A
single multivitamin supplement a day. That makes things simple!
Not everyone likes to take a handful of pills, but using a daily multivitamin supplement makes a lot of sense. It’s basic and
beneficial, especially in terms of getting B
vitamins which are reported to help with cognitive
decline and memory in older folks. Nutrition is important. Johnson Chiropractic encourages our
Richmond chiropractic patients to show us their
daily multivitamin to be sure it has all the proper
minerals and vitamins!
MULTIVITAMIN BENEFIT
Multivitamin supplementation may be quite simple
and yet quite effective. A recent systematic review
of research literature on the effects
of high-dose, B-complex multivitamin supplementation showed support
for the advantage of such supplementation in healthy and
at-risk participants in terms of mental (like felt
stress, concentration, general mental health, reduced
anxiety), physical, and energy outcomes. (1) Daily multivitamin use compared
with placebo increased older adults’ memory. At one-year follow-up, older multivitamin users showed
significantly improved immediate recall. The researchers estimated
that this multivitamin use enhanced memory performance
by the equivalent of 3.1 years of aged-related memory alteration. That’s a worthwhile change! Further,
the researchers reported that participants
still used the multivitamins routinely: 94.4% at 6 months and 91.8%
at 1 year. Not bad! It’s essential
to take the multivitamin every day to get the most
benefit. Blood samples that were obtained in
a subset of participants showed increases in folate,
vitamin B12 and serum 25(OH) vitamin D. One of the study’s co-authors at
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said that “multivitamin
supplementation holds promise as a safe, accessible, and affordable approach to
protecting cognitive health in older adults.” Outcomes for participants who
had a history of cardiovascular disease were higher
than those who didn’t. (2) Another study showed
similar results that taking a multivitamin for 3 years increased
episodic memory, global cognition, and executive function in older adults. Those
with cardiovascular disease seemed to benefit more than those who didn’t have
that. (3) This is encouraging of those with
cardiovascular disease to take a
multivitamin with B vitamins! Johnson Chiropractic and you will have a talk
at your next Richmond chiropractic visit about your
cognition, your age, your multivitamin supplement routine, your multivitamin
quality, and the positives of multivitamin
supplementation for you!
WHAT’S WITH B VITAMINS?
The body utilizes B vitamins to make
new cells, particularly red blood cells. B9 is folate, the
natural form of B9 (as opposed to the synthetic version known as folic acid) the body can use in circulation. Methyltetrahydrofolate
(5-MTHF) is a water-soluble type of natural B9 folate. Look for these. A good multivitamin
with the B vitamins may be your friend! We can talk about yours.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes
the important role of B vitamins in a specific spinal
condition known as myelopathy and its neck and arm pain that may be treated
with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Richmond chiropractic
appointment soon. We’ll discuss how just one
multivitamin a day can benefit you in so many ways like with your memory
and cognition!