Common Vitamin Deficiency Linked to Brain Shrinkage
Vitamin B12 is an energy-boosting nutrient, but it also plays a major role in maintaining proper brain function and development. A new study has found that low blood levels of B12 can lead to brain shrinkage. Older people who were deficient in B12 were found to be more likely to have lower brain volumes. The smaller brain size can lead to decreased in thinking skills and other vital cognitive actions.
The researchers examined the B12 blood levels of more than 100 people. Participants were given tests to measure their mental skills and memory function, followed by an MRI scan years later. The scan measured total brain volume, and found that having four out of five markers for vitamin B12 deficiency was associated with brain shrinkage and poor test scores.
Even a deficiency in one vital nutrient can result in life-changing consequences. It is important to be consuming a wide variety of superfoods and other high quality nutrient-dense food products in addition to taking food-based supplementation in order to avoid deficiency.
Even the United States Senate addressed the fact that 99% of the US popular suffers from mineral and vitamin deficiency, leading to disease. The following is an excerpt from the 74th Congress 2nd hearing found in Senate Document No. 264, 1936:
It is bad news to learn from our leading authorities that 99% of the American people are deficient in these minerals, and that a marked deficiency in any one of the more important minerals actually results in disease. Any upset of the balance, any considerable lack or one or another element, however microscopic the body requirement may be, and we sicken, suffer, shorten our lives.
