
Here are the results of the analysis of the latest COSMOS-Clinic cohort:
Among COSMOS-Clinic participants, multivitamin supplementation had “modest” beneficial effects on global cognition scores over two years, compared with a placebo.
Memory
However, the analysis of episodic memory scores appeared more impressive:
Multivitamin supplementation was associated with a significant positive change in episodic memory.
Multivitamin use did not lead to improvements in executive functioning or attention.
Here is how Harvard defines executive functioning: The mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.
Results (combined studies)
When researchers combined data from all three COSMOS studies, they found strong evidence that global cognition and episodic memory had improved with multivitamin use.
The study authors made this estimate:
Daily supplementation delayed cognitive aging by about two years compared to those who had received a placebo rather than a multivitamin.
Take a multivitamin?
We need confirmatory studies that are in larger and more diverse populations.
Only two percent of the COSMOS-Clinic population was non-white in the multivitamin group (and five percent in the placebo cohort).
The Alzheimer’s Association offers that while the results are encouraging, the organization does not recommend widespread multivitamin use to prevent cognitive decline.
Encouraging
But the results are encouraging.
And given the pills are affordable and easy to obtain, you can count me in. Centrum Silver has been my go-to multivitamin for a while, as my diet could be more ideally balanced.
And you? What is your approach? I recommend discussing any supplements you take with a valued primary care provider.
Sexton further advised that people speak with their healthcare providers about the benefits and risks of dietary supplements, including multivitamins, noting that obtaining nutrients through a balanced diet is only sometimes possible.
Thoughts – Vitamins and memory
According to this study, daily multivitamin supplementation slowed cognitive aging in more than 570 participants.
I want to call out a potential conflict of interest. As I recall, the vitamin manufacturer supplied Centrum Silver for the COSMOS study.
Issues
But are other multivitamin supplements as effective? I suspect so, but we don’t know with certainty.
The clinical trial also had relatively low ethnic and racial diversity, limiting the broad generalizability of the research findings.
Finally, the study length is fairly short, at only two years. It would be nice to have longer follow-up when assessing cognition.
Lifestyle – Vitamins and memory
Oh, one more thing: Think of multivitamins as supportive of other lifestyle interventions.
Don’t forget to:
- maintain a balanced diet
- get sufficient sleep
- engage in physical activity
- not drink excessively or smoke
- maintain a good weight
- have social interactions
- see your primary healthcare provider regularly.
Here is what I recently wrote in Medium about reducing your dementia risk:
Master Your Mind: 20 Strategies to Slash Dementia Risk
TODAY, I OFFER 20 DEMENTIA RISK-REDUCING MANEUVERS, many backed by strong evidence. You will discover some hacks to…medium.com
Thank you for reading “Vitamins and Memory.”
