More data suggests multivitamins can delay cognitive decline.

Taking a daily multivitamin tablet could help prevent reductions in certain elements of cognition, at least for a few years, based on the sufficient research that has already been published on the topic. However, I was also aware that more extensive and superior research was almost finished and would probably offer a more reliable response. They have now. The latest study you're referring to was most likely organized at Harvard and involved medical centers across the country. A randomized controlled trial was the ideal sort of study for assessing the efficacy of a treatment: some patients were randomly assigned to take the multivitamin pill, while others were assigned to take an identical-looking placebo. And, until the study's conclusion, neither the subjects nor the research team knew who had taken the multivitamins.

The latest study, published in the January 2024 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included participants aged 60 and up. In many ways, it outperforms previous investigations. It included more people (almost 5,000), monitored participants for longer periods of time (more than two years), and tested cognitive capacities more precisely—both before and after they began taking multivitamins. Two components of cognition known to predict the later development of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia were assessed: global cognition and episodic memory. Because both of these indicators naturally drop with age, the study sought to determine whether people who took multivitamins experienced a slower decline than those who took a placebo.

Indeed, those taking multivitamins had lower declines in both of these cognitive tests over two years than those taking a placebo. This was observed consistently in all groups of people, regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity, weight, diet, or pre-study cognitive ability. There were no side effects reported from using multivitamins.

Based on the findings of this study, taking a daily multivitamin pill delays age-related cognitive loss for at least two years in people aged 60 and up. However, many essential questions remain unanswered. Will this benefit continue if people take multivitamins for more than two years? Do regular multivitamins lessen the chance of developing dementia? How do multivitamins achieve their beneficial effects? The tablet used in this study comprised more than 20 vitamins and minerals; are only a few of them responsible for the beneficial effect? These questions can only be solved through research. We need the answers.

Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA