Older adults who take multivitamins every day can improve their memory and slow cognitive aging, a new study finds.
Data was derived from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), a large-scale, nationwide, randomized trial that tested cocoa extract and multivitamin supplements led by researchers at Mass General Brigham. In the study published Thursday in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 573 participants ages 60 and up had in-person assessments.
“Cognitive decline is among the top health concerns for most older adults, and a daily supplement of multivitamins has the potential as an appealing and accessible approach to slow cognitive aging,” Chirag Vyas, first author and instructor in investigation at the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a statement.
The researchers say there’s a modest benefit for cognition in those taking a multivitamin compared to people taking a placebo. In fact, it can slow cognitive aging by about two years. People who took a multivitamin showed a statistically significant benefit for changes in episodic memory, but not in executive function/attention.
The team also conducted a meta-analysis based on the three separate studies, and those showed strong evidence of benefits for both global cognition and episodic memory in people taking a multivitamin. The team gave participants Centrum Silver vitamins.
“The meta-analysis of three separate cognition studies provides strong and consistent evidence that taking a daily multivitamin, containing more than 20 essential micronutrients, helps prevent memory loss and slow down cognitive aging.” Olivia Okereke, MD, senior author of the report and director of geriatric psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, added “These findings will garner attention among many older adults who are, understandably, very interested in ways to preserve brain health, as they provide evidence for the role of a daily multivitamin in supporting better cognitive aging.”
