Like many milestones, reaching age 55 has its benefits. For example, weight-loss research shows that American women gain an average of 16 pounds of body weight from age 25 to age 54. Only at about age 55 does their weight decline. Men gain an average of 10 pounds of body weight from age 25-45. They too begin to lose weight at about age 55.

Is there anything that can be done to change the slow march of weight gain that precedes middle age? Several researchers involved in a study examining the effectiveness of supplements suggest that the ingestion of four common supplements could.

An analysis of the survey results revealed the following:

-- Respondents who consumed multivitamins, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin B-12, and chromium had less weight gain than their counterparts.

-- However, the positive effect of less weight gain was found to be most prevalent among those individuals who had been categorized as overweight or obese.

-- Gender had minimal impact on the survey results.

-- Racial differences were not considered due to the overwhelming Caucasian demographic of the master survey respondents.