TBSmith Asked January 14, 2025
Cognitive issues and nutritional deficiency. Is there a connection?
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Has anyone found that a nutritional deficiency or food sensitivity was associated with their loved one’s cognitive issues? I’ve read that low D and B vitamins status can impair executive function, and addressing it can often completely reverse the problem.
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https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/healthful-diet-linked-reduced-risk-cognitive-decline.
Its a long-ish article worth looking at. In part:
A heart-healthy eating pattern called the MIND diet was associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline or impairment.
____________
Dietary factors can affect multiple brain processes by regulating neurotransmitter pathways, synaptic transmission, membrane fluidity and signal-transduction pathways. This section focuses on recent evidence that shows the capacity of nutrients to affect neural pathways that are associated with synaptic plasticity.
____________
See this website: (Harvard Health Publishing)
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626
In part, it says:
How the foods you eat affect your mental health
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain. Since about 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract, and your gastrointestinal tract is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, it makes sense that the inner workings of your digestive system don't just help you digest food, but also guide your emotions. What's more, the function of these neurons — and the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin — is highly influenced by the billions of "good" bacteria that make up your intestinal microbiome. These bacteria play an essential role in your health. They protect the lining of your intestines and ensure they provide a strong barrier against toxins and "bad" bacteria; they limit inflammation; they improve how well you absorb nutrients from your food; and they activate neural pathways that travel directly between the gut and the brain.
Studies have compared "traditional" diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a typical "Western" diet and have shown that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat a traditional diet. Scientists account for this difference because these traditional diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and seafood, and to contain only modest amounts of lean meats and dairy. They are also void of processed and refined foods and sugars, which are staples of the "Western" dietary pattern. In addition, many of these unprocessed foods are fermented, and therefore act as natural probiotics.
________________________________
What is the superfood for the brain?
Green leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, escarole, collards, and arugula, are the most important of all veggies to protect the brain from cognitive decline. A study showed that eating leafy greens delayed cognitive aging by 11 years. Try to consume one cup raw or a half cup cooked greens each day.
... Escarole. Really? Good thing I love my spinach salads (w goat cheese, cranberries, and crunchy walnuts that don't taste like walnuts).
Gena / Touch Matters
Of course the same problem can occur if it's too cold to go outside, not too hot. A glazed sunroom doesn't really help.
Think about your elder’s actual sunshine exposure – is it enough?
I have read a lot of professional advice that indicates people may require more B vitamins and vitamin D as we age.
I would be very skeptical that any supplement can Completely Reverse any problem! Sounds more like advertising hype from companies that sell supplements!
The best and smartest thing to do would be to ask the doctor to order labwork - blood and/or urine samples, to identify any deficiencies and follow the doctor's advice to correct those deficiencies.
I have B12 anaemia and have to go to the GP surgery for regular injections. I found out about my condition when I had major memory issues. It was quite scary to be told that I had taken part in a meeting at work of which I had absolutely no recollection, and I got a doctor's appointment straight away.
Despite how dangerously low my B12 was and the significant memory loss, there was no cognitive impairment.
I have been to see the doctor about 3 times since, over the last 12 years, with worries about dementia, due to memory problems and stress induced lack of executive functioning.
Each time, after a conversation and answering a variety of questions, my doctor has reassured me that my cognitive abilities rule out dementia and I have been treated with a combination of vitamins (after blood tests, of course), counselling, and relaxation techniques.
I still worry that the affect on my nervous system, from being so low on B12 for an extended period, may have caused some brain damage which could be a contributing factor to getting dementia at some later time - especially with my family history. However, all I can do now is ensure that I get the injections and do whatever is needed for both my physical and mental health.
It's a good idea for people to have blood tests to check on levels of vitamins, amongst other health checks, anyway. But it is unlikely that such deficiencies will cause all the symptoms of dementia.
(Vitamin injections are only necessary when a person cannot absorb that particular vitamin, such as in pernicious anaemia.)
My dad has dementia. He also has dysphagia, COPD, and chronic anemia. He eats a small meal twice a day. He also will drink one to two protein shakes a day to help supplement his diet.
I have found certain vitamin deficiencies. One of them, Vitamin - C, made a significant difference and improvement in his dementia symptoms. He is talking better and more, he is more alert, and the biggest improvement - he is chewing, swallowing, and able to eat and drink better. I have literally been able to decrease the level of puree on certain foods he eats. And it is not because the Vitamin-C is helping iron absorption because there's no improvement in his anemia.
I am frustrated with the doctor that under my dad's circumstances, there has been no suggestion to ever check for deficiencies. I have had to research and read everything to learn and figure these things out and request the bloodwork. He was deficient in folate, B6, and C. It was later on when I found he was deficient in vitamin-C and within two weeks of starting it there was noticeable improvement. Not a cure of course, but significant improvement.
