It is often assumed that an ageing person has an inevitable slide into functional disability. Proponents of such an idea can readily find data from the literature showing reductions in muscle mass, deteriorations in cognitive function and increases in blood pressure with age, to support their viewpoint. However, such a contention is controversial, because the data suffers from selection bias in that it is very likely that such studies will have been performed on Western populations eating processed, low quality diets and the subjects will have multiple micronutrient deficiencies. Often such decline is blamed on deterioration of gut absorption as age progresses, and this does happen. However, the diets of such individuals are likely devoid of meaningful levels of micronutrients, and the decline into senility and frailty likely begins for most Westerners in childhood. Historical and contemporary studies show that adherence to traditional diets with micronutrient dense food produces a population that stays active, healthy and fit into old age (here).
In his work in the late 1960’s (here), Kilmer McCully showed that folate, vitamin B insufficiencies increase plasma homocysteine concentrations and this in turn increases the risk of vascular disease. Initially ostracised for his research, McCully has recently been proven right regarding his theory despite continued efforts to discredit his work. Elevated plasma homocysteine is now considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, osteoporotic fractures, cognitive decline and dementia. Therefore vitamin B insufficiencies may in part be responsible for many of the deleterious effects of ageing seen in Western populations. A study recently published in the American Journal of Nutrition1 investigated the association between folate status and plasma homocysteine with functional decline in elderly subjects in singapore. The results showed that plasma homocysteine was significantly inversely associated with a performance oriented mobility assessment score, while folate status showed a positive association with balance scores.
These results therefore support previous studies that have reported associations between homocysteine and age related decline. Studies measuring the vitamin B status of Western subjects have reported insufficiencies that may explain the cognitive and physical decline seen in such populations (here and here). Undoubtedly, these insufficiencies are caused in part by consuming refined cereal grains as part of the Western diet. The refining of cereal grains removes the fibre and micronutrient dense bran and germ layers of the kernel, leaving only the micronutrient poor starchy endosperm. The obvious solution to reversing this process of creating nutritional deficiencies through food is to revert to whole unprocessed foods that contains the required nutrients. The Mediterranean diet and other traditional diets are increasingly being linked to better health, for this reason. Those who believe that fortifying sugar laden fibre poor breakfast cereals with a sprinkling of micronutrients is any kind of solution deserve the bad health they will undoubtedly acquire.
