A claim you hear on longevity podcasts
The claim checked: A daily multivitamin slows cognitive aging in older adults Hear it at 1:14:50
Three COSMOS reports found a daily multivitamin helped memory or overall thinking in older adults. The gain equaled 1.8 to 3.1 years of aging. Four trials and reviews found no benefit; one of them followed 5,947 men for more than a decade. A study that compared users with non-users found no link.
Computed from 10 studies that test this point, each judged by two readers, in full. Sources land on both sides. 5 more studies are waiting for a full read and do not count yet.
“in the two groups that got the multivitamin, there was a significant reduction in estimations of brain age and cognitive function such that you know on average people's brains acted as if they were 2 years younger”
On tape: COSMOS, a basic multivitamin, brains about 2 years younger. This paper reports the 2-year figure from the pooled COSMOS substudies. Effect of multivitamin-mineral supplementation versus placebo on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis of 3 cognitive studies within COSMOS. Am J Clin Nutr, 2024. Randomized, placebo-controlled trial (COSMOS-Clinic) plus a meta-analysis of the 3 COSMOS cognitive substudies, 573 US adults aged 60 and over in COSMOS-Clinic; more than 5,000 across the 3 substudies.
What it found
“In COSMOS-Clinic, we observed a modest benefit of MVM compared with placebo on global cognition over 2 y {mean difference [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 0.”
How the authors extend it
“These findings within the COSMOS trial support the benefits of a daily MVM in preventing cognitive decline among older adults.”
The COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) is supported by an investigator-initiated grant from Mars Edge, a segment of Mars dedicated to nutrition research and products, which included infrastructure support and the donation of study pills and packaging. Two readers agreed on the label, and the paper was read in full.
controlled trial · 2023 · landmark
“By this albeit imprecise yardstick, 3 years of MVM supplementation appeared to have slowed aging by 1.8 years, or by 60%.”
Effects of cocoa extract and a multivitamin on cognitive function: A randomized clinical trial. Alzheimers Dement
Who: 2262 older adults aged 65 y or more (mean age 73 y; 60% women; 89% non-Hispanic White) from the COSMOS parent trial
PMID 36102337
controlled trial · 2023
“Based on cross-sectional analysis of the association between age and performance on the ModRey, we estimated that the effect of the multivitamin intervention improved memory performance above placebo by the equivalent of 3.1 y of age-related memory change.”
Multivitamin Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Am J Clin Nutr
Who: 3562 US older adults (mean age 71, 67% women, 93% White, mostly college educated) in the COSMOS-Web ancillary study of the COSMOS trial
PMID 37244291
pooled analysis · 2024 · cited on tape
“A meta-analysis of 3 COSMOS cognitive substudies (n > 5000) provided clear evidence that daily MVM use showed benefits for both global cognition and memory among older adults; the magnitude of effect on global cognition appears equivalent to reducing cognitive aging by 2 y.”
Effect of multivitamin-mineral supplementation versus placebo on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis of 3 cognitive studies within COSMOS. Am J Clin Nutr
Who: 573 US adults aged >=60 y (mean 69.6 y, mostly non-Hispanic White) in the COSMOS-Clinic subcohort; meta-analysis adds nonoverlapping COSMOS-Mind (n = 2158) and COSMOS-Web (n = 2472) participants
PMID 38244989
controlled trial · 2023
“Although the COSMOS-Mind trial does not provide evidence that random assignment to cocoa extract or multivitamin-mineral supplementation for 3 years significantly slows the incidence of MCI or dementia, daily supplementation with a MVM (but not CE) may provide cognitive resilience to reduce the impact of disease progression on cognitive function.”
Impact of multivitamin-mineral and cocoa extract on incidence of mild cognitive impairment and dementia: Results from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study for the Mind (COSMOS-Mind). Alzheimers Dement
Who: 2262 COSMOS-Mind participants aged 65 years or older (mean age 72.9 y, 60% female, about 89% White)
PMID 37035889
controlled trial · 2011
“Neither the verbal memory score nor the executive functioning score were related to antioxidant supplementation.”
French adults' cognitive performance after daily supplementation with antioxidant vitamins and minerals at nutritional doses: a post hoc analysis of the Supplementation in Vitamins and Mineral Antioxidants (SU.VI.MAX) trial. Am J Clin Nutr
Who: 4447 French adults aged 45-60 y at baseline (mean 52.1 y; mean 65.5 y at cognitive evaluation) from the SU.VI.MAX trial
PMID 21775560
pooled analysis · 2018
“Two small, short‐term studies and one large study with a mean duration of treatment of 8.5 years at final follow‐up found no effects of complex multivitamins on cognitive outcomes.”
Vitamin and mineral supplementation for maintaining cognitive function in cognitively healthy people in mid and late life. Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Who: cognitively healthy people aged 40 years or more in randomised controlled trials of oral vitamin or mineral supplements; complex multivitamin trials had median/mean ages of 63, 70 and 72 years (PHS-II men only)
PMID 30556597
controlled trial · 2013
“In this large, randomized, placebo controlled trial among 5,947 men aged 65 and over, we observed no benefit of a daily multivitamin in slowing cognitive decline after more than a decade of treatment and follow-up.”
Long-term multivitamin supplementation and cognitive function in men: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med
Who: 5,947 male physicians aged 65 years or more in the Physicians' Health Study II cognitive substudy
PMID 24490265
controlled trial · 2007
“Overall, our results provide no evidence for a beneficial effect of multivitamin and multimineral supplementation on cognitive function in the majority of men and women 65 years and over living in the community.”
Effect of multivitamin and multimineral supplementation on cognitive function in men and women aged 65 years and over: a randomised controlled trial. Nutr J
Who: 910 men and women aged 65 years and over, 97% community-living, recruited from six primary care health centres in North-East Scotland (MAVIS trial), not taking supplements beforehand
PMID 17474991
controlled trial · 2015
“The present investigation found no effect of 16-weeks multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplements on cognitive task performance in healthy women or men aged 55–65 years.”
Improved blood biomarkers but no cognitive effects from 16 weeks of multivitamin supplementation in healthy older adults. Nutrients
Who: 116 healthy, cognitively intact adults aged 55 to 65 years (68 women, 48 men) in Melbourne, Australia, non-smokers not using supplements
PMID 25996285
other primary study · 2025
“In this cross-sectional population-based study, we found no clinically significant association between vitamin-mineral ± dietary supplement use and cognitive performance.”
Vitamin-mineral supplements and cognition among adults aged 65 and older: multiple cross-sectional population-based studies. Eur J Nutr
Who: Apparently healthy community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older in the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus cohort, Lausanne, Switzerland
PMID 40411557
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