Question: Hi, How does your diet affect the development of the brain, and, how does the artificial addition of vitaimins, aka tablets or capsules such as cod liver oil, change that / affect the brain's development. I have seen in some places that the tablets with large amounts of vitamin A, for example, can cause toxic levels in the liver. What should we be doing, as well as a healthy diet? Why do people still choose tablets? Thanks, Andrew

Jemma Ransom answered on 21 Mar 2011:

Hi Andrew. A series of very good questions!

The body is very very good at maintaining appropriate levels of vitamins in the blood stream. For example, a mouse is born with all the vitamin A it will ever require stored in it’s liver. So as long as expectant mother’s eat a reasonably varied diet, the liver and pancrease etc will do the rest. however there have been instances in history where populations have lived in famine. Babies born to mothers who experienced famine during pregnancy have a higher chance of developing psychiatric diseases such as depression and schizophrenia in later life, so vitamins and diet are clearly very important to brain development.
There’s also the effect of toxicity. A few years ago a drug was introduced to treat acne based on vitamin A – this drug is known to be teratogenic (harmful to fetus) and causes brain defects in new born babies. So the right level of vitamin is required, and at the right time in gestation, to result in correct brain development.
As for why people continue to take vitamin pills – I guess I can only blame clever advertising. We don’t need vitamin pills so long as we have no underlying health issues, and we eat a healthy diet. And expectant mothers should most certainly not be taking vitamin tablets at all.