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A June 2, 2010, study in the Amercian Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found a connection between the use of Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12 and a lower incidence of depression.
Researchers from Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center looked at 3,503 community-based adults, age 65 and over, to find out if dietary Vitamin B6, folate and Vitamin B12 were factors in depression. The study builds on the hypothesis that B-vitamin deficiencies may affect mood.
Over a seven-year period, the researchers monitored the study participants’ B-vitamin dietary intake using a food-frequency questionnaire, and they measured mental-health symptoms by way of a 10-item depression scale from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies.
The data showed that higher total B-vitamin intakes, including supplementation, were associated with decreased incidence of depression for a 12-year follow-up. Specifically, the research team, led by Kimberly Skarupski, found that each additional 10 milligrams of supplemental Vitamin B6 plus 10 micrograms of supplemental Vitamin B12 reduced the annual odds of depressive symptoms by two percent.
Interestingly, the study identified benefits only with supplementation, and neither food intakes nor folate was associated with a change in depressive symptoms. The researchers concluded: “Our results support the hypotheses that high total intakes of Vitamins B6 and B12 are protective of depressive symptoms over time in community-residing older adults.”
While more research must be done to demonstrate a causal connection between certain B Vitamins and mood, the results fit neatly with the biological connection between Vitamin B12 and the action of certain brain chemicals called monoamines. Earlier research has also shown that Vitamin B12 inhibits the accumulation of homocysteine, an amino acid that is implicated in cardiovascular disease and which may cause toxic reactions in the body triggering depression.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “Longitudinal association of vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12 with depressive symptoms among older adults over time, ”
K.A. Skarupski, C. Tangney, H. Li, B. Ouyang, D.A. Evans, M.C. Morris.
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