Vitamin B complex supplements typically contain six B vitamins: B-1, thiamine; B-2, riboflavin; B-3, niacin; B-5, pantothenic acid; B-6, pyridoxine, and B-12, cyanocobalamin. They may also contain folic acid, inositol, biotin and para-aminobenzoic acid -- PABA. The B vitamins play a vital role in digestion, but no sound medical reason exists to take vitamin B complex to burn fat.
Metabolism
The vitamins in vitamin B complex supplements do, indeed, help you metabolize fats. They also help you break down carbohydrates, converting them to sugar to provide your body with energy, and make it possible for your body to properly digest proteins. This doesn't mean, however, that taking extra vitamin B will help you metabolize fats and other nutrients in your diet faster than normal or that taking vitamin B complex supplements will burn fat stores in your body. Science does not support taking vitamin B complex supplements as a fat-burning or weight loss tool.
Benefits of Vitamin B Complex
Taking vitamin B supplements will not help you burn fat, and you may not need to take it for any nutritional reason if you include animal products in your diet. It may help to take individual B vitamins to treat certain medical conditions. One form of vitamin B-3, for instance, has proved successful in treating high cholesterol and hardening of the arteries. Another form of vitamin B-3 -- niacinamide -- can treat arthritis and delay the progression of type 1 diabetes. Other uses of B vitamins include preventing cataracts and age-related memory loss, preventing kidney disease in persons with type 2 diabetes and lowering levels of an enzyme associated with heart disease. But you should ask your doctor about whether individual B vitamins or a combination of them may help you.
Risks
If you take a vitamin B complex supplement that meets but doesn't exceed the recommended daily allowance -- RDA -- for each of the vitamins in the supplement, it will likely prove safe. But taking high amounts of vitamin B complex puts you at risk for both mild and serious side effects. Taking vitamin B complex may make you nauseated, give you stomach cramps, change the color of your urine or give you diarrhea. More serious complications include stomach ulcers, liver damage, gout and nerve and brain damage. Given the absence of evidence that vitamin B complex supplements will help you burn fat, you face far greater risk than potential benefit in taking the supplements for weight loss
Considerations
Most of the B vitamins appear in both animal and plant sources such as milk, poultry, green leafy vegetables, meat, chicken, beans, fish and nuts. But you might not get enough vitamin B-12 in your diet if you abstain from all animal products. Persons older than 50 may not absorb enough vitamin B-12 from their diets. If you drink alcohol excessively, you might benefit from taking vitamin B complex or individual B vitamins. If you want to burn fat, exercise remains the surest, safest method. If you want to lose weight, it also helps to reduce the number of calories in your diet.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B 3 (Niacin); June 18, 2009
- Medline Plus: Niacin and Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Use of Niacin in Attempts to Defeat Urine Drug Testing -- Five States, January to September 2006; C Mendoza, M.D.; April 20, 2007
- Medline Plus: Thiamine (Vitamin B1;) May 9, 2011
- Medline Plus; Riboflavin (Vitamin B2);Nov. 19, 2010
- Medline Plus:Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5); Nov. 19, 2010
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