Vitamin B Foods – Your Herald to Good Nutrition for Good Health

Vitamin B foods sources are relevant to other healthy foods to provide nutrition in our body. Proper nutrition is linked to good health. What our body needs are complete vitamin B for optimal health!

Vitamin B foods support our body’s metabolism and contribute to energy production.  There are several types of vitamin B that are essential for nutrition equation and preventive care. We can find vitamin B in green vegetables, whole or enriched grains, dairy and meats.

A deeper meaning for vitamin B is a water-soluble nutrient that plays an essential role in cell metabolism; Each of vitamin B has different functions in our body. It has various food sources and recommended daily dosage intake.

Most vitamins cannot be produced by our body, including vitamin B. Some may be created, but our body cannot make enough of it. Therefore, we are giving you the eight types of vitamin B and what you need to know about each of them.

Your Choices

Thiamin

Thiamin of B1 helps to convert the glucose from the food we eat and turn it into energy. It promotes nerve function of our body.

Where can you find thiamin? Vitamin B1 foods with thiamin are cereal grains, sesame seeds, legumes, wheat germ, nuts, yeast, and pork meat.

It is crucial to have an adequate supply of thiamin. Otherwise, your body will experience confusion, irritability, poor muscle coordination in your arm and legs, fatigue and weak muscles. You may have health disorders like beriberi. It is familiar to those who have thiamin deficiency. It affects your cardiovascular, muscles, digestion and nervous system functions. More so, thiamin deficiency can result in Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome or also known as wet brain syndrome. It is related to an excess of alcohol and diet with poor thiamin. Some symptoms include involuntary movement of the eyeball, paralysis of the eye muscle, staggering and mental confusion.

Riboflavin

We now turn to vitamin B2 or riboflavin. Vitamin B2 or riboflavin involve in energy production and helps vision and skin health. Riboflavin is milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, wholegrain bread and cereals, egg white, leafy green vegetables, meat, yeast, and meat (liver and kidney).

Vitamin B2 deficiency includes symptoms like inflamed with cracks and redness in the tongue and corners of the mouth, anxiety, inflamed eyelids and sensitivity to light, hair loss, reddening of the cornea and skin rash. Riboflavin deficiency occurred when too much alcohol and less milk consumption of an individual.

Niacin

The idea of getting enough vitamin B foods with niacin is essential for the conversion of carbohydrates and fats into an energy source. Enough niacin in our body can make our skin healthy. It also provides support to nervous and digestive systems. What makes niacin a little bit special among the B vitamins is because of its heat resistant. So when cooked, you can still manage to have niacin from vitamin B foods. Some vitamin B foods with niacin come in the form of meat, fish, milk, poultry, nuts, wholegrain bread and cereals and other protein source foods.

However, if you have an inadequate amount of niacin, you may have a pellagra disease. Symptoms like dementia, diarrhea and dermatitis will tell you if you are positive to have pellagra. If not cured, this can lead to death.

Vitamin B5 or Pantothenic

Always remember, proper nutrition is linked to good health. Therefore, pantothenic acid is vital to process carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is critical to producing red blood cells and steroid hormones. Vitamin B5 is what bodybuilder needs for workouts. The food source of pantothenic can be found in meats, milk, eggs, peanuts and legumes.

Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine

If vitamin B5 is responsible for producing red blood cells and steroid hormones, vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is the key for protein and carbohydrates formation. These are essentials for red blood cells and brain chemicals. Our body needs vitamin B6 to reduce symptoms related to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and carpal tunnel syndrome. Vitamin B foods with pyridoxine include vegetables, legumes, fish, seafood, meat, poultry and fruit.

Excessive intake of pyridoxine from vitamin B foods can lead to numbness in the hands and feet. The inevitable effect of excessive vitamin B6 is irreversible nerve damage. But if we have deficiency from vitamin B6, thyroid disease will occur. Some symptoms include insomnia, depression, anemia, irritability, convulsions, confusion and dermatitis. So balance consumption of vitamin B6 and other B vitamins is essential.

Biotin

For instance, vitamin B7 or biotin is important for energy metabolism, synthesis of fats and glycogen and amino acid metabolism. But too much biotin can contribute to increased blood cholesterol levels. So, to balance biotin with other vitamins, you will need vitamin B foods. You can have it from cauliflower, egg yolks, peanut, chicken and mushrooms.

The deficiency of biotin is rare cases because only a small amount of vitamin B7 is needed.

Folic acid (folate)

Carrying oxygen around our body is what folate or vitamin B9 do. It is also responsible for the development of the nervous system, DNA synthesis and cell growth. Before pregnancy, it is recommended to have an adequate amount of folate in our body. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate. Natural sources of vitamin B foods with folate are green leafy vegetables, legumes, poultry, eggs, cereals and citrus fruits.

The recommended amount of folic acid in our body is about 1,000 mg per day. Though it is non-toxic, an excessive amount of folic acid can result in irritability and intestinal dysfunction.

Folic acid deficiency can lead to an increased risk of neural tube defects during pregnancy. Other deficiency symptoms are weight loss, fatigue and weakness.

