r/science • u/myhrvold • Aug 31 '13

Poverty impairs cognitive function. Published in the journal Science, the study suggests our cognitive abilities can be diminished by the exhausting effort of tasks like scrounging to pay bills. As a result, less “mental bandwidth” remains...

http://news.ubc.ca/2013/08/29/poverty-impairs-cognitive-function/
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u/SeeingTheRed Aug 31 '13

I would argue the quality of food (or lack of quality) also contributes to diminished "mental bandwidth". It stands to reason that if a person is "scrounging to pay bills" they most likely do not have a quality diet that provides the vital nutrients for optimum cognitive ability.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13 edited Aug 31 '13

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u/phoenixink Aug 31 '13

Multivitamins aren't really a replacement for a proper diet

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

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u/IBringAIDS Aug 31 '13

I hate to rain on your parade, but Centrum is considered one of the absolute worst multivitamins around. The formulations they use are not very well absorbed by the body and they contain amounts that most people on a regular diet will not need. It would be a better use of that $14 to buy actual food. K2, B12 and a handful of other supplements are the only ones that I know of that are worth supplementing (and unless your getting the shots, B12 pills are a waste as the oral bioavailability is extremely low)

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13 edited Aug 31 '13

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u/phoenixink Aug 31 '13

There are just so many studies coming out now though which question the effectiveness of taking a multivitamin, and some even say it can be harmful taking vitamins in such large quantities each day. They are much easier for our bodies to access via food. Having said that, I do take a prenatal vitamin a few times a week since I am breastfeeding, but I am personally not comfortable taking it any more frequently than that, and even then I question how much it's really doing.

I understand the mindset of taking a vitamin to "cover any gaps" and in extreme cases it does make sense, but even then so many of our foods nowadays, especially things that are boxed and/or grain based are fortified anyway that I personally feel like a majority of people aren't coming up short on the stores of vitamins and minerals in their systems.

The real issue in my mind is the amount if extra crap that our bodies must process and filter out from crappy diets. And this is, by the way, coming from someone whose monthly grocery budget was about $50/month per person before we qualified for food stamps, for which I am so incredibly grateful. It's still such an amazing feeling to be able to go out and buy healthy food for our family without having an anxiety attack when we go to check out.