A six-month study of healthy older men demonstrated that every day multivitamin/multimineral supplementation had a positive effect on key nutrition biomarkers.
The research led by Oregon State University’s Tory Hagen and Alexander Michels also showed that the changes in nutrition status could have direct connections to cellular function, measured by the oxygen consumption of the study participants’ blood cells.
The findings, published within the journal Nutrients, suggest that supplementation could also be a key tool to assist people stay healthier as they age.
Many older adults take a multivitamin, pondering it should help them stay healthy. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown mixed results relating to multivitamins and disease risk. We desired to know why there was a lot uncertainty. Is it possible that multivitamins aren’t as effective at changing nutrition biomarkers in older adults?”
Alexander Michels, research associate at OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute
The research group, which included eight OSU scientists, recruited 35 healthy men age 68 or greater for the double-blind study – half received a Centrum Silver complement, the opposite half received a placebo, and participants didn’t know what they were receiving. Not one of the participants was allowed to take other supplements through the study, apart from vitamin D if it was prescribed by their doctor.
“Our tests showed that a lot of these older men weren’t obtaining the optimal levels of several vitamins when the study began,” said Hagen, principal investigator and Helen P. Rumbel Professor for Healthy Aging Research on the Linus Pauling Institute. “So there definitely was room for improvement.”
After the six-month trial, differences within the complement and placebo groups became apparent. While those taking the multivitamin showed improved biomarkers of nutrition, those on the placebo didn’t.
“Several of the participants assigned to the placebo group had blood nutrition biomarkers fall through the study,” said Hagen, who can be a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at OSU. “It suggests that food alone was not enough to maintain their vitamin and carotenoid levels up.”
Carotenoids are yellow, orange and red pigments synthesized by plants, and so they play multiple roles in human health. Some carotenoids like beta-carotene can provide the body with an additional source of vitamin A.
Although the researchers didn’t measure disease risk, they did test white blood cells, a part of the body’s immune system.
“We were amazed to search out that the boys who took the placebo showed reduction in cellular oxygen consumption,” Hagen added, noting that oxygen consumption is an indicator of cell function. “This was not observed in men who took the multivitamin, suggesting a connection between vitamin status and white blood cell function that we’re desirous to explore further.”
The researchers imagine the study is the start of a brand new era for multivitamin research.
“Our evidence indicates that many older men may gain advantage from a every day multivitamin, however the response did vary from individual to individual,” Michels said. “Knowing who advantages probably the most and why shall be key for multivitamin trials that evaluate disease risk in the longer term.”
The research team included the Linus Pauling Institute’s Judy Butler, Sandra Uesugi, Ken Lee, Balz Frei, Gerd Bobe and Kathy Magnusson. The researchers also represent OSU’s colleges of Science and Agricultural Sciences and Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine.