Staying Sharp Guide to Brain Health Supplements

​​​Nearly 4 in 5 adults over age 50 take a dietary supplement. Those are the vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients — B12, fish oil, CoQ10 — that people take, usually in a pill or capsule, with the hope of getting some kind of health benefit. The U.S. dietary supplement market is a testament to Americans’ enthusiasm for these little pills. It was valued ​​at $53.6 billion​​​​ in 2023 and is expected to continue to grow steadily over the next five years. 

But is better brain health among the possible benefits of dietary supplements? Not according to AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health. The independent collaborative of scientists, health professionals, scholars and policy experts from around the world reviewed the evidence for potential brain health benefits of some 20 vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. They did not find sufficient evidence that taking any of these supplements would benefit brain health. The 2019 report, “The Real Deal on Brain Health Supplements,” summarizes the scientific research and shares the consensus that the GCBH reached on each.

One area where the tide may be turning since the 2019 report is for multivitamins. Evidence is mounting in favor of a role for multivitamins in brain health, thanks in large part to a randomized controlled clinical trial called COSMOS (COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study). Our read on that research is here.

The GCBH did acknowledge that in cases when a health professional finds a nutritional deficiency, certain supplements might be warranted. For example, people who have vitamin B12, or folate, deficiency may need to take a supplement because a lack of that B vitamin can cause cognitive problems. Some people with health conditions that cause them to have difficulty absorbing nutrients may also need supplements.

A booming business

At the end of the day, most people who take supplements don’t have any clinical need for them. Yet they still add them to their shopping carts in hopes of big payoffs. A 2021 AARP survey found that one in five adults 50 and older who take supplements do so to maintain or improve their brain health. 

“People are buying hope when they buy supplements,” says Howard Fillit, M.D., a member of the GCBH and co-founder and chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. “They don’t necessarily understand the evidence behind these supplements, but it’s a critical piece of the puzzle.”

Safety issues

Supplements, though they are sold over the counter and may appear to be all natural, are not benign, the GCBH report emphasizes. Dietary supplements can have harmful interactions with your prescription medications, over-the-counter medications and even other supplements. Also, the quality of ingredients in supplements can vary dramatically. Independent and government analyses have discovered impurities, contaminants and even medications not listed on the label. Between 2007 and 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found 1,068 dietary supplements that contained prescription medications and drugs that have been banned by the FDA. 

Before you try a new supplement, talk to your health care provider about whether it’s safe. Once you get the green light, be careful which product you choose. It’s important to look for third-party verification that what’s promised on the label is what’s in the bottle. The GCBH recommends checking with one of these organizations if you are going to buy a supplement:

• ConsumerLab.com
• ​​​​​NSF
• United States Pharmacopeia (USP)

But even if you’ve checked out the quality of ingredients, they may not be worth the risk.

​​​​​“Rather than waste money on supplements that don’t have proven benefits, focus instead on doing things that have proven brain health benefits like exercise, healthy foods, getting more sleep, and learning new things,” says Sarah Lenz Lock, executive director of the GCBH and AARP’s senior vice president for policy and brain health.