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Vitamin B Complex Benefits
The B-Complex Vitamins offer a host of health benefits and are vital to just about every function of your body. Some specific benefits include:
Aids energy production
Keeps nerves healthy
Maintains health of eyes and skin
Aids in the digestion of carbohydrates
Essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system, muscles & heart
Stabilizes the appetite
Promotes growth and good muscle tone
Vitamin B Complex—The vitamin B complex is traditionally made up of 10 members (listed below) that differ in their biological actions, although many participate in energy production from carbohydrates and fats. They were grouped together into a single class because they were initially isolated from the same sources, liver and yeast.
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) is important for energy metabolism and in the initiation of nerve impulses.
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) is important in promoting the release of energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It also aids in maintaining the integrity of red blood cells.
Nicotinic acid (Niacin, Vitamin B3)—for B-Complex with niacin—is important for the release of energy from carbohydrates and fats, the metabolism of proteins, making certain hormones, and assisting in the formation of red blood cells. Dietary niacin and niacin formed within the body from the amino acid tryptophan are converted to niacinamide. Niacinamide (nicotinamide) is the biologically active form of niacin and it may be preferred as a supplement because it lacks the flushing effects of niacin.
Niacinamide—for B-Complex with niacinamide—is one of the water-soluble B-complex vitamins. Niacin, or nicotinic acid, is also known as Vitamin B-3. When an amide molecule attaches itself to niacin, it becomes niacinamide. One major difference is that in doses exceeding 50 mg, niacin typically produces flushing of the skin. Niacin and niacinamide also have different applications. It its niacinamide form, it is useful in arthritis and early-onset type I diabetes; niacin is an effective reducer of high cholesterol levels.
Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5) is the precursor to coenzyme A that is vital for the metabolism of carbohydrates, the synthesis and degradation of fats, the synthesis of sterols and the resultant steroid hormones, and the synthesis of many other important compounds.
Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) is necessary for the proper function of over 60 enzymes that participate in amino acid metabolism. It is also involved in carbohydrate and fat metabolism.
Folic acid (Vitamin B9) plays a major role in cellular metabolism including the synthesis of some of the components of DNA. It is necessary for normal red blood cell formation and adequate intake can reduce damage to DNA.
PABA is one of the basic constituents of folic acid and also helps in the assimilation of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). It is an antioxidant and acts as a coenzyme in the breakdown and utilization of protein.
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) is important for the proper functioning of many enzymes involved in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism, synthesis of the insulating sheath around nerve cells, cell reproduction, normal growth and red blood cell formation. It is essential for proper folic acid utilization.
Choline is traditionally not a vitamin, however it was identified as part of the vitamin B complex and has several important functions. Choline is a component of many biological membranes and fat transport molecules in the blood. It is able to stimulate the removal of excess fat from the liver. Choline serves as the precursor to many substances including a the transmitter of the parasympathetic nervous system, acetylcholine.
Inositol is an important part of cell membranes and is part of a signaling mechanism that transmits information from the outside to the inside of cells. Some evidence suggests it participates in the movement of fat out of the liver and intestinal cells, and that it may reverse desensitization of serotonin receptors, however this remains to be confirmed.
Biotin has an important role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism. |
