People First Health Magazine, Vol. 6, #6, June 2006:Page 3

The B.

Vitamins

Ian Lloyd
Pharmacist
Peoples Pharmacy

.....I know you have heard this before, but it deserves repeating. I believe everyone should take a good quality multi-vitamin every day, as it is difficult to get enough vitamins and minerals from our diet. One of the more important parts of a multivitamin is the B vitamins. There are seven essential B vitamins that I will discuss during this article. The B vitamins are essential for the general day to day functioning of our bodies. Their uses range from energy and fat metabolism to wound healing. Your body doesn’t store a large reserve of these vitamins and it is constantly using its reserve. That is why eating your fruits and veggies and taking a vitamin is important; they help to replace the lost B vitamins.
.....The B vitamins are sometimes numbered; this numbering system is loosely based on the order in which they were discovered. This is also why some of the B vitamin numbers are not found in multivitamins. Further research has shown that some were not true vitamins; such is the case with Vitamins B4, B8, B10, B11 and B13-17. This leaves the true B vitamins: B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B7 (biotin), B9 (folic acid) and B12 (cyanocobalamin).
.....I guess the logical place to start is at number 1. Vitamin B1, also called thiamine, was the first chemical to be recognized as a vitamin
....Your body primarily uses thiamine for carbohydrate (sugar) metabolism and the proper functioning of nerves

and muscles. A deficiency of this vitamin is almost unheard of these days, but it is called beriberi. Symptoms of beriberi include weakness in the arms and legs, ‘burning feet’, edema, swelling of the heart and difficulty breathing. Thiamin deficiency may result from a low thiamin intake, an increased need of thiamin, greater than normal loss of thiamin from the body and/or consumption of anti-thiamin factors in food. Alcoholism, excessive consumption of carbohydrate foods (e.g. polished rice) or being on hemodialysis may lead to thiamin

deficiency. Also some plants contain anti-thiamin factors that can render thiamine inactive in the body. The most notable are tea, coffee and betel nuts. There are also thiaminases, which are enzymes that can breakdown the thiamine found in food. These thiaminases are found in some raw freshwater fish and raw shellfish. Excessive consumption of these food items may lead to thiamin deficiency. There are also some medications that can deplete the body of thiamine; they include, diuretics (water pills) and phenytoin. While the above evidence may suggest otherwise, thiamine deficiency is rare these days. The recommended daily dosage of thiamine is 1-2mg per day. At these doses side effects are rarely seen.
.....Next up is number 2, riboflavin. Vitamin B2 has too many functions in the body to mention them all. It is primarily responsible for carbohydrate and protein metabolism and energy production. Sadly, taking more riboflavin will not give you more energy, unless you are deficient in this vitamin. Deficiencies are rare. One of the most notable uses of riboflavin is the prevention of migraine headaches. Doses of 400mg per day have been shown to significantly reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. Best results were seen after three months of continuous use. There are no side effects with riboflavin, except that it can turn the colour of your urine ”