The researchers monitored many groups of men, women and children who were healthy and took multivitamins over a period of 4 to 12 weeks on a daily basis. They were then tested for their cognitive performance for focus, memory, accuracy and multi tasking and their stress and mood levels assessed. The study found that even after just a few weeks the participants started to improve.
The men on high doses of vitamin B-complex were better at cognitive tasks, had more energy and were not as mentally tired. Women were even faster at multi tasking and their accuracy improved and the children aged 8 to 14 were more accurate with higher attention skills.
These findings add toward the bank of solid evidence which is being laid to show the public how important multivitamin supplements are in today’s modern lifestyle. Many people still believe they can get all their nutrition from their food which would be the case IF you were not already deficient in some areas, if there were no technological machines such as mobile phones and microwaves hurling ‘waves’ across the planet which sap our vitamins and affect our health and if we were not using harmful chemicals on the food we grow and not spraying our skies with unknown substances (check Google if you don’t believe any of these). What this means is that even your children are deficient in vitamins and even your breast fed baby as you are not aware of the deficiencies always that you have so the milk baby is drinking is not as nutritious as it could be. There are many wonderful supplements made specifically for pregnant women that you can buy.
Professor David Kennedy, a co-author of the study says that “A vitamin deficiency predisposes you to diseases related to having too little of that vitamin. The optimum level of a vitamin must be way above what you need to avoid disease. [The survey indicates that] there are people out there deficient in each vitamin group. But since most people don’t know which vitamins they’re missing…you should take multivitamins to bridge the gap and patch up whatever you’re deficient in.”
In a previous study done by Professor Kennedy it was found that Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids also have an impact on cognitive function. They found that to even people taking 1-2 gram of fish oil with DHA did not have improved cognitive function but that it did affect cerebral blood flow in cognitive tasks. This shows that DHA supplementation has a physiological impact on the body, that it can affect blood flow changes and that means that it may assist with aging and dementia.
So it comes down to being personally responsible for your health. You can believe the studies or you can ignore them but the bottom line is how you feel, how much energy you have and what illnesses you are developing unbeknown to you. It’s too late once you have them. I need to stress though that it is better if your multivitamins are from a natural source. Unfortunately many of the one’s on our shelves have a synthetic base. That is ok if you are a healthy young adult but as you get older or if you are pregnant you need to be looking at natural supplements only. Likewise, if you are already ill or have some immunity diseases. Don’t rely on the shop assistant to tell you which is which. You can download lists of the difference from the internet. Do a bit of your own research and be prepared to look after yourself. Knowledge is empowerment.
