Question about supplements and endalznow.org

[sabaka]

Received an email from Alzheimer's Prevention Registry saying "no" to supplements for brain health.
Am I reading this right? I thought there was scientific evidence that Tumeric, krill oil and some other supplements are beneficial for the brain.

GCBH examined evidence available about vitamins and minerals with a focus on the eight B vitamins, vitamin D and vitamin E. They also looked at fish oil, coconut oil, caffeine, flavanols and several other supplements marketed to improve brain health. These products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration like prescription medications are, and there are no universal standards for their production.
Based on the data and research, GCBH does not recommend using supplements that claim to improve brain health and function.

https://www.endalznow.org/news/boost-br ... upplements

[BrianR]

Well, pretty much everything in that article seems like common sense.

[In my opinion] Most of the nutrition/supplement related studies seem to be somewhat questionable science. (Including some I choose to believe.) It seems pretty clear that there are no generally applicable nutritional silver bullets. Specific problems *might* be improved by specific supplements. Purity and dosage are huge concerns with supplements. (And, I suppose, with the healthy foods they recommend.)

You might be able to self-experiment by adding a supplement you think will be useful and observing the results. Of course, there is a strong coupling between the mind, the brain and the immune system, so who knows if the result was due to the supplement, or some other factor. If, like many of us, you're taking supplements that you hope will prevent cognitive impairment in 10, 20, ... years, then I think it's a matter of faith. (I think faith is good, but of course, very much the substance of things hoped for.)

As always, you should probably be even more skeptical about my views than I am

[slacker]

Generally, I agree with BrianR. There are rare examples of how specific supplements are of benefit for cognition, such as adding vitamin B12 if one has low B12. I also believe that supplements alone may not be of much help, but may add to the benefit of nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise, and avoiding head injuries. Multiple interventions may be more effective to avoid AD than just a few.

[sabaka]

Thank you very much for your responses! My genetic counselor told "amyloid is building up in your brain ". I bought krill oil, turmeric, and some other supplements all based on the overwhelming advice from the internet. Huge bottles with many pills from Costco. My blood work is fine except very high cholesterol. I do not feel anything different from taking these pills, but I was hoping they will do some good for my brain. I will keep my faith (at least until I run out of the pills).

Now the new topic de jour over the internet is how sleep disturbances cause AD. I feel insomnia is in my genes as well as being e4/e4. I wish these publications were questionable too ....

[floramaria]

Received an email from Alzheimer's Prevention Registry saying "no" to supplements for brain health.
Am I reading this right? I thought there was scientific evidence that Tumeric, krill oil and some other supplements are beneficial for the brain.

Hi sabaka, I am one of the individuals here who is taking handfuls of supplements and swigging fish oil direct from the bottle. But then, I have been taking supplements for decades, long before I knew which ones were being touted for brain health and before genetic testing for ApoE4 was available.
Though clearly I am not in the “all you’re doing is making expensive urine and possibly even doing some harm” camp, I completely agree that supplements are no substitute for healthy lifestyle. There is a lot of evidence that good sleep , a lot of physical activity, social interactions, challenging the brain by learning new things and healthy diet are effective in helping to keep cognitive function strong. My own take on it for myself is that supplements are probably useless in the absence of a healthy lifestyle, but may be filling in some gaps that are not filled by my normal, healthy diet and lifestyle, while also giving functions I think are important a boost.

[apod]

This seems like sound general advice, although, lately I'm not very impressed with FDA standards. This is the same group that has approved flavored e-cigarettes with propylene glycol, BPA-coated (and later BPS-coated) food containers and teflon-coated cookware, carrageenan in meats, hydrogenated fats in oils and food products, baby food with rice flour / arsenic, noodles with plastics and msg, etc... I mean, is *this* the organization that we would want to approve our dietary choices? Their regulatory pipeline includes passing grades for products like Cheetos and Slim Jims, approving foods like these to be sold as "Smart Choices."

Comparing track records, I would much rather trust a company like Thorne Research than the FDA in this area. The same lack of "universal standards" applies to food, which is consumed in much higher quantities -- what's on my conventionally-grown celery and strawberries? How much mercury is in my tuna? When I purchase supplements, there's at least a CoA available upon request, which is more than can be said for say, turmeric root -- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5415259/ "The FDA has published several recommended maximum levels of lead; however, the FDA has not established guidelines for lead levels in spices."

If we're looking to assess the risks and benefits for particular compounds, do we just ignore the majority of research on peer-reviewed scientific journal articles? Looking at the benefits of supplemental magnesium for instance, would it be in our best interest to try to get more magnesium from eating a ton of wheat bran instead, which is among the richest food sources of magnesium? Or, if we want to increase our B-vitamin consumption, would we then want to increase our consumption of red meat, rich in b-vitamins? Or, if we want more polyphenols and resveratrol, would we be better off drinking more red wine?

I tend to see supplements as being part of the diet, and a healthy diet is certainly a key factor for disease prevention. Certainly, there's no magic bullet for brain health, but there are statistically significant associations.

[xactly]

This seems like sound general advice, although, lately I'm not very impressed with FDA standards. This is the same group that has approved flavored e-cigarettes with propylene glycol, BPA-coated (and later BPS-coated) food containers and teflon-coated cookware, carrageenan in meats, hydrogenated fats in oils and food products, baby food with rice flour / arsenic, noodles with plastics and msg, etc... I mean, is *this* the organization that we would want to approve our dietary choices? Their regulatory pipeline includes passing grades for products like Cheetos and Slim Jims, approving foods like these to be sold as "Smart Choices."

Hear, hear, apod! You are getting a one-woman standing ovation. I have come to the point that, if the US FDA approves something, I should be very, very cautious about consuming or using it. The FDA clearly cares more for the interests of Big Pharma and Big Ag than the health of American citizens.

[Fiver]

Hi Sabaka. The FDA's primary focus here is probably to keep the "average" person safe, regulate the market, and root out scams and false claims. They're going to make very conservative statements and be slow to adopt new research - that's their role. And, yes, there are lots of competing interests that can influence the recommendations.

There are other sources on information out there that are more specific to AD and more reflective of the current thinking.

My view....and I'm not a doctor.....is that the possible benefit of any supplement depends on the patient. A supplement may be helpful to someone who is deficient who is hoping to nudge a pathway this way or that. But for someone else it have no benefit or actually be harmful. For example, my vitamin D level was so low I take a supplement that most others wouldn't need. This is one reason a lot of these programs start with a battery of blood tests. There's no easy way to know if they are helping to prevent AD but we can at least get our markers in the "good" range.

You have to figure out what is best for you

[sabaka]

Thank you everyone for your input!

BrianR, Fiver, xactly, apod, floramaria, slacker ,

thank you.