Friday, June 20, 2008

What is Vitamin B Complex? Why is it so important to your health?

What is Vitamin B Complex? Why is it so important to your health?
The B-Complex vitamin is not a single vitamin, but rather
is a complex of eight different water soluble vitamins that
combine together to play a large role in your overall
health and well being. Each of these eight water soluble
vitamins plays its own unique role in your health and
wellness, and each individual vitamin can be found in
different whole food sources and synthesized through
different means as well.

This combination of different B vitamins plays an important
role in the metabolism of cells. While these vitamins may
coexist in many of the same foods, they are chemically
distinct vitamins that can be found separately in many
whole food sources as well. When all eight vitamins are
combined together, this is referred to as the Vitamin B
complex. The Vitamin B complex is always the combination
between all eight water soluble vitamins in their correct
dosages. Because these vitamins are water soluble, it means
that they must be taken regularly because the unused
vitamins are flushed out of the body via urination rather
than stored in the liver like fat soluble vitamins.

The eight vitamins that when combined make up the B-Complex
vitamin are Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid,
Pyridoxine, Biotin or Vitamin H, Folic Acid or Vitamin M
and Cobalamin. Not getting enough of these vitamins in your
diet can result in a number of deficiencies. The B-Complex
vitamin supplement is designed to deliver the right
vitamins in the right dosages to prevent these deficiencies
from occurring. Thiamine deficiency causes emotional
disturbances, weight loss, encephalopathy, irregular heart
beat and heart failure. Riboflavin deficiency causes
ariboflavinosis which has a number of symptoms including
high sensitivity to light and seborrhea dermatitis or
pseudo-syphilis. Niacin deficiency can cause pellagra, with
symptoms including dermatitis, insomnia and mental
confusion.

A Pantothenic acid deficiency can result in acne and a
disease called paresthesia, but both of these conditions
are rare. Anemia, depression, high blood pressure and
dermatitis can all result from a pyridoxine deficiency.
Macrocytic anemia is the most common result of a folic acid
deficiency, and birth defects are common in pregnant women
who do not get enough of this vital vitamin supplement.
Finally, a Cobalamin deficiency is also responsible for
Macrocytic anemia along with a number of problems related
to the brain, such as memory loss, peripheral neuropathy
and other cognitive deficits.

Because a deficiency in each of these vitamins can cause a
myriad of different health issues, it is vital that your
body receives enough of each of these vitamins. The
B-Complex vitamin concept allows for supplementation of all
eight vitamins simultaneously, as multiple deficiencies can
overload the body with a number of illnesses and ailments.
The B-Complex vitamin is a powerhouse of a vitamin
combination as all of these separate vitamins work hand in
hand to deliver powerful health benefits to the body. These
health benefits provided by the B-complex vitamin include
support of the metabolism and increase in the rate of
metabolism, maintenance of healthy muscle tone and skin and
enhancing the function of the nervous system and the immune
system.

The B-Complex vitamin also promotes the growth and division
of cells, including the red blood cells that are
responsible for preventing anemia. B-Complex vitamins also
have shown to significantly reduce the risks associated
with pancreatic cancer, which is surprisingly one of the
most deadly forms of cancer out there. This only applies to
B-complex vitamins when consumed in whole food sources,
however, rather than when ingested as a synthesized vitamin
supplement.

B-Complex vitamins can be found in many whole food sources,
and are also available in synthesized forms as tablets or
liquid vitamin supplements. Whole food sources for
B-complex vitamins include potatoes, lentils, bananas,
chili peppers, tempeh, liver, liver oil, tuna, turkey,
brewer's yeast, nutritional yeast and molasses. Vegemite
and Marmite are popular sources for all of the B-complex
vitamins, and beer is also a moderately useful source for
this vitamin complex because of the high content of
brewer's yeast found in most beers.


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Ron Godlewski has written many articles on health,
wellness, and maintaining vitality throughout our lifetime.
Read more about the importance of nutrition and the many
benefits of the Vitamin B Complex in our daily diets in the
article library at
http://www.pillfreesupplements.com/vitamins-minerals-article
s.php and even receive your own complementary copy of a
nationally recognized health and nutrition magazine just
for visiting!

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