Introducing the vitamin B family.
Updated: Dec 9, 2021
There’s a reason why the B vitamins feature heavily in our PROTECTION capsule, with the entire family represented, as they play a vital role in maintaining good health and well-being.
As the building blocks of a healthy body, B vitamins have a direct impact on your energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism. All in all pretty important stuff!
Together they help prevent infections and help to support or promote:
Cell health
Growth of red blood cells
Energy levels
Good eyesight
Healthy brain function
Healthy appetite
Proper nerve function
Hormones and cholesterol production
Cardiovascular health
Muscle tone
Ensuring these essential vitamins are in your diet is even more important for people with certain underlying health conditions that can prevent their body from properly absorbing vitamin B. These health conditions include:
Coeliac disease
Crohn’s disease
kidney conditions
Rheumatoid arthritis
Ulcerative colitis
inflammatory bowel disease
There are many different members of the vitamin B family, with each of these essential vitamins contributing to your overall bodily health. They are:
B1 - thiamine
B2 - riboflavin
B3 - niacin
B5 - pantothenic acid
B6 - pyridoxine
B7 - biotin
B9 - folate and folic acid
B12 – cobalamin
So how does each B vitamin help my body and where can I find them?
B1 - thiamine
Helps the body break down and release energy from food and helps keep the nervous system healthy. Thiamine is found in many types of food, including:
Peas, some fresh fruits (such as bananas and oranges), nuts, wholegrain breads
some fortified breakfast cereals & liver.
Good to know - Thiamine cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day.
B2 - riboflavin
Helps keep skin, eyes and the nervous system healthy and helps the body release energy from food. Riboflavin is found in many types of food, including:
Milk, eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, mushrooms & plain yoghurt.
Did you know? - UV light can destroy riboflavin, so ideally these foods should be kept out of direct sunlight.
Good to know - Riboflavin cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day.
B3 - niacin
Helps the body release energy from food, helps keep the nervous system and skin healthy. Niacin can be found in many food types of food, including:
Meat, fish, wheat flour & eggs.
Good to know - Niacin cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day.
B5 - pantothenic acid
Pantothenic acid has several functions, such as helping the body to release energy from food. Pantothenic acid is found in varying amounts in almost all vegetables, wholegrain foods and meats, but good sources include:
Chicken, beef, liver and kidneys, eggs, mushrooms, avocado & breakfast cereals are also a good source if they have been fortified with pantothenic acid.
Good to know - Pantothenic acid cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day.
B6 - pyridoxine
Helps the body to use and store energy from protein and carbohydrates in food, it helps the body form haemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. Pyridoxine is found in a wide range of foods, including:
Pork, poultry, some fish, peanuts, soya beans, wheatgerm, oats, bananas, milk & some fortified breakfast cereals.
B7 - biotin
Biotin is needed in very small amounts to help the body make fatty acids. The body breaks down fat (from the food we eat or stored in our body) into fatty acids so it can be absorbed into the blood stream and supply the stored energy to where it’s needed, and this need is greatly increased during periods of exercise.
Did you know? The bacteria that live naturally in your bowel are able to make biotin.
Biotin is also found in a wide range of foods, but only at very low levels.
B9 - folate and folic acid
Folate helps the body form healthy red blood cells it can also reduce the risk of birth defects called neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, in unborn babies. Folate is found in small amounts in many foods, including:
Broccoli, brussels sprouts, leafy green vegetables, such as cabbage, kale, spring greens and spinach, peas, chickpeas and kidney beans, liver (but avoid this during pregnancy) & breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid.
Did you know? - The man-made form of folate is called folic acid. Folate is also known as folacin and vitamin B9.
Good to know - there are no long-term stores in the body, so you need to eat folate-containing foods frequently.
B12 – cobalamin
Cobalamin helps make red blood cells and keeping the nervous system healthy. It helps release energy from food it is also useful in helping the body to use folate. Cobalamin is found in many foods, including:
Meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs & some fortified breakfast cereals.
Good to know - As vitamin B12 is not found naturally in foods such as fruit, vegetables and grains, vegans may not get enough of it. A lack of vitamin B12 could lead to vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia.
As you can see, the vitamin B family provides so many health benefits it’s important that we ensure our daily intake is matching our needs. This is because they are a water-soluble vitamin and can’t be stored in the body if unused, passing out of your body via urine. Signs that you aren’t getting enough vitamin B include skin rashes, cracks around the mouth, scaly skin on the lips, swollen tongue, fatigue, weakness, anaemia, confusion, irritability, nausea, abdominal cramps, and numbness in your hands and feet.
Of course, you should be trying to get all the vitamin B from your diet to maintain good health, but in today’s hectic and food processed world it is challenging to get all you need on a daily basis. You should always consult a doctor if you have any concerns over your health, diet or are considering taking a dietary supplement. We have subscribers who have done exactly that (including Crohn’s and Coeliac sufferers) before subscribing to VitxCycle and are now seeing the benefits of taking The Complex on a daily basis, you can read about their experiences on our Testimonials page.
The VitxCycle PROTECTION capsule contains nearly all the vitamin B you’ll need and because you take one a day, we’ve got you covered.
Happy cycling