Who remembers when they were a kid and your parent made sure you got your Chocks or Flintstone vitamins every morning before school? Mom and Dad would likely be gulping down their One-A-Days with coffee at the same time. So now that we are over 50 do we still need a multivitamin every day? Most resources say that as long as you have a balanced diet (do you?) it’s probably not necessary.
But hold up, a fresh new study out of Columbia University has found that taking a multivitamin daily can actually prevent memory loss. Since memory loss is a hot topic among folks in their later years, this study immediately caught my interest.
Columbia University neuropsychologist Adam Brickman headed the randomized controlled trial which studied more than 3,500 people over age sixty who took a multivitamin or placebo every day for three years. Study participants were given a memory test yearly. Those who took vitamins did not experience the age-related memory loss typically expected over that period of time.
The Columbia study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shared very similar results with another large scale study undertaken by scientists from Harvard and Wake Forest Universities. So the takeaway is that recent scientific studies results suggest you might want to pop that morning multivitamin into your mouth!
But which one to choose? So many choices out there! I read up on vitamins for seniors and found that because there are differences in our nutrient needs as we age, many vitamin manufacturers offer gender specific formulations for people over age 50. Whatever you do, please be aware that more of a good thing may not be a good thing! Ingesting too much of a supplement can be harmful, so don’t take more than the recommended amount. If you have any serious health conditions or concerns you will probably want to talk with your health care provider before you add a new supplement to your daily routine.
Nice article! I tend to gravitate toward the plant based (more natural I suppose) vitamins. They seem to require taking more capsules though. I find them easier on the stomach and they have seemed to be helpful for me. I also take various versions of mushrooms and as folks may be aware, Lions Mane mushrooms are purported to improve memory too :) Be well.