It may come as a surprise that the effects of nutrition on mental health have received little attention from researchers in the past. A new double-blind, placebo-controlled study may change all that.
In the study, researchers randomly assigned 225 hospitalized, acutely-ill, elderly patients either a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement or a placebo (both in addition to their normal hospital food) for six weeks. The supplement provided 100% of the Reference Nutrient Intakes of vitamins and minerals for a healthy older person. The researchers then compared the nutritional outcomes, depressive symptoms, and cognitive state at six weeks and six months. The researchers found significantly increased folate levels in red blood cells and plasma vitamin B12 levels in the test patients, compared to decreased levels among those who received the placebo. The researchers also found significant differences in symptoms of depression scores in the supplement group compared with the placebo group at six months; those in the supplement group showed significantly better results than those who received the placebo, regardless of their initial level of depression (no depression, mild depression, or severe depression). There was also evidence of a difference in cognitive status. The researchers concluded that "oral nutritional supplementation of hospitalized acutely ill older patients led to a statistically significant benefit on depressive symptoms."
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1. Gariballa, S. and S. Forster (2007). "Effects of dietary supplements on depressive symptoms in older patients: A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial." Clin Nutr.
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