Multivitamins add sparkle

Research into a vitamin and mineral supplement by academics at Northumbria University shows it improves mood and mental performance while also reducing stress, mental tiredness and fatigue in healthy males.

The effects of multivitamins are most often researched in the elderly, and very few studies have assessed the relationship between supplementation with vitamins/minerals and psychological functioning in healthy groups of non-elderly adults.

In a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study, 215 men in full-time employment aged between 30 and 55 were given either a proprietary multivitamin or a placebo for a period of 33 days.

The two groups were tested at the beginning of the study and at the end with a battery of mood, stress and health questionnaires and with physical and mental tasks that included mental arithmetic (counting backwards in 3s or 7s from a random number).

Prior to treatment, there were no significant differences between the placebo and multi-vitamin/minerals groups in performance or ratings for any of the study outcomes. However, after 33 days supplementation the multivitamin/minerals group reported significantly improved ratings of general mental health, reduced subjective stress and increased ratings of ‘vigour’, with a strong trend towards an overall improvement in mood. Task performance was also improved. This was accompanied by reduced ratings of ‘mental tiredness’ before and after the intense mental processing and a trend towards reduced ‘mental fatigue’. The placebo group showed no significant changes.

 “Overall, these results suggest that improving nutritional status, by supplementation if necessary, may be beneficial to males within the general population as a whole,” says Northumbria University’s Professor David Kennedy, who led the study.