Vitamin B - Benefits, Deficiency Symptoms And Food Sources

Alternative name - Vitamin B-complex

The truth is, there are not one but several members of the Vitamin B family, which were needed by the body. Scientists raised their eyebrows when they saw that these vitamins all fell under the same category, but they were required for different purposes by the body, so that the system would function smoothly and efficiently. Generally the Vitamin B group had a close bond between themselves, and they were together called the B complex, because there were quite a few members there.  

Sources of Vitamin B Complex 

You would generally find the members of the vitamin in different products, like cereals mostly. However, the cereals contain the vitamin in the husk and the outer part of the grain, so when you polish and refine your cereals, you lose the vitamin essential to you. So, if you have white flour, not a lot of vitamins would be there, and whole wheat flower would on the other hand contain a lot of it.  

Benefits of Vitamin B Complex 

Vitamin B complex alludes to generally all the vitamins soluble in water apart from Vitamin C. This means, vitamins like Pantothenic Acid (B5), Niacin (B3), Pyridoxine (B6), Riboflavin (B2), Biotine, Thiamine (B1), and Cobalamin (B12) along with folic acid falls under this category. Each of these has their own kind of work to do and own area of expertise for the body. For example, to stabilize the metabolism of the amino acids, Vitamin B6 is needed, while folic acid generally helps divide the cells and induce growth. The body ingests all forms of Vitamin B complex from different sources and they can be derived from separate sources. But there is no hard and fast rule that they are all needed at the same time.  

Deficiency Symptoms of Vitamin B Complex 

You would be amazed to note the way the body breaks up carbohydrates and fats into glucose, and protein synthesis, in which Vitamin B is essential. Having this would provide you with a healthy body and glowing skin and hair. You would also feel de-stressed if you have a lot of the vitamin. Lack of the vitamin can induce dandruff and premature wrinkles. We need Vitamin B in all forms, and it can defer from 3 mcg to 18 mg for different groups of vitamins in humans. So if you take them all at the same pace and if you have each of them in the same amount then it might not solve your purpose. B complex supplements are not to be taken in equal measures. Also, if you take huge doses of the vitamin your body might have problems too, and you might end up getting overstressed, and lose energy. So taking them without consulting a doctor is not a good idea. Generally most multivitamin capsules and supplements have B complex as well as other ingredients. However, you should be careful about taking too much, because they are soluble in urine, and so can induce toxins in your body. They can also react with drugs and create problem in your body. Your safest bet would be to not take supplements and rather have foodstuff which can synthesize the standard flow of bacteria in your body and boost your immunity. 

Who are not advised to take? 

If you are suffering from heart conditions, then you had better not take this without the doctor’s permission.