The Role of B vitamins on Brain health

The Role of B vitamins on Brain health

B vitamins are a group of eight essential nutrients that play closely connected roles in keeping our brains and bodies healthy. They are vital for energy production, DNA repair, and the creation of neurotransmitters—chemicals that help brain cells communicate.

Despite their importance, most research and public health advice have focused on just three B vitamins (B6, B9/folate, and B12) because of their link to homocysteine, a compound associated with heart and brain health. However, the other five B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, and B7) are also crucial, and deficiencies in any of them can negatively affect brain function, leading to symptoms like fatigue, memory loss, depression, and cognitive decline.

Modern diets, especially in developed countries, often lack enough of these vitamins, putting many people at risk of deficiency or "marginal deficiency"—levels that are not low enough to cause obvious disease but still impact health and brain performance. This risk is higher in older adults, people with certain health conditions, and those with less healthy diets.

Research shows that simply meeting the minimum recommended daily amounts (RDAs) may not be enough for optimal brain health. Higher intake of the full range of B vitamins, well above the RDA, is generally safe (since they are water-soluble and excess is excreted) and may offer additional benefits for mood, memory, and cognitive function.

Most studies on B vitamin supplements have only tested one or two vitamins at a time, often with mixed results. In contrast, supplements containing all B vitamins (such as multivitamins) have shown more consistent benefits for brain function, especially in children and non-elderly adults.

All of the benefits to adult brain and health listed above are far more important for healthy development of the fetal brain. Fetuses grow at a neck-breaking speed in relation to an adult, whose growth has stalled, and even minor perturbations in the supply of B vitamins through the placenta can have profound effects to fetal brain development and the newborn’s mental development.

Pregnant women with MTHFR polymorphisms and fetuses with the same gene defects hava impaired one-carbon metabolism, leading to impaired neurotransmitter production and poor brain development. Such genetic defects are associated with developmental delays and autistic disorders, and pregnancy complications such as recurrent pregnancy loss, placental thrombosis, preeclampsia and fetal loss.

At Kofinas Perinatal, we have been aware of such relationships for decades now and have been using vitamin B complex supplements, such as MethylMax, to support maternal and fetal brain health. Using such B complex vitamins for 2-3 months before the pregnancy reduces the risks of congenital defects because proper vitamin B supplementation before conception maintains a healthy DNA production.

Takeaway:
For optimal brain health, it’s important to get enough of all eight B vitamins, not just a select few. This may mean aiming for higher-than-minimum intakes, especially if your diet is suboptimal. Multivitamin supplements that include the full spectrum of B vitamins may help fill nutritional gaps and support cognitive performance and mood in pregnant women, as well as healthy brain development and a reduced risk of congenital defects in newborns.

References:

Nutrients 2016, 8, 68; doi:10.3390/nu8020068