# Vitamin B: Cell Servants #
Vitamin B is a whole group of compounds that help processes in our cells. The B vitamins are linked to energy because if we are short of B vitamins, the energy production in our cells slows down while they wait for the factor they need.
# Case of the Missing Bs #
The B vitamins are numbered in the order they were discovered from B1 in 1936 to B12 in 1948. The missing numbers are compounds that are no longer called B vitamins (4, 8, 10, and 11). There are 8 B vitamins.
# B1---Thiamin #
Thiamin is used for energy production. It is especially important for diabetics as high blood sugar flushes out B1. B1 might also help lower blood pressure if you have high blood sugar.
# B2---Riboflavin #
Riboflavin was originally known as vitamin G. One hundred enzymes in your body depend on riboflavin (B2). It is essential for iron absorption, eye health, artery flexibility, and connective tissue. One other potential benefit of B2 is it may help reduce the number of migraines. This is the vitamin that makes your pee bright yellow. It will actually glow under a black light.
# B3 - Niacin #
Niacin, or B3, can reduce cholesterol, especially if you’re not on a cholesterol prescription yet. It was approved by the US FDA to treat high cholesterol in 1957. It lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. It should be used under the supervision of a doctor because the high doses required can harm the liver and kidneys and mess with insulin. To get the cholesterol-lowering effect, you need about 100 times the standard dose, or about 2,000 mg a day.
# The Glowing Results of Niacin #
If you start with 2,000 mg a day, you will get severe niacin flushing---your body will get warm, and your skin will get red and feel prickly. It’s unnerving if you don’t know what’s happening. Start with 250 mg a day and add 250 mg every 5 days until you reach 2,000 mg. After 2 weeks at 2,000 mg a day, get your cholesterol tested. If it’s still high, you can work up to 3,000 mg and get tested again to see if the higher dose helped. At doses of 3,000 mg per day, niacin can cause liver problems, so check with your doctor.
# Triple Benefits of B3 #
B3 or Niacin is also an excellent skin product. Skin creams with 4% niacin reduce wrinkles and make your skin more elastic as well as smooth out colour and texture. In addition to its effects on the skin, vitamin B3 might also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The skin, brain, and heart all benefit from Niacin. In short, Niacin is a boon as we age.
# B5 - Pantothenic Acid #
Pantothenic acid is a building block for brain chemicals and hormones. It is also crucial for regenerating connective tissue.
# B6 - Six Benefits #
B6 is actually a group of six compounds. Similar to B2, B6 is used in a lot of processes in the body, especially in the production of proteins to rebuild your body. It is essential for brain and nerve function, the immune system, and mood. Even a small deficiency can affect your immune health, and up to 1/3 of healthy older folk don’t get enough. It has been shown to help with mood in women with PMS.
Too much B6 can cause numbness, tingling, and sensitivity to light. These effects usually start at doses over 200 mg a day.
# B7 - Biotin #
Biotin is required for healthy skin, nails, hair, and other cells as well as breaking down food into energy.
# B9 - Folate #
Folate is necessary for making a copy of DNA when your body makes new cells. This is especially important with red blood cells, which carry oxygen and nutrients to other cells. That is why it is important during pregnancy.
# B12 Shortage #
When we reach 60, we have a harder time absorbing B12. It is unique among vitamins, as it actually contains a metal, cobalt. B12 is vital for the brain and nerves. Being low on B12 can cause numbness or tingling in the hands and feet as well as memory loss. Low vitamin B12 is associated with Alzheimer’s. A shortage of B12 also increases your risk of eye problems, such as macular degeneration.
You really can’t take too much B12. If you don’t eat meat, it’s hard to get enough B12, as it occurs only in animal products like meat and eggs. B12 is used when your cells renew themselves. It also has the rare use of being an antidote for cyanide poisoning.
# A Shot of B #
B12 is the most common form of vitamin B shots. Because B12 is the only vitamin B your body can store (it converts it to a special form), you can get a B injection daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the purpose. Injections can work better as some people lose the ability to absorb enough B from the gut, so a shot is the only way to get the vitamin.
# Flushing B #
B vitamins dissolve in water, so the extra B that your body can’t use is flushed away in your pee, unlike vitamins A, D, E, and K, which can stick to fat and be stored for a while.
# B Healthy #
Most people don’t get enough B vitamins, and aging makes our absorption of Vitamin B more difficult. We recommend taking a vitamin B combination every day. Because B vitamins dissolve in water, your body doesn’t store them up (except for B12). The danger of high doses is small because your body flushes the extra. The answer the question, ‘to B or not to B’ is simple, say yes to a B complex.
# Recommended Dose Table #
B1 - Thiamin - 1.5 to 25 mg
B2 - Riboflavin - 1.5 to 25 mg (or much more to reduce migraines; check with a doctor)
B3 - Niacin - 20 mg/day. To reduce cholesterol, take 2,000 mg/day (Start with 200 mg and work up to this dose, but check with your doctor first as it can affect the liver, kidneys, and insulin.)
B5 - Pantothenic Acid - 5 to 100 mg
B6 - 2 to 200 mg. At very high (or low) doses, it can cause limb numbness.
B7 - Biotin - 30 to 1,000 mcg
B9 - Folate - 400 to 1,200 mcg
B12 - 6 to 1,000 mcg
