More and more people are purchasing dietary supplements. From our talks with clients, it appears that this is driven by knowledge that diet and medical options don’t deliver all the desired health outcomes.
Some sources still maintain that a good diet alone is good enough. We find a couple of problems with that thinking. One is that when we check physiology with a good blood test, we find all sorts of problems in people who are really trying. Second is that when we get older, we just can’t eat the volume of food that we did a half century ago and our digestive system doesn’t work as well so deficiencies are easy to understand.
The list of contributors to nutritional deficiencies with age then are these:
Chronic illness takes a toll.
Oral health is often worse.
Taking medications will shift physiology.
Smaller meals and more packaged food with higher salt, sugar and lower protein levels.
As with any person, an older person, ideally supplements their diet with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs according to their body’s needs.
A few of the long list of nutrients that are hard to get with a good diet are: B12, D3 and folate that will be briefly discussed in this article.
Some common findings indicate that vitamin B12 levels in older adults are more often than not in the ideal range. From our readings and experiences, we like to see B12 levels in the high normal range, especially for brain health. We have talked about this in our dementia articles.
It is difficult to get your B12 to that level with a modern American or European diet.
Add a few common medications like metformin or proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium etc) and your quest for good B12 levels become more difficult to achieve.
Vitamin B12 is one of the clearest examples. B12 deficiency becomes more common with age, partly because the stomach may produce less acid, which is needed to release B12 from food. Low B12 can cause anemia, fatigue, nerve problems, numbness or tingling, and sometimes memory problems or confusion. Certain medicines, including metformin and proton pump inhibitors, can increase the risk further. High-dose oral B12 often works well, although some people need injections.
Folate is also important, especially for red blood cell formation and DNA production. Low folate can raise homocysteine, a blood marker that has been associated with cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline, though this does not prove that folate supplements prevent either. Folate or other B vitamins may help selected groups, such as people with low folate or B12 status, raised homocysteine or mild cognitive impairment. But B12 deficiency should be considered before folate is prescribed on its own, because folate can improve some blood signs of B12 deficiency while nerve damage continues.
Pure Encapsulations Folate 400
Vitamin D is another common concern. Deficiency is more likely in older adults with limited sun exposure, reduced mobility, darker skin, care-home residence or diets low in vitamin D-rich foods. Supplementation may be appropriate when levels are low, sun exposure is limited, or someone has osteoporosis, recurrent falls or high fracture risk. But more is not automatically better. A large trial found that vitamin D supplementation did not significantly reduce fracture risk in generally healthy midlife and older adults who were not selected for deficiency.
Why not just take a multi-vitamin-mineral supplement? Most people do better with a more targeted approach. Many people grab a cheap multi in a local big box store or popular all-in-one online site. It costs more to make a quality supplement your body can actually use. Like I said, we try to target each person’s actual needs. Also note that a multi in Target is about $12 and one that we carry by Thorne is $56. Why do you think that is?? Which one is likely to do anything at all?
Our personal experience and blood tests for ourselves and clients have shown that supplements do have a role in healthy ageing. Be sure you are working on your macro nutrients (fancy name for food) along with strength exercise, adequate sleep, social connection all make a difference.