What Vitamins Are In Vitamin B Complex

Folate And Folic Acid

Folate is a B vitamin found in many foods. The manmade form of folate is called folic acid.

Folate is also known as folacin and vitamin B9.

Folate helps:

• the body form healthy red blood cells
• reduce the risk of birth defects called neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, in unborn babies

A lack of folate could lead to folate deficiency anaemia.

Excessive Folic Acid Intake

Although folic acid is generally considered non-toxic, excessive intakes above 1,000 mcg per day over a period of time can lead to malaise, irritability and intestinal dysfunction. The main risk with excessive folate intake is that it can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency, so its best to consume these two vitamins within the recommended amounts.

Nature Made Super B Complex Tablets

Nature Made Super B Complex with Vitamin C and Folic Acid gives your body the support it needs with a combination of 8 essential B vitamins that are vital for converting food into cellular energy for cellular energy support. Sourced from high-quality ingredients, these Nature Made Vitamin B complex tablets are a gluten free dietary supplement with no color added and no artificial flavors. These Nature Made super B-complex with Vitamin C cellular energy supplements provide antioxidant support for your immune system and support normal function of the nervous system. Adults take one of these Vitamin B complex supplements daily with water and a meal. Nature Made’s commitment to your good health lies at the core of every product made. Nature Made supplements are quality you can trust. USP has tested and verified ingredients, potency and manufacturing process. USP sets official standards for dietary supplements. Visit the USP verified website for more information.Based on a survey of pharmacists who recommend branded vitamins and supplements

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Vitamin B Deficiency Diseases And Conditions

Vitamin B deficiency can increase the risk of various diseases and conditions which can affect your heart health, brain health, mental well-being, and more. For example, both B9 and B12 deficiency causes anemia in some cases â a condition in which your body lacks healthy red blood cells . Anemia can also lead to fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, and even numbness and tingling in some cases.

Other conditions linked with vitamin B deficiency include:

• Paresthesias â A âpins-and-needlesâ feeling often experienced around the arms, hands, legs, or feet
• Peripheral neuropathy â A nervous system condition that is often felt as a stabbing or burning pain
• Psychosis â A mental condition in which oneâs thoughts and perceptions are significantly altered, resulting in delusions, hallucinations, nonsense speech, or other symptoms
• Heart attack and stroke â A deficiency in vitamin B12 may heighten the risk of getting a heart attack or stroke

Vitamin B Complex Benefits

B-complex vitamins play a number of important roles in, including helping enzymes to function and breaking down the essential nutrients that fuel your body and keep you healthy.

If youre deficient in certain B vitamins, you may start to develop health issues. For example, a lack of vitamins B6 or B12 cause anemia — a condition in which your blood lacks the red blood cells required to transport oxygen around your body.

Research suggests that vitamin B complex supplements may help to promote improved wound healing.

For example, a study published in the journal Advances in Skin & Wound Care found that some combinations of B vitamins improved wound closure in healing skin.

Additional research has found that use of vitamin B complex supplements may help to improve mood and performance.

However, its worth noting that this research was sponsored by Bayer — a pharmaceutical brand that manufactures and markets its own line of vitamin B complex supplements.

Other B vitamins are recommended for their health benefits in certain situations. For example, pregnant women, older adults and people with health conditions that affect nutrient absorption are often advised to use vitamin B complex supplements.

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Produces Red Blood Cells

Some B vitamins, particularly vitamin B12, play an essential role in red blood cell formation. Healthy red blood cells are needed to transport oxygen to every part of the body. When there is a vitamin B12 deficiency, the body cannot produce enough red blood cells and anemia can occur.

Vitamin B2 is also needed for red blood cell production and growth, as is vitamin B9. While vitamin B5 plays a role in red blood cell production, it also helps reduce the amount of cholesterol produced by the body. And vitamin B6, which is required for more than 100 different enzyme reactions in the body, aids in the formation of hemoglobin, which also allows red blood cells to carry oxygen through the blood.

B vitamins involved: B2, B5, B6, B9, B12

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Foods High In Vitamin B’s

B group Vitamins are mainly found in eggs, fish, fruits, grains, kidneys, legumes, liver, meat, milk, nuts, poultry, seeds, vegetables, and yeast.

Water-soluble Vitamins are unstable to heat, light and oxygen. Prolonged cooking can easily destroy these Vitamins.

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Benefits Of Vitamin B Complex Supplements

While a number of B complex supplements are available at grocery stores, supplement stores, and online, not all of them contain the most absorbable forms of these nutrients.

