Also called pantothenate or pantothenic acid, vitamin B5 is an essential nutrient for your body. Although you can get vitamin B5 from many different foods, you can also take a supplement to correct a deficiency. Before taking a supplement, discuss your specific needs for vitamin B5 with your healthcare provider.
Benefits
You might take vitamin B5 to help reduce your triglycerides and cholesterol levels, treat rheumatoid arthritis, increase your physical performance or ease stress, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Vitamin B5 supplements may also help in healing wounds, although vitamin B5 is most often recommended to make up for a deficiency. If you have a deficiency of vitamin B5, you could experience respiratory infections, stomach upset and vomiting, insomnia, fatigue and depression, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Function
Like other B vitamins, vitamin B5 helps your body to metabolize carbohydrates and fats to turn them into energy, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center. Vitamin B5 plays an important role in producing red blood cells, supporting gastrointestinal health, regulating your adrenal glands and synthesizing cholesterol. Vitamin B5 also helps to produce the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dosage
Often labeled as pantothenic acid or calcium pantothenate, vitamin B5 is included in most B-complex vitamin supplements. Although the recommended daily intake of vitamin B5 for adults is just 5 mg, your doctor could recommend much higher doses to help treat specific health conditions, says the University of Maryland Medical Center.
People with high cholesterol or triglycerides might take up to 900 mg of vitamin B5 daily, and people with rheumatoid arthritis could take up to 2,000 mg daily. These therapeutic dosages of vitamin B5 are often divided into three separate doses in a day, notes the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Only take these high doses under the supervision of a physician, however.
Scientific Evidence
A two-month-long, double-blind study found that taking 900 mg of vitamin B5 per day reduced blood triglycerides by nearly one-third, lowered LDL or "bad cholesterol" levels by 13.5 percent and increased HDL or "good cholesterol" levels by 10 percent, according to a 1984 issue of Atherosclerosis. Likewise, another double-blind study published in Current Therapeutic Research in 1983 discovered that taking vitamin B5 supplements reduce triglycerides and improved cholesterol profiles, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
A small clinical trial of people with rheumatoid arthritis found that taking 2 g per day of vitamin B5 eased pain and stiffness while improving mobility, according to a 1980 issue of the Practitioner. A 1985 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that vitamin B5 supplementation improved wound healing in rabbits, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. Vitamin B5 supplements were effective for relieving stress in several medical studies, according to a 1999 issue of Alternative Medicine Review. Finally, a 1986 study in Clinical Therapeutics discovered that vitamin B5 had some potential in treating osteoarthritis.
Warnings
Taking a single B-complex vitamin can cause an imbalance of the other B vitamins, so you should take a supplement containing all the B-complex vitamins, advises the University of Maryland Medical Center. Also, taking vitamin B5 can potentially interfere with certain other medications. Vitamin B5 supplements could interact negatively with tetracycline antibiotics and cholinesterase inhibitors used to treat Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B5 supplements may not be safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women, warns the University of Michigan Health System.
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