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What Vitamin Should I Take : Introduction and page one of What Vitamin Should I Take will get into why having a nutritional diet isn't always possible, and the benefits to vitamin and mineral supplements. A good multi vitamin can be useful for anybody.
Multi Vitamin : Page two of What Vitamin Should I Take will get into our list of vitamins and minerals which aims to help you answer this question yourself. We start off with Vitamin A and Vitamin B.
Vitamin Information : When trying to decide what vitamin you should take, it is important to understand the function of common vitamins. Please check out the purposes of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.
Vitamin and Mineral : Page four of What Vitamin Should I Take will start getting into some of the healthiest mineral supplements you could be taking, including Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Phosphorus.
Mineral Vitamin : Page five of What Vitamin Should I Take continues our list of important minerals, including Chromium, Iodine, and Copper.
Mineral Supplement Vitamin : Page six of What Vitamin Should I Take will complete our list of some great health mineral supplements that people could be taking, including Manganese, Molybdenum, Zinc, and Selenium. |
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What is the most important vitamin of all? Linus Pauling may have considered vitamin C as fitting that role. Others might swear that vitamin B12 injections are the life-savers. Yet other folks might believe that it is vitamin E. And they are all right: the most important vitamin is the one (or ones) that you are lacking. For many people, that is vitamin B6.
Vitamin B6 is actually a family of water soluble substances that includes pyridoxine (the most common term), pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. These are converted in the body into one biologically active form, pyridoxal 5-phosphate. It’s easier just to say vitamin B6. B6 supports more vital bodily functions than any other vitamin. For example, it:
- Is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
- Is responsible for the manufacture of hormones, red blood cells, neurotransmitters, enzymes and prostaglandins.
- Helps balance hormonal changes in both men and women.
- Is required for production of serotonin (which controls our sleep patterns, moods, and sensitivity to pain).
- Helps maintain healthy immune system functions.
- Aids the nervous system to function efficiently.
- Helps reduce damage from radiation therapy.
- Assists in production of energy in the body.
- Has many, many more functions.
Although a lack of vitamin B6 can cause the following symptoms, be aware that the lack of other vitamins or minerals, or some illnesses or medications can cause these same symptoms.
- Nervousness or irritability
- Insomnia
- Muscle weakness or loss of muscular control
- Anemia
- Depression
- Dermatitis such as acne
- Arm and leg cramps
- Hair loss
- Slow learning
- Asthma
- Convulsions
You also may be at higher risk for a stroke or certain types of heart disease.
So how do you know if your symptoms indicate a vitamin B6 deficiency? We rarely see this deficiency in the U.S., because B6 is available in so many foods. If you have a poor diet or are an alcoholic, you probably have this deficiency and need supplemental B6. If poor diet is the cause and you change your diet, you may only need supplements for a short time. If you drink a lot of alcohol, you almost certainly need extra vitamin B6.
Good sources of B6 include lean beef, chicken, many varieties of fish, baked potatoes, bananas, citrus, grapes, garbanzo beans, peanut butter, avocados, brown rice, brewer’s yeast, and wheat germ.
Another cause of deficiency could be a medication that depletes or interferes with absorption of the vitamin; a supplement would be recommended. There are many medications that are guilty of this; a list of only some of them includes:
- Anticonvulsants
- Erythromycin
- Combined Estrogens
- Phenelzine
- Oral Contraceptives
- Tetracycline
- Theophylline and Aminophylline (bronchodialators)
There are other medications for which a B6 supplement may help reduce the likelihood and/or severity of side effects of the medication:
- Docetaxel
- Fenofibrate
- Fluorouracil (a chemotherapy drug)
- Resperidone
A few medications may work better if you take B6 supplementation, such as:
- Tricyclic Antideressants
- Hydroxychloroquine
Check with your doctor first if you are on any of these (or other) medications.
If you are taking Isoniazid or Phenobarbital, do not take a B6 supplement. The combination could cause dangerous results.
How much B6 should you take via supplements? The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is 1.3 to 1.7 milligrams per day. Higher doses of up to 500 milligrams a day are safe, but seldom necessary. Before you go to a higher dose, check with a doctor who is knowledgeable about vitamins and supplements, who can help you determine what you need.
But before you run to the health food store, please note that a plain vitamin B6 supplement will not cut it. Vitamins are groups of chemically related compounds that work together in a way that the total effect is greater than the sum of its parts. This is synergism, and the group is known as a Vitamin Complex. These complexes are made up of an organic compound and co-factors---such as enzymes, antioxidants, trace elements, etc. If all of the necessary components are not there, then any and all vitamins in the complex will either not be well assimilated or they will not work efficiently.
Co-factors necessary for the assimilation of vitamin B6 are potassium, all of the other B vitamins, and vitamin C. Get the best quality supplement you can find that has all of these components or you are probably wasting your money. In fact, a high quality (not necessarily equivalent to “the most expensive”) multi-vitamin and mineral complex is what you should try first. If that doesn’t do the job, then consider an additional B6 supplement with the necessary co-factors in it.
May you find “the best vitamin”---for you!
Thank you to Mary Lou Derksen for this "Vitamin B6" article.
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Vitamin B6 - What is the most important vitamin of all? Linus Pauling may have considered vitamin C as fitting that role. Others might swear that vitamin B12 injections are the life-savers. Yet other folks might believe that it is vitamin E. And they are all right: the most important vitamin is the one (or ones) that you are lacking. For many people, that is vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is actually a family of water soluble substances that includes pyridoxine (the most common term), pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. These are converted in the body into one biologically active form, pyridoxal 5-phosphate. It’s easier just to say vitamin B6. B6 supports more vital bodily functions than any other vitamin. For example, it:...
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