Why Should I Take A B Complex Vitamin?

The components of the B-complex vitamin provide many health benefits, including improved mood, boosted energy, as well as help with the metabolism of nutrients. If you are pregnant, drink alcohol or eat high-carbohydrate meals, you have special vitamin B needs. When you are lacking any B vitamins you may experience anxiety and stress, dry hair and skin, fatigue, headaches and possibly anemia. You need to consume B vitamins every day. Although food sources, like lean meats and dairy provide good amounts of B vitamins, you could lose some of the vitamin content in cooking and storage. A B-complex vitamin, then, is an important supplement to get adequate amounts of all the B vitamins you need. See your health care provider before you begin supplementing.

Vitamin B Complex

The B group of vitamins is indeed vast. The B vitamins in the B complex include thiamin, or B1; riboflavin, or B2; niacin, or B3 and pantothenic acid, or B5. In addition, the complex includes the vitamin B6 group --- pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, along with biotin, or B7; folic acid, or folate; and cyanocobalamin, or B12. In some formulations, aminobenzoic acid, inositol and choline are also included in the vitamin B complex.

The compounds that make up the vitamin B complex play crucial roles in your health and well-being. It's good to take vitamin B complex because the individual components work synergistically to provide benefits to your metabolic processes, immune and nervous systems. They help form red blood cells, help convert carbohydrates for energy and assist in the metabolism of fats and proteins.

Energy and Metabolism

Thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin unlock the micronutrients carbohydrates, fats and proteins and help convert them for energy to the body. Niacin also aids in the digestive process and promotes a normal appetite. Vitamin B6 and folic acid help with protein metabolism and absorption and helps your body use fats. These vitamins are also essential for the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose and aid in the functioning of your stomach and intestinal tract.

Brain Health and Mood

B vitamins are involved with many interactions that take place in your brain and have a tremendous effect on your mood. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid help make up the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, as well as serotonin and dopamine. GABA helps you calm down and relax. Serotonin on the other helps elevate your mood. Dopamine is another neurotransmitter that helps your brain regulate your movement, walking and balance, but is also associated with the pleasure and reward signals in your brain.

Disease Risk Reduction

Vitamins B6, B12 and folate help reduce risk of major diseases. For example, folate lowers a pregnant woman's risk of delivering a baby with birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly. Folate also plays a role in building DNA and may lower risk of colon and breast cancer. However, according to Harvard's School of Public Health, when she takes this B vitamin is critical. It must be taken within a few weeks after conception, likely before she even knows she's pregnant, so it's helpful to have a diet that's already high in this B-vitamin, and the complex vitamin is a helpful way to get there.

B vitamins also lower risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Choline, found in eggs, may also be involved in slowing down age-related memory loss. Folate, B6 and B12 also decrease homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid that in high levels increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. According to Harvard, when you don't get enough folate, B6 and B12, the work they do to decrease homocysteine becomes inefficient, and homocysteine levels go up.

Get Enough

Because B vitamins are water soluble, they are not stored by the body like fat-soluble vitamins. They are eliminated in your urine. In addition, your foods can experience vitamin loss by the way they are processed, stored or cooked. To get enough, you need to consume B vitamins on daily basis. A B-complex vitamin supplement, along with a healthy diet, is a good way to get adequate amounts. Whole grains, nuts and seeds, lean meats and dairy are all good sources of B vitamins.