A six-month study in healthy older men demonstrated that daily multivitamin/multimineral supplementation had a positive effect on key nutritional biomarkers.
A study led by Tory Hagen and Alexander Michels of Oregon State University found that changes in nutritional status, as measured by the oxygen consumption of blood cells in study participants, may be directly related to cellular function. was also shown.
The survey results were published in a magazine nutrientssuggest that supplements may be an important tool for maintaining good health as we age.
Many older people take multivitamins because they believe they help them stay healthy. However, research has shown mixed results when it comes to multivitamins and disease risk. We wanted to know why there was so much uncertainty. Is it possible that multivitamins are less effective in altering nutritional biomarkers in older adults?”
Alexander Michels, Research Fellow, OSU Linus Pauling Institute
A research group, including eight OSU scientists, recruited 35 healthy men over the age of 68 for a double-blind study. Half received the Centrum Silver supplement and the other half received a placebo, but the participants were unaware of what they were receiving. None of the participants were allowed to take any other supplements during the study, except vitamin D if prescribed by a doctor.
Professor Helen P. Rambell, principal investigator of the Linus Pauling Institute’s Healthy Aging Research, Hagen said, “In our tests, many of these older men were at optimal levels of several vitamins at the start of the study.” “It showed that we were not taking in levels.” “So there was definitely room for improvement.”
After six months of testing, differences between the supplement and placebo groups became apparent. Those who took a multivitamin showed improvements in nutritional biomarkers, but those who took a placebo did not.
“Some of the participants assigned to the placebo group experienced declines in blood nutrition biomarkers during the study,” said Hagen, who is also a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at OSU. “This suggests that food alone was not enough to maintain vitamin and carotenoid levels.”
Carotenoids are yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants that play a variety of roles in human health. Some carotenoids, like beta-carotene, provide the body with an additional source of vitamin A.
The researchers didn’t measure disease risk, but tested white blood cells, which are part of the body’s immune system.
“We were surprised that the men who took the placebo showed a decrease in cellular oxygen consumption,” added Hagen, noting that oxygen consumption is an indicator of cellular function. “This was not observed in men taking multivitamins, suggesting a link between vitamin status and leukocyte function that we would like to investigate further.”
Researchers believe this study marks the beginning of a new era in multivitamin research.
“Our evidence indicates that many older men may benefit from taking a daily multivitamin, but the responses varied from individual to individual,” Michels said. “Knowing who benefits the most and why will be key to multivitamin trials that assess future disease risk.”
The research team included Judy Butler, Sandra Wesgi, Ken Li, Barz Frei, Gerd Bobe, and Cathy Magnusson of the Linus Pauling Institute. The researchers are also representatives of OSU’s College of Science and Agriculture and the Carlson School of Veterinary Medicine.
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Reference magazines:
Michelles, AJ, other. (2023) Multivitamin/multimineral supplementation prevents or reverses declines in vitamin biomarkers and cellular energy metabolism in healthy older men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. nutrients. doi.org/10.3390/nu15122691.