Vitamin B12 or Cyanocobalamin

With folate, you can have vitamin B12 to produce myelin surrounding nerve cells and maintain the mental ability. Vitamin B12 is responsible for breaking down some fatty acids and amino acids to produce energy. Vitamin B foods with cyanocobalamin include meat, poultry, and other dairy products. Deficient in vitamin B12 has symptoms of depression, memory loss, vision loss and fatigue.

Health benefits

Achieving the benefits of vitamin B foods will need more time. Some of the many benefits that we can get from vitamin B food consumption are reducing the risk of heart attack or any heart-related diseases.

Since vitamin B have many fundamental roles in our body, one of those is making the passage of blood smoothly run from and to our brains. It will prevent the burst of a blood vessel in the brain. Also, vitamin B foods provide almost over 100 enzymes that help in the digestion of amino acids and building new red blood cells. With this, we can have enough oxygen in our blood.

Also, for you to be confident in having good health and fit body, you will need to stabilize your immune system. And vitamin B foods can provide you with the nutrients you need for keeping your health resistant.

Vitamin B foods are essential for providing energy into our body by breaking down carbohydrates and fats. An adequate amount of vitamin B, especially niacin, can reduce the risk of harmful cholesterol levels in our body.

Moreover, having healthy hormones is one of the benefits we can have from vitamin B foods. By breaking down foods that we eat, vitamin B contributes to making our hormones healthy.

What are vitamin B foods?

Indeed, vitamin B foods can do a lot of things in our health. We can have vitamin B nutrients from whole grains, meat, eggs, legumes, seeds and nuts, dark leafy vegetables and fruits. The most common vitamin B foods are fortified cereals and eggs.

We have discussed at the beginning of these articles, the food sources of each vitamin. But you will still need the right dosage of each vitamin B as recommended for daily consumption.

Thiamine food source

For thiamine, the food sources are black beans, pork, mussels, tuna, fortified cereals and whole grains products. Daily dosages are 1.2 mg for adult men and adult women, 1.1mg. But pregnant and lactating women should have 1.4 mg of thiamine daily.

Riboflavin food source

You can have riboflavin from eggs, organ meat (liver and kidney), lean meats, milk, and green vegetables. You can still enjoy riboflavin from fortified cereals and whole-grain products like with thiamine. Daily dosages of riboflavin for adults are 1.3 mg for men and 1.1 mg for women. But pregnant women should have 1.4 mg. And since lactating women need more vitamin B, she will need to consume 1.6 mg.

Niacin food source

When it comes to niacin, you can have eggs, fish, lean meats, poultry, peanuts, fortified cereals and dairy products.  Then niacin consumptions for adults are 16 mg for men and 14 mg for women.  But pregnant should consume 18 mg of niacin, but not over 35 mg per day to avoid an overdose.

Pantothenic acid food source

On the other hand, vitamin B foods with pantothenic acid come from beef, poultry, seafood, organ meats (liver and kidney), milk, mushrooms, vegetables like potatoes and broccoli, fruits like avocados, sunflower seeds, brown rice, oats and chickpeas. When you have this on your plate, be sure you consume no more than of your recommended daily consumption, which is 5 mg. For pregnant women, you may expend 6 mg, and lactating women should have 7 mg.

Vitamin B6 food source

Of course, you will not go wrong with fruits except for citrus, starchy vegetables, fish and fortified cereals are some of the vitamin B6 foods. This particular kind of vitamin B has a different recommendation based on age. For instance, if you are an adult under 50, you will need 1.3 mg. Otherwise, you will need 1.5 mg. Pregnant women should have 1.9 mg, and lactating women need 2 mg.

Some vitamin B foods like almonds, spinach, and broccoli can be excellent sources of biotin in our bodies. Adults can have 30 mcg while lactating women will have increased up to 36 mcg.

We are all familiar when it comes to folate. And folate comes from food sources like asparagus, Brussels, sprouts, dark green leafy vegetables, fruits and fruit juices. Other vitamin B foods are cereals and enriched flour products. The daily dosage of folic acid to our body is only 400 mcg, but pregnant women can increase about 600 mcg. For lactating women, 500 mcg will be good enough.

Vitamin B12 food source

An exceptional vitamin B foods sources are those with vitamin B12. This type of vitamin B does not come from the plant, but all of it can be found in meat organs, seafood, fish, poultry, eggs and milk. But you can have cereals as long as it is fortified. Your dosage for vitamin B12 is 2.4 mcg. Pregnant women can have a dosage of 2.6 mcg and lactating women about 2.8 mcg.

The art of vitamin B foods for our consumption

Indeed, eating vitamin B foods will take long enough to gain all the B vitamins that we need. So we can have supplements as a substitute for vitamin B foods.

Many vitamin B supplements can provide nutrients to counter the deficiencies of other vitamins. Make sure you are taking only the daily recommended consumption of vitamin B supplements. Because an overdose of vitamin B can lead to aggravating blood sugar levels, damage our liver, cause peptic ulcers and skin rashes.

Well, to avoid this, proper consultation with your doctor is needed to experience the full benefits of vitamin B.