Smarter Child with Multi-vitamins & minerals Supplementation

Adequate levels of vitamins and minerals are essential for optimal neural functioning. A high proportion of individuals, including children, suffer from deficiencies in one or more vitamins or minerals.
A recent UK-based study investigated whether daily supplementation with vitamins/minerals could modulate cognitive performance and mood in healthy children. In this investigation, eighty-one healthy children aged from 8 to 14 years underwent laboratory assessments of their cognitive performance and mood on the first and last days of 12 weeks' supplementation with a commercially available vitamins/mineral product. The assesment was done at pre-dose, 1h and 3h post-dose. Interim assessments were also completed at home after 4 and 8 weeks at 3 h post-dose. Each assessment comprised completion of a cognitive battery, which included tasks assessing mood and the speed and accuracy of attention and aspects of memory (secondary, semantic and spatial working memory).

The vitamin/mineral group performed more accurately on two attention tasks: 'Arrows' choice reaction time task at 4 and 8 weeks; and 'Arrow Flankers' choice reaction time task at 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Picture Recognition errors showed significant decrement at 12 weeks.

While mood was not modulated in any interpretable manner, the author believe that these results suggest that vitamin/mineral supplementation has the potential to improve brain function in healthy children, and warrant further investigation.

British Journal of Nutrition. 100(5):1086-96, 2008 Nov

Multivitamins and Healthy Immune Function

Adequate nutrient intakes are required for the immune system to function efficiently. A good multivitamin can enhance the immune system by supporting the body's natural defenses on both a structural and cellular level.

A recent article published in the British Journal of Nutrition summarizes the roles of select vitamins and trace elements in immune function.

Adequate intakes of micronutrients are required for the immune system to function efficiently. Micronutrient deficiency suppresses immunity by affecting antibody responses, leading to imbalances in the immune system. This situation increases susceptibility to infections, which increases disease and death risk. In addition, infections aggravate micronutrient deficiencies by reducing nutrient intake, increasing losses, and interfering with utilization by altering metabolic pathways. Inadequate intakes of micronutrients are common in people with eating disorders, smokers (active and passive), individuals with chronic alcohol abuse, certain diseases, during pregnancy and lactation, and in the elderly.

Micronutrients contribute to the body's natural defenses on three levels by supporting physical barriers (skin/mucosa), cellular immunity, and antibody production. Vitamins A, C, E, and the mineral zinc assist in enhancing the skin barrier function. Vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and folic acid, and the minerals iron, zinc, copper and selenium work synergistically to support the protective activities of the immune cells. Finally, all these micronutrients, with the exception of vitamin C and iron, are essential for the production of antibodies.

Overall, inadequate intake and status of these vitamins and minerals may lead to a suppressed immune system, which increases the risk of infections and aggravates malnutrition. Therefore, supplementation with a multivitamin that includes these micronutrients can support the body's natural defense system by enhancing all three levels of immunity.