Don't "B" Blue: New Study Shows Vitamins Help Depression

A new study shows two vitamins can help keep boomers out of the dumps! Here’s what you need to know...

By Colette Bouchez

Feeling a little down in the dumps? Not so happy about that big 50 (or 60, or 70 ) birthday looming on the horizon?

Before you reach for an anti-depressant pill, try increasing your intake of vitamins B6 and B12 – two nutrients that studies now show can help prevent depression from taking hold in your life.

The new study of some 3,500 Chicago residents just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that for every 10 mg increase in B6 and every 10 mcg increase in B12 the risk of developing symptoms of depression decreases by 2 percent a year.

Now while that might not seem like a lot, over time those percentages can add up quicker than those extra pounds on your hips - and that can help keep you might entering your senior years feeling a lot worse than you should.

This study supports previous evidence showing that in general B Vitamins help reduce the risk of depression.

To set the stage for the study researchers obtained dietary and vitamin intake information from some 3,500 men and women from the Chicago area, all 65 years of age or older. Using a clinical depression scale questionnaire they also obtained data on the participants state of mind, including depression symptoms.

The researchers then followed this group of people for over 7 years to see how their dietary and supplement habits may have affected their state of mind.

What they found: Those participants who had increased intakes of vitamins B6 and B12 were much less likely to experience depression. Although the B vitamins came from both food and supplements researchers say it was the supplements alone that appeared to have the most impact on reducing risks.

“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,” concluded the researchers.

How B Vitamins Protect Against Depression

While the study did not uncover any specific reasons why the vitamins supplements were helpful, other research has shown a link between B vitamins and depressive symptoms. In several studies researchers reported that B 12 appears to be necessary to process certain brain chemicals that directly impact neurotransmitters – the chemical impulses that allow brain cells to communicate and play a role in mood disorders.

Vitamin B12 is also believed to prevent the build up of certain amino acids, particularly homocystine, which is linked to an increased risk of depression. Increased levels of homocysteine have also been linked to an an increased risk of heart disease , stroke and diabetes, and most recently infertility in women with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome.

Interestingly, as we age, our digestive tract is less efficient at pulling B12 from the foods we eat – one reason that older adults are frequently deficient in this nutrient. So that’s another important reason to supplement with this vitamin.

Also important to note: Another member of the B vitamin family – a nutrient known as “inositol” - has been found effective against both depression and panic attacks. It is also believed to work by increasing brain cell communication and enhancing neurotransmitter activity.

What To Do Right Now

Regardless of your age, taking a good multi vitamin is a great way to begin ensuring that you meet all your vitamin and mineral requirements. Adding an extra B vitamin supplement may also be helpful. But don't let that dissuade from also eating a healthy diet - and stocking up on some B-healthy foods.

To get your daily supply of B6, a fortified whole grain breakfast cereal is your best bet. But you can also try white meat chicken, bananas, potatoes, and garbanzo beans which are also high in this nutrient.

If you’re deficient in vitamin B12, one serving of liver gives you a whopping 800 times the daily requirement, while a serving of clams offers nearly 600 times the daily dose. Other foods high in B12 include Rainbow trout, sockeye salmon, beef sirloin or a cheeseburger.

But remember, some of these foods are also high in calories and fat, so don’t overload your plate!

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Copyright by ElleMedia Network 2010 - All Rights Reserved.In addition to US Copyright, the text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

Study: You Can "Teach" Skin To Look Young!

If you feel as if the hands of time have a stranglehold on your wrinkling, aging skin, here’s some news you’ll want to hear: New research shows we may be able to “instruct” the body to make more of at least one biological substance skin needs to look young – and in doing so turn back the hands of time in a major way!

That substance, says experts is collagen. Long believed to play a major role in skin wrinkling, collagen production declines as we age - and for a long time, doctors believed there wasn’t much we could do about that.

But a new report in the current issue of the Archives of Dermatology, says otherwise. Here, researchers from the University of Michigan write that specific advances in skin care made over the past decade have opened the door to the idea that we can "teach" the body to begin producing this vital substance in much the same way it did when we were young.

" Collagen fragmentation is responsible for loss of structural integrity and impairment of fibroblast function in aged human skin - treatments that stimulate production of new, non fragmented collagen should provide substantial improvement to the appearance and health of aged skin," write the researchers.

In essence this means that not only can we stop the hands of time –we have the opportunity to effect a permanent physiological change in skin that can reverse some of the signs of aging - something that has never before been possible.

The best news of all: You don't have to wait a decade or even a year. The study found this was all possible with some dermatologic treatments already in use today.

Old Skin Vs. Young Skin
One of the major differences between “old” skin and “young” skin is the amount and quality of collagen found below the surface. A type of connective tissue, collagen, along with elastin, form a kind of invisible criss-cross netting underneath skin to help support and keep everything in place.

It is, in fact, collagen that gives skin it’s buoyant, dense youthful look and feel, keeping those cheekbones from sliding into your chin and your chin from sliding into your neck - forming a boatload of wrinkles along the way.

But collagen doesn’t last forever. Environmental factors like the sun and pollution – especially chemicals found in cigarette smoke – combine with the natural aging process to damage cells that produce collagen, causing them to become fragmented, or "broken", and no longer able to give skin the support it needs to look young.

"This imbalance advances the aging process in a self-perpetuating, never-ending deleterious cycle," say the researchers.

And what that means is that slowly, over time, “holes’ pop up in that support netting and eventually, get so large that our skins entire support structure begins to collapse. (Think of it like popping a hole in your pantyhose and suddenly the support from that area is gone!).

When the collagen "matrix" or netting becomes broken in enough places, skin support is lost almost entirely. And that means it begins to sag, and eventually, wrinkle.

The Science of Keeping Skin Young
For a while everyone thought the answer to collagen loss was to simply apply more collagen – as in the explosion of collagen creams hitting the market in the 1980’s. But it wasn’t long before science also realized that collagen applied from the outside wasn’t doing much good on the inside. While skin looked temporarily better, the effects weren’t lasting.

And this is where the new Michigan University research sheds some important new light on some current treatment options.

Their report asserts that certain types of topical treatments, as well as some specific wrinkle filling injections, not only provide the immediate skin fix we’re all after, but also work from a long-term standpoint to actually alter the amount of collagen in our skin.

More specifically the researchers say that when certain treatments make their way to skin cells, they are able to create an environment in which damaged fibroblasts (collagen producing cells) can recover – and begin producing collagen in much the way they did when skin was young! In a sense, these treatments are teaching skin to "act" and eventually look the way it did when we were young.

What This Means To You:
You can slow down the hands of time – and with the right treatments and products, maybe even reverse some of the nasty effects of aging that have already occurred.

But at the same time, it doesn’t mean you can throw caution to the wind and ignore the things that cause premature skin aging – including sun exposure, smoking, and other lifestyle factors such as a lack of sleep or a nutrient -poor diet.

Experts say all these things still matter, since the longer you can keep your collagen producing cells healthy and functioning, the less repair work you’ll need.

That said, it’s also comforting to know that with the right treatments and ingredients not only can we compensate for some of the damage that has already occurred to skin cells, there is now good evidence to show that at least some of that damaged may be reversible.

To learn more about which specific treatment types the study found to help initiate the production of new collagen, as well as the skin care ingredients shown to effect change visit
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