Supplements are currently in question over their effectiveness and their ability to prevent disease and boost vitality, however new research provides proof that supplementing vitamins into the diet can be beneficial for your health.

In a study released by the British Medical Journal, researchers from the UK and Australia found that additional vitamins and minerals can help with brain function and development in children.

81 children were given vitamin and mineral supplements over the course of 12 weeks and were instructed not to take any supplements in the three months prior to testing. The researchers were based in Newcastle in the UK and worked in collaboration with the University of Westminster and Swinburne University in Australia. After the test period, the team found that cognitive performance, including attention-span, were greatly improved after using a set of lab assessments to test the childrens' progress.

The team also tested the childrens' cognitive performance using the same assessments on the first day of taking the supplements – one hour and three hours after taking the first dose.

Professor David Kennedy, who led the research, stated that there were effects seen early on – a new discovery in this area.

"The most surprising facet of the improvement in attention task performance seen here is that it became evident by three hours post-dose on the first day. To the best of our knowledge, the possibility that vitamins or minerals could exert behavioural effects after a single dose has not been explored."

It must be noted however that the study was funded by the Swiss company Pharmaton SA, who, unsurprisingly, supplied the childrens version of their multivitamin supplement for the testing.