Plus, most B complex vitamins contain folic acid, the synthetic form of the folate found in food. Folic acid differs structurally from folate and has different effects in the body.

Research has shown that high intake of folic acid can cause unmetabolized folic acid to accumulate in the blood, which has been associated with negative health outcomes, such as an increased risk of autism in offspring and accelerated mental decline .

For this reason, many experts suggest supplements containing 5-MTHF.

Plus, 5-MTHF is more appropriate for those who have genetic polymorphisms, such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase , that affect enzymes involved in folate metabolism (

24 ).

Your doctor can help you determine whether taking a B complex vitamin is the right choice for you and suggest the optimal dosage.

To learn more about B complex vitamins and dosing, read this article.

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Do You Need A Vitamin B Supplement

Most folks get enough B vitamins through a healthy diet, but others may need a B complex supplement to keep their levels in check.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women, older adults, and those on restrictive diets may benefit from taking a supplement. Vegans and vegetarians should pay extra attention to their B12 intake.

The most common B vitamin deficiencies are:

• folate
• vitamin B6
• vitamin B12

In some cases, your doc might suggest a vitamin B12 shot. These are usually given to peeps who have a malabsorption issue. The shots can only be prescribed by a doctor.

Do B Vitamins Have An Impact On Brain Function

Given that B vitamins are essential for every aspect of brain function, and that large proportions of the population of developed societies have less than optimal levels of vitamins, it would be expected that a relationship would be evident between vitamin consumption and mental function both in terms of epidemiological studies and controlled intervention trials. The driver for much of the research conducted to date in both of these domains has been the homocysteine hypothesis described above. Concentrating on this one unproven hypothesis has resulted in both observational and controlled trial research being focussed disproportionately on just three of the vitaminsfolate and vitamins B6 and B12. However, the observational and the controlled trial research concentrating on these three vitamins could be seen as generating somewhat different conclusions.

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Does Vitamin B Work For Hair Growth

Some B vitamins, such as biotin, play a significant role in your bodys process for growing and maintaining your hair.

If youre deficient in these vitamins, you may notice that your hair doesnt look as thick and full as it normally does. You may also notice that youre shedding more hair than normal.

Weve talked about these symptoms more in our guide to biotin and the role it plays in the hair growth process

While vitamin B complex supplements may help to stimulate hair growth, most research shows that theyre only effective if your hair loss is caused by a vitamin deficiency.

For example, unless youre deficient in biotin, you probably wont notice any positive change in your hair simply by taking a biotin or B-complex vitamin supplement daily.

As we mentioned above, deficiencies of specific B vitamins are not very common, especially in otherwise healthy people.

Because of this, there generally isnt any reason to use a vitamin B complex supplement unless youre specifically deficient in one or several B vitamins.

Instead, youll likely get better results by simply taking a daily multivitamin, which likely contains most of the essential B vitamins anyway.

Mechanisms Of Action And Functions Of B Vitamins

B vitamins act as coenzymes in a substantial proportion of the enzymatic processes that underpin every aspect of cellular physiological functioning. As a coenzyme the biologically active form of the vitamin binds within a protein apoenzyme creating a holoenzyme, thereby increasing the resultant enzymes competence in terms of the diversity of reactions that it can catalyse . In this role, the B vitamins play key interacting roles in the majority of cellular functions. As an example of their ubiquity, the primary bioactive form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal 5-phosphate, is an essential cofactor in the functioning of over 140 separate ubiquitous enzymes required for the synthesis, degradation, and interconversion of amino acids , whereas the active coenzyme form of pantothenic acid, coenzyme A , is an obligatory co-factor for approximately 4% of all mammalian enzymes . Less often B vitamins also function as direct precursors for metabolic substrates for example, CoA is also acetylated to form acetyl-CoA, an intermediate compound in both the generation of cellular energy and the synthesis of multiple bioactive compounds. Similarly, niacin is a precursor for ADP-ribose, which functions in multiple non-enzymatic cellular roles.

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Kirkland Signature One Per Day Super B

What Is Vitamin B Good For

Vitamin B is the building block of a healthy body. It contributes to your energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism.

Any deficiency will contribute to fatigue, poor appetite, depression, and numbness/tingling in the hands and/or feet. Over time, a lack of B12 could cause nervous system damage. This is a serious situation, best addressed by a doctor.

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Its Metabolites And Dietary Sources

Choline is classified as a B complex vitamin and has been referred to as vitamin J. This vitamin is a very stable molecule during food preparation or storage .