Personally, I don't care what anyone says or thinks, if your loved one is eating little, or eating just a small variety of foods, request bloodwork to check and watch for deficiencies. It doesn't hurt to check and to try. You never know, it may help.
I had labwork done and discovered that I needed vitamin B-12 for energy.
I get monthly B12 shots and they have definitely helped me.
Here are three articles backed by research:
Journal of American Medical Association
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767693
Betty Ford /Hazelden
https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/research-studies/addiction-research/alcohol-effects-brain#:~:text=Since%20alcohol%20affects%20a%20large,%2C%20spatial%20processing%2C%20and%20impulsivity.
The Lancet is a British weekly medical journal that publishes original research and analysis on clinical, public and global health matters:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(18)30070-7/fulltext
I've seen alcohol-related dementia in my own family and circle of friends. It is sad, pathetic, and totally avoidable if they'd never taken that first drink. At least two never believed they drank too much. ("Um, well, we drink socially, but that's all! and "Hey, I'm not always like this!") while falling down drunk at a restaurant. And my favorite, "Sure, I like my bubbly, but I only drink one bottle of champagne a night!" - all by herself and won't remember anything she said or did after any 5 p.m. which is when she started. Every night.
I am the caretaker, making sure he gets his meds and all the other issues. He's also on a med for psoriasis. On December 4th he was walking up the driveway with our dog and the dog pulled him and he fell on his left side. Took 3 of us to get him in the house. He couldn't stand or walk. Spent 3 days in the hospital. He had hairline fractures on his pelvis. Transferred to a rehab for 4 weeks. He's doing quite well with a walker and eventually will use a cane. He is 86 and we have been married 60 years!
nutruents play a crucial role in maintaining cognitive function and deficiencies can impair cognitive processes ( such as memory -attention)
iron- b vitamins ( deficiencies in b bits have been linked to cognitive devolve/dementia and even depression)
omega 3
vit d have been linked to cognitive decline and dementia
zinc
magnesium
maintainj g a balanced diet does help and if you can’t supplements ( once agreed with your doctor to ensure they do not react badly with medication)
we give my dad a liquid supplement
good luck
However, every body is different and taking a guess at what nutrients a person may be deficient in, is rather like taking a stab in the dark.
I know personally that I feel better when I take just a simple daily vitamin.
My 84 year old dad thinks vitamins are a waste of money. But, he picks and chooses overpriced individual supplements because he sees advertising which convinces him they are the fountain of youth!
Well, that must be working for him because he is a healthy 84 year old!
Really, it is best to let a doctor help identify what supplements will be best for the individual.
"correlation is not causation"
This means just because you took a vitamin supplement and then seemed to experience an improvement in health or cognition, doesn't mean the 2 are connected at all -- because there are too many other variables that can impact that result, and not the least is the Placebo Effect (mental expectation of a result so that it is only psychosomatic and not actually medical or physical).
That being said there are dementias that are caused or worsened by vitamin deficiency, as in Wernike-Korsakoff dementia experienced by alcoholics because certain vitamins are blocked from absorption due to the extreme alcohol comsumption. If caught early enough -- and the person stops drinking -- the effects can be reversed and the person can recover.
There is A LOT of "snake oil" remedies surrounding dementia because people are terrified of it and fear causes people to spend their money without really properly and thoroughly researching treatments, therapies, medications and supplements.
"I’ve read that ___________..." means nothing unless what you are reading are the actual clinical study results, and even these have to stand up to a criteria in order for the study subject to be of value or not.
The study has to:
be written in such a way as to prevent false data outcomes.
include the right participants.
involve a large group of people (so not just a dozen, or a hundred, but thousands)
be conducted over a satisfactory length of time
be reproducible.
This last one is very critical. One study doesn't mean anything unless its results can be independently reproduced and give the same outcomes.
This is why I personally never jump on a new prescription drug (Ozempic!) or supplement or treatment/therapy bandwagon until a long enough amount of time has passed so that the above criteria is met.
You can ask your PCP to test you for deficiencies, like B, D, K, and magnesium. If your individual body is not actually low on these, then taking a supplement will mean you are just peeing out the money you spent on them. Everyone's bodies are different in size, age, nutritional intake and retention, health, etc. What works for one person does not mean it will work for another.
Can taking certain vitamins "totally reverse" certain cognitive symptoms? Yes IF that person doesn't actually have dementia but is suffering the symptoms of an actual vitamin or nutritional deficiency.
To date, there is no real, respectable scienfic studies that show dementia is curablem, and in many cases not even preventable. The brain is unbelievably complex and we still don't know enough about it.