How do you know if you have a vitamin B deficiency?
You can have a vitamin B deficiency and be unaware. The B vitamins are needed for multiple functions and are required for us to stay alive.
These vitamins serve as helpers to the enzymes that release energy so if you are tired, you are most likely lacking in a few of them. The B vitamins stand waiting in the metabolic system to keep a disassembling line moving. They expedite all of the functions as “coenzymes” or assistants with your enzymes to convert the protein, fats, and carbohydrates you eat into energy.
Some B vitamins are a part of a reaction with enzymes and are chemically altered while others are not altered but form part of the active enzyme. Eventually, all play a role in producing energy. Without your B vitamins (coenzymes), the enzymes that digest and make energy CAN’T function.
Which B vitamins should I take and need daily?
There are strangely a few names for a few. Let’s review:
Proper Name Other names for it
Biotin
Folacin Folate, Folic Acid
Niacin Vitamin B3, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, niacinamide
Pantothenic Acid
Riboflavin Vitamin B2
Thiamin Vitamin B1
Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine, Pyridoxal, Pyridoxamine
Vitamin B12 Cobalamin
Symptoms of having B vitamin deficiency?
The consequences are a catastrophe! If we look at the central path that your body breaks down glucose (sugar) to create pyruvate (metabolism control/energy) many coenzymes need to be present. One of the enzymes involved in breaking your glucose down is the coenzyme NAD+.
The first step to converting glucose to energy involves vitamin B3. Without the essential nutrient vitamin B3 known as niacin, NAD+ isn’t made and glucose won’t be disassembled to make energy. Enzymes depend on NAD+ completely.
The next step is to break down the pyruvate into acetyl CoA (Coenzyme A) with NAD+ and TPP. The enzyme CoA can be made in your body from the b vitamin pantothenic acid and TPP is made from thiamin in your dietary intake. You can see how so many steps depend on you eating these important B vitamins!
The following step is acetyl CoA breaking down into carbon dioxide. Without niacin to make NAD+ for energy conversion the whole process is stopped.
Lack of vitamin B illness?
If you suffer from a niacin deficiency you may have a serious issue. There are 4 major symptoms including diarrhea, dermatitis (skin inflammation), dementia which is a nervous system failure, and death.
The B vitamins folacin and B12 are necessary to form part of your DNA and RNA. Biotin helps acid groups shift from one structure to another to make fatty acids. You can see why we need these coenzymes fed by B vitamins to pick up, carry, or convert, then deliver the end product to survive.
A thiamin deficiency can trigger “dry” beriberi which is painful edema or pooling of fluid in the lower extremities and the inability to walk due to weak limbs. When the outer hull was removed from rice in the Far East, beriberi became an epidemic.
18 symptoms of a vitamin