B Vitamins 101

I recently had a "Metabolic Assessment Program" done by a holistic doc (Dr. Bump).  He analayzed my diet, saliva, blood, stool over a 5 day period.  It was super comprehensive and awesome! 

 

One of the things I learned about is the importance of B vitamins...and am just passing on some info about it.  It was the one supplement he added to our vitamin regimen.  A "Vitamin B Complex" - which includes all 8 B vitamins.

 

XOXO

 

B vitamins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The B vitamins are eight water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. Historically, the B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, referred to as vitamin B (much as people refer to vitamin C or vitamin D). Later research showed that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods. Supplements containing all eight are generally referred to as a vitamin B complex. Individual B vitamin supplements are referred to by the specific name of each vitamin (e.g. B₁, B₂, B₃ etc ).

List of B vitamins

• Vitamin B₁ (thiamine)
• Vitamin B₂ (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B₃ (niacin, includes nicotinic acid and nicotinamide)
• Vitamin B₅ (pantothenic acid)
• Vitamin B₆ (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine)
• Vitamin B₇ (biotin), also known as vitamin H
• Vitamin B₉ (folic acid), also, vitamin M
• Vitamin B₁₂ (various cobalamins; commonly cyanocobalamin in vitamin supplements)

Health benefits

The B vitamins often work together to deliver a number of health benefits to the body. B vitamins have been shown to:

• Support and increase the rate of metabolism
• Maintain healthy skin and muscle tone
• Enhance immune and nervous system function
• Promote cell growth and division — including that of the red blood cells that help prevent anemia.
• Reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal forms of cancer^[4], when consumed in food, but not when ingested in vitamin tablet form.^[5][6]

Together, they also help combat the symptoms and causes of stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease.

All B vitamins are water soluble, and are dispersed throughout the body. Most of the B vitamins must be replenished daily, since any excess is excreted in the urine.^[7]

B vitamin deficiency

Several named vitamin deficiency diseases may result from the lack of sufficient B-vitamins. Deficiencies of other B vitamins result in symptoms that are not part of a named deficiency disease.

Vitamin	Name	Deficiency effects
Vitamin B1	thiamine	Deficiency causes beriberi. Symptoms of this disease of the nervous system include weight loss, emotional disturbances, Wernicke's encephalopathy (impaired sensory perception), weakness and pain in the limbs, periods of irregular heartbeat, and edema (swelling of bodily tissues). Heart failure and death may occur in advanced cases. Chronic thiamine deficiency can also cause Korsakoff's syndrome, an irreversible psychosis characterized by amnesia and confabulation.
Vitamin B2	riboflavin	Deficiency causes ariboflavinosis. Symptoms may include cheilosis (cracks in the lips), high sensitivity to sunlight, angular cheilitis, glossitis (inflammation of the tongue), seborrheic dermatitis or pseudo-syphilis (particularly affecting the scrotum or labia majora and the mouth), pharyngitis, hyperemia, and edema of the pharyngeal and oral mucosa.
Vitamin B3	niacin	Deficiency, along with a deficiency of tryptophan causes pellagra. Symptoms include aggression, dermatitis, insomnia, weakness, mental confusion, and diarrhea. In advanced cases, pellagra may lead to dementia and death.
Vitamin B5	pantothenic acid	Deficiency can result in acne and paresthesia, although it is uncommon.
Vitamin B6	pyridoxine	Deficiency may lead to anemia, depression, dermatitis, high blood pressure (hypertension), water retention, and elevated levels of homocysteine.
Vitamin B7	biotin	Deficiency does not typically cause symptoms in adults but may lead to impaired growth and neurological disorders in infants.
Vitamin B9	folic acid	Deficiency results in a macrocytic anemia, and elevated levels of homocysteine. Deficiency in pregnant women can lead to birth defects. Supplementation is often recommended during pregnancy. Researchers have shown that folic acid might also slow the insidious effects of age on the brain.
Vitamin B12	cobalamin	Deficiency causes macrocytic anemia, elevated homocysteine, peripheral neuropathy, memory loss and other cognitive deficits. It is most likely to occur among elderly people as absorption through the gut declines with age; the autoimmune disease pernicious anemia is another common cause. It can also cause symptoms of mania and psychosis. In rare extreme cases, paralysis can result.

 

Vitamin B sources

Different B vitamins come from different natural sources, such as potatoes, bananas, lentils, chile peppers, tempeh, liver oil, liver, turkey, tuna, nutritional yeast (or brewer's yeast) and molasses. Marmite and Vegemite bill themselves as "one of the world's richest known sources of vitamin B". As might be expected, due to its high content of brewer's yeast, beer is a source of B vitamins^[8], although this may be less true for filtered beers^[9]and the alcohol in beer impairs the body's ability to activate vitamins.

The B-12 vitamin is of note because it is not available from plant products, making B-12 deficiency a concern for vegans. Manufacturers of plant-based foods will sometimes report B-12 content, leading to confusion about what sources yield B-12. The confusion arises because the standard US Pharmacopeia (USP) method for measuring the B-12 content does not measure the B-12 directly. Instead, it measures a bacterial response to the food. Chemical variants of the B-12 vitamin found in plant sources are active for bacteria, but cannot be used by the human body. This same phenomenon can cause significant over-reporting of B-12 content in other types of foods as well.^[10]