Structurally, choline is a quaternary amine with a positive charge. It can be found free, phosphorylated, oxidized, and acetylated. It is essential for the synthesis of acetylcholine, which acts as a neurotransmitter, of the phospholipids of cellular membranes, and of lipid transporters as plasma lipoproteins . The oxidized form of choline is known as betaine and is a trimethylglycine that acts as a donor of methyl groups in the methionine cycle .

There are many foods that are sources of choline. According to the USDA database , the highest content of choline belongs to whole eggs, followed in descending order by meat-fish, whole grains, breakfast cereals, vegetables-fruits, milk, and fats-oils . Eggs are the main source of phospholipids in the Western diet, including phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylinositol . However, foods rich in choline contain a large amount of cholesterol or fats and are avoided by many people, which can lead to choline deficiencies.

Table 11.2. Main dietary sources of choline.

Michal Chmielewski, … Bengt Lindholm, in, 2013

Best Vitamin B Supplements Without B12 And Folate

Some people cant tolerate active forms of vitamin B12 or folate and need to supplement separately with these nutrients.

Plus, B complex vitamins without these vitamins are ideal for those who need to customize their dosages and forms of folate and vitamin B12, such as people with certain genetic variants.

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How Much Folate Do I Need

Adults need 200 micrograms of folate a day. A microgram is 1,000 times smaller than a milligram . The word microgram is sometimes written with the Greek symbol μ followed by the letter g .

There are no long-term stores in the body, so you need to eat folate-containing foods frequently.

Most people should be able to get the amount of folate they need by eating a varied and balanced diet.

Is Your Vitamin B Complex Helping Your Hair

Medically reviewed by Katelyn Hagerty, FNP

If youve searched for information about maintaining your hair, you might have seen B vitamins recommended as helpful tools for stimulating healthy hair growth.

There are eight different B-vitamins, which together are known as the vitamin B complex. These vitamins are widely available in nutritional supplements and offer a range of different benefits for your health and wellbeing.

But can B-complex vitamins contribute to hair growth? While vitamin B clearly plays a key role in the hair growth process, the scientific evidence is mixed when it comes to the effectiveness of B complex vitamins for hair growth.

Below, weve explained what vitamin B complex supplements are, as well as the eight different types of vitamin B that make up this group of vitamins.

Weve also listed and discussed some of the major health benefits associated with the different forms of vitamin B, including the potential effects of B vitamins on hair growth.

Finally, weve explained what you can do if youre starting to lose your hair and want to turn to vitamins, supplements and other treatments to restore hair growth.

We want you to walk away smarter. But if youre only interested in the bottom line, here it is:

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Brain Specific Roles Of B Vitamins

The brain is by far the most metabolically active organ in the body, representing only 2% of body weight but accounting for over 20% of the bodys total energy expenditure . The B vitamins general metabolic functions, alongside their roles in neurochemical synthesis, may therefore be conceived as having a particular impact on brain function. Indeed, the importance of the B vitamins for brain function is illustrated by the fact that each vitamin is actively transported across the blood brain barrier and/or choroid plexus by dedicated transport mechanisms. Once in the brain, specific cellular uptake mechanisms dictate distribution, and, whilst the B vitamins all have high turnovers, ranging from 8% to 100% per day, their levels are tightly regulated by multiple homeostatic mechanisms in the brain . This guarantees that brain concentrations remain comparatively high. For example, the concentration of methyltetrahydrofolate in the brain is four times that seen in plasma , whereas biotin and pantothenic acid exist in the brain at concentrations of up to 50 times that seen in plasma .

2.1.1. Thiamine

2.1.2. Riboflavin

2.1.3. Niacin

2.1.4. Pantothenic Acid

2.1.5. Vitamin B6

2.1.6. Biotin

2.1.7. Folate and Vitamin B12

Take Vitamin B5 For Healthy Hormones

All people age 14 and older should get 5 mg of vitamin B5 each day, according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. You can find vitamin B5 in vegetables of the cabbage family, such as broccoli and kale, as well as in avocado. In addition, whole-grain cereals, potatoes, dairy, and organ meats are good sources. This type of B vitamin is needed for many of the biochemical reactions that go on in our cells each day, including the breakdown of carbohydrates and lipids for energy. Because it’s a water-soluble vitamin, you need vitamin B5 in your diet every day. Pantothenic acid is necessary for our bodies to produce hormones, and it’s also needed for growth.

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