The right dosage of vitamin supplementation increased memory and learning.
Vitamin D supplementation can improve memory, research finds.
Older women who took three times the recommended dose of vitamin D each day showed improvements in memory and learning.
Vitamin D, along with its importance in bone health, is also known to play a role in cognition and the functioning of the nervous system.
While vitamin D may improve memory and learning, the study also linked higher levels of supplements to slower reaction times, which could increase the risk of falls.
The study included overweight and obese older women.
They were split into three groups who each took different doses of vitamin D for one year.
One group took 600 IU per day (the recommended dose — around 15 mcg), another 2,000 IU and a third took 4,000 IU.
Standard cognitive tests were given before and after to test the effect on memory and thinking skills.
The results showed that 600 IU had no effect, but 2,000 IU per day improved memory and learning.
However, the higher dosage also had no effect, suggesting there is a sweet spot for vitamin D supplementation.
The disadvantage of taking too much vitamin D was that it was linked to slower reaction times.
Professor Sue Shapses, study co-author, explained:
“The slower reaction time may have other negative outcomes such as potentially increasing the risk of falling and fractures.
This is possible since other researchers have found that vitamin D supplementation at about 2,000 IU daily or more increased risk of falls, but they did not understand the cause.
Our team’s findings indicating a slower reaction time may be one answer.
Many people think that more vitamin D supplementation is better, but this study shows that is not always the case.”
Professor Shapses thinks that higher doses of vitamin D might not be a problem for younger people.
However, for the elderly it could increase the risk of falls.
Vitamin D is normally obtained through exposure to the sun.
Vitamin D is found in oily fish, egg yolks, fortified cereals and some margarine spreads, among other foods.
The study was published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A (Castle et al., 2019).
