B Vitamins And Omega-3 Are A Dynamic Duo Against Dementia. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a press release of scientific research conducted by the Food For The Brain Foundation, looking at how the combination of B vitamins and Omega-3 are a dynamic duo against dementia. Anyone who has watched a loved one suffering an age-related cognitive decline in the form of Alzheimer’s and/or dementia can testify that it is sad, confusing and traumatic for both the sufferer and the people around them.
B Vitamins And Omega-3 Are A Dynamic Duo Against Dementia
New research shows that the two nutrients stop the brain from shrinking by over 70 per cent.
The discovery was first made at the University of Oxford but has now been confirmed by research groups in Holland, Sweden and China and a review of 14 studies just published (Feb 2023) in the British Journal of Nutrition. The combined research, which included 4913 people who were followed up between 6 months and four years, concluded: “increasing intake of both nutrients benefits cognition in older adults compared to placebo.”
Headed by Professor David Smith, former Chair of Pharmacology and Deputy Head of the Division of Medical Sciences at Oxford and director of the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA), the research has found that giving older people with the first signs of cognitive impairment, supplemental B vitamins (B6, B12 and folic acid), at higher levels than can be achieved through diet, to those with sufficient omega-3 fats produced 73% less brain shrinkage in a year, compared to placebo.
This reduction brought brain shrinkage down to the level found in those elderly with no cognitive decline. “The effect is greater than that of any drug treatment to date – with no adverse effects,” says Professor Smith. In contrast, the recent trials of anti-amyloid drugs only show an insignificantly reduced brain shrinkage of 4%.
Three other research groups in Holland, China and Sweden have confirmed the combined effect of omega-3 and B vitamins is far more significant than either nutrient on its own.
Trials
In Holland, a prominent trial called B-proof found no benefit from the B vitamins in those with low omega-3 status but a massive improvement in cognition in those with sufficient omega-3 levels.
A Swedish trial that had given older people omega-3 fish oils but found no significant cognitive benefit reanalysed their results, splitting the participants into thirds – from the lowest to highest B vitamin status. The group with sufficient vitamin B, indicated by a low blood homocysteine level, showed three times the clinical improvement reported from the recent Lecanemab anti-amyloid drug trial.
Meanwhile, a trial in China gave those with pre-dementia either the B vitamin folic acid, omega-3, or both, compared to a placebo. Although B vitamin and omega-3 treatment slightly improved cognitive cores, the improvement was much more significant in those given both these nutrients.
China’s leading dementia prevention expert, Professor Jin-Tai Yu at Shanghai’s Institute of Neurology at Fudan University, carried out one of the most thorough reviews of all risk factors for Alzheimer’s to date, concluding that “Lowering blood homocysteine levels, an established indicator of Alzheimer’s risk, with B vitamins is a most promising treatment.”
He was also given access to the UK’s BioBank data of almost half a million people. “Our current research, using data from the UK Bio Bank, shows that having higher blood levels of omega-3, and supplementing fish oils, is associated with less risk of dementia. Moreover, recent studies suggest these two factors – homocysteine lowering B vitamins and omega-3 – may, in combination, be potentially more beneficial. They are easy to implement. This is worthy of further research.”
The US National Institutes of Health
The US National Institutes of Health research confirmed this, attributing almost a quarter (22%) of the risk for Alzheimer’s to a lack of B vitamins and raised homocysteine levels and the same (22%) to a lack of omega-3 and seafood intake.[i] Almost half of all people over 65 have raised homocysteine[ii], which increases the risk for dementia by up to 10 times, according to Chinese research published last year[iii].
Professors Yu and Smith are advisors to the Alzheimer’s prevention charity, Foodforthebrain.org. The charity is looking for volunteers to take their free online Cognitive Function test and Dementia Risk Index questionnaire, including B vitamins and omega-3, and have a pin prick blood test to determine their status.
“These are the two easiest and evidence-based risk factors anyone can eliminate,” says Patrick Holford, who directs the Food for the Brain Alzheimer’s Prevention project. “Brain shrinkage is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s, so this is a vital discovery. The evidence suggests we could cut the average person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s by up to two-thirds and the number of people developing dementia by a third if these and other risk factors were targeted. This could save some 70,000 people a year in the UK from developing dementia. Now we need to test this in a real-life situation.”
If you’d like to test your cognitive function and find out how to reduce your risk, visit Foodforthebrain.org and join their citizen science campaign.
There is a one-minute film on how to build new brain cells at any age here: https://vimeo.com/736984663.
I hope you enjoyed that.
Talk soon
Rerefences
[i] Fairbairn, P British Journal of Nutrition,2023 129(3), 428-441.
[ii] Jernerén F., et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Jul;102(1):215-21.
[iii] Oulhaj A., et al. J Alzheimers Dis. 2016;50(2):547-57.
[iv] van Soest APM., et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021 Apr 6;113(4):801-809.
[v] van Dyck CH., et al. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jan 5;388(1):9-21.
[vi] Li M., et al. Eur J Nutr. 2021 Jun;60(4):1795-1808.
[vii] Yu JT., et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2020 Nov;91(11):1201-1209.
[viii] Huang Y., et al. Front Neurosci. 2022 Sep 7;16:910977.
[ix] Beydoun MA., et al. BMC Public Health. 2014 Jun 24;14:643.
[x] Pfeiffer CM., et al. Clin Chem. 2008 May;54(5):801-13.
[xi] Teng Z., et al. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Jul 15;14:868777.
About FoodForTheBrain.org
The Food for the Brain Foundation is a UK-based charitable foundation that developed a fully validated Cognitive Function Test in 2012 and tested 380,000 people. The test is available at www.foodforthebrain.org
The science behind Alzheimer’s Prevention comes from eight members of the charity’s Scientific Advisory Board – https://foodforthebrain.org/S.AB/.
7 Comments
Angela Ricardo Bethea
What an informative post and this is really good info to know especially if your family line has dementia. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Bedabrata Chakraborty
I knew about Omega 3 but good to learn about Vitamin B. I have some pills lying will start on them soon. The video film is so educative.
Fransic verso
Wow the Holland study is new to me. Didn’t know that both should be together. Thank you for sharing these informative points and studies.
Marysa
Good whole foods are good for so many health issues. It is great to know that these are helpful foods to help with dementia.
Monidipa Dutta
Wow, this article on the powerful combination of B vitamins and omega-3 against dementia is so informative and eye-opening! I love how it explains the science behind it in a simple yet engaging way. Thank you for sharing!
Beth
This is worth knowing, about vitamins. We need more of these medications as we get older.
Kimberley Asante
Thanks for educating me. I never knew this. I actually recently started taking both. Good to know these extra benefits.