RCTHumann = 512012
Effects of a multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement on cognition and blood biomarkers in older men: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
Plain-language summary
This study asked whether a multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement changes thinking in older men. It was an eight-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in 51 sedentary men aged 50 to 74, using a computer battery of attention and memory tasks before and after, and measuring blood vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine (an amino acid in the blood that rises when B vitamins are short, where lower is better). One memory task, contextual recognition, improved on the supplement. The other tasks did not show a significant change. Vitamin B12 and folate rose and homocysteine fell. The supplement tested was a named commercial product, Swisse Men's Ultivite, and the paper does not say who funded the trial.
Key findings
- Contextual recognition memory improved with the supplement.
- Other cognitive tasks showed no change.
- Vitamin B12 and folate levels increased, homocysteine decreased.
How to analyze the study yourself
- Study type
- Randomized trials assign people to groups by chance, so differences between groups are unlikely to come from who chose what, but short-term studies may not show longer-term effects.
- Population
- Sedentary men aged 50-74.
- Funding
- The paper does not state who funded the trial. The supplement tested was a commercial product, Swisse Men's Ultivite, manufactured by Swisse Vitamins.
- Takeaway
- This study found that eight weeks of a multivitamin improved one memory task in older sedentary men and left the rest of the thinking tasks unchanged, while raising B12 and folate and lowering homocysteine. One task out of a battery is a thin result to buy a supplement on. If you are over 50 and your diet is short on B vitamins, it may be worth taking a B-complex or a multivitamin, which is the part of this that the blood results actually support.