CONTROLLED TRIAL OF VITAMIN-MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION ON INTELLIGENCE AND BRAIN-FUNCTION

The effect of vitamin-mineral supplements on intelligence was tested on 26 juveniles in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. After 13 weeks of supplementation, the group of 15 subjects on supplements produced significantly larger gains in non-verbal I.Q. than the group of 11 subjects on placebos. Five subjects on supplements and one on placebos were responsible for all gains that exceeded normal test-retest variation. Nutrient assays of blood were made with 5 of the subjects whose I.Q. scores had improved: the one of placebos and 4 of the 5 on supplements. Their nutrient concentrations in blood were below laboratory reference norms at the beginning of the trial but became normal by the end of the trial. At the same time, their intelligence scores increased an average of 20 points with a range of 13-25 points. Brain electrical activity was recorded by EEG mapping on 4 subjects on supplements whose nutrient concentrations had become normal, and on 2 subjects on placebos whose nutrient concentrations remained low. The supplement group showed a reduction in brain wave abnormalities from 14 to 2, while the 8 abnormalities in the placebo group were unchanged. © 1991.