Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12 Play An Essential Role In Brain Function, Study Concludes
It’s no secret that folate and vitamin B-12 are both key contributors to maintaining a healthy functioning nervous system. The “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” recently performed a study, which indicates the interaction between these nutrients and how they may play a significant role in the protection of cognitive function as a person gets older.
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Conducted by the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, the study found that high levels of blood folate were associated with better cognitive function among seniors with adequate vitamin B-12 levels. Conversely, in seniors with low B-12 levels, increased folate levels lead to decreased scores on tests of cognitive function.
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One of the study’s authors, Martha Savaria says “For seniors, low vitamin B-12 status and high serum folate was the worst combination.”
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During the research conducted between 1999 in 2002, data on people over the age of 60 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was studied. Tests of response speed, attention span, visual spatial skills, associative learning and memory were used to measure cognitive function.
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“Our findings support the often-expressed idea that many seniors would benefit from more folate,” said senior author Jacob Selhub, “but the research shows that we must look at the effects this would have on seniors with age-related vitamin B-12 deficiency …. There are also indications that too much folic acid and too little B-12 is a general phenomenon that affects other systems in the body, and might be a factor in some other diseases.”
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Folks, adequate intake of folate and Vitamin B-12 should be part of EVERYONE’S regimen, not just seniors. Time and time again they have both been proven to play a key role in brain function.
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Posted: February 25th, 2007 under Folic Acid.