When it comes to vitamins, study shows ‘B’ stands for brain
Like clockwork, every few years we can expect the media to publish stories on how vitamins are a waste of our money.
Not too long ago, a professor at Johns Hopkins made the most absurd statement ever when he said that the only “evidence” vitamins can help comes from people telling friends “I take this and it makes me feel better.”
Well, that’s just utter nonsense!
You and I both know there have been reams of studies done on various vitamins and minerals over the years that found how they can improve and safeguard our health.
The latest research, in fact, confirms how B vitamins can help protect the brain.
And while the study involved people with schizophrenia, it’s quite apparent that this group of vitamins is fast becoming known as your brain’s best friend!
Last year, some new research showed how B vitamins can help us think better.
Researchers at Swinburn University in Melbourne used an MRI to look for changes in blood-flow in certain areas of the brain that are connected with things like memory and focus. And they said their findings confirm how B vitamin supplements can enhance “mental performance and mood.”
In the most recent study on B vitamins and the brain that was just published in the journal Psychological Medicine, researchers from the UK and Australia discovered that these vitamins can “effectively improve outcomes” for patients with schizophrenia.
Those found to help included some familiar names like B6 and B12, plus another one you may not have heard of, called inositol.
Inositol was originally part of the big B complex family, dubbed B8. And even though it’s now more commonly thought of as a “pseudovitamin,” there’s nothing pseudo about it!
It’s used to treat a lot brain-related issues with great success, such as ADHD, depression and yes, schizophrenia, and is widely thought of as a brain-booster. That makes sense, as one of the places where the compound is found in the highest concentration is in the brain where it helps neurotransmitters do their job.
Other research has also found inositol to have “therapeutic effects” for conditions such as depression, panic attacks and OCD.
As schizophrenia is typically treated with some heavy-duty antipsychotic drugs, the fact that these humble vitamins can have such a dramatic effect in helping those with this condition is pretty amazing.
One of the study’s co-authors also commented that his research “builds on existing evidence” of how other “food-derived supplements” can help those with schizophrenia.
Since there are lots of foods that can help keep your B levels up to par, you would think it’s a slam-dunk not to be deficient. But as we age, our levels of enzymes, acids and a gastric protein that we need in order to absorb those B vitamins drop dramatically.
Plus that, if you’re taking any of those acid-suppressing drugs, such as Nexium or Prilosec, it’s almost a given that you’re deficient in B-12.
The B vitamins are actually a big group — and the many foods that are naturally high in the different ones include:
- Folate: Spinach, and other leafy green vegetables,
- B6: Poultry, seafood and potatoes,
- B12: Beef and shellfish,
- Thiamin: Pork, dark green leafy veggies, almonds, pecans and wheat germ,
- Riboflavin: Milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken, fish and eggs,
- Niacin: Chicken, turkey, fish, including salmon and canned tuna,
- Biotin and Pantothenic Acid: liver, egg yolks, salmon, pork and avocados
As for inositol, citrus fruits, nuts, molasses and liver are good sources. It’s also easy to find in supplement form.
And as far as B-complex supplements go, they’re available just about everywhere and among the least expensive vitamins there are.
“B vitamins may improve schizophrenia symptoms” Ana Sandoiu, February 16, 2017, MNT, medicalnewstoday.com
