Effects of high-dose B vitamin complex with vitamin C and minerals on subjective mood and performance in healthy males

Abstract

RationaleA significant proportion of the general population report supplementing their diet with one or more vitamins or minerals, with common reasons for doing so being to combat stress and fatigue and to improve mental functioning. Few studies have assessed the relationship between supplementation with vitamins/minerals and psychological functioning in healthy cohorts of non-elderly adults.ObjectivesThe present randomised, placebo-controlled, double–blind, parallel groups trial assessed the cognitive and mood effects of a high-dose B-complex vitamin and mineral supplement (Berocca®) in 215 males aged 30 to 55 years, who were in full-time employment.MethodsParticipants attended the laboratory prior to and on the last day of a 33-day treatment period where they completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Cognitive performance and task-related modulation of mood/fatigue were assessed with the 60 min cognitive demand battery. On the final day, participants also completed the Stroop task for 40 min whilst engaged in inclined treadmill walking and subsequent executive function was assessed.ResultsVitamin/mineral supplementation led to significant improvements in ratings on the PSS, GHQ-12 and the ‘vigour’ subscale of the POMS. The vitamin/mineral group also performed better on the Serial 3s subtractions task and rated themselves as less ‘mentally tired’ both pre- and post-completion of the cognitive demand battery.ConclusionsHealthy members of the general population may benefit from augmented levels of vitamins/minerals via direct dietary supplementation. Specifically, supplementation led to improved ratings of stress, mental health and vigour and improved cognitive performance during intense mental processing.

Acute mood but not cognitive improvements following administration of a single multivitamin and mineral supplement in healthy women aged 50 and above: a randomised controlled trial

“…Interestingly, stress is the mood facet which has also been reported to show the greatest improvements following chronic multivitamin supplementation (Long and Benton 2013). Benefits to stress ratings following ≤1 month of multivitamins containing high-dose (Carroll et al 2000;Kennedy et al 2010;Schlebusch et al 2000;Stough et al 2011), whilst lower dose B vitamin supplements have been associated with both positive (Harris et al 2011) and negative findings . Mood benefits of chronic multivitamin supplementation have largely been attributed to folate, B6 and B12, which have important roles in neurotransmitter synthesis (serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine) (Huskisson et al 2007) and in the remethylation of homocysteine to SAMe (Bottiglieri 2005).…”

“…More studies are required across both males and females to confirm or negate this premise, particularly as the current study solely focussed on women, and cannot confirm whether males would demonstrate the same acute response following multivitamin intake. A final note of consideration is that some chronic studies which have identified mood benefits of multivitamins have not reported whether participants consumed the supplement on the day of post treatment testing (Carroll et al 2000;Kennedy et al 2010;Stough et al 2011). This gives rise to the possibility that the stress reductions reported in these trials may be due to acute effects of multivitamins, if participants did not abstain from supplementation on the day of post treatment assessments.…”

Cerebral blood flow and behavioural effects of caffeine in habitual and non-habitual consumers of caffeine: A near infrared spectroscopy study

“…All cognitive and mood measures were delivered using the Computerised Mental Performance Assessment System (COMPASS), a purpose designed software application for the flexible delivery of randomly generated parallel versions of standard and novel cognitive assessment tasks that has previously been shown to be sensitive to nutritional interventions (Kennedy, Veasey et al, 2010;Kennedy, Wightman et al, 2010).…”

Effects of the single supplementation and multiple doses of Passiflora incarnata L. on human anxiety: A Clinical Trial, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized

“…Studies of nutrients such as magnesium combined with other herbs [32,33,34] lysine with arginine [35,36] have demonstrated anxiolytic effects. In addition, n-3 fatty acids (mood regulation), selenium, L-tryptophan amino acid (serotonin production), L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine (production of dopamine and noradrenaline), vitamin E, vitamin C and vitamin D appear to have functional effects, further supporting the role of nutrition in alleviating the symptoms of anxiety [27].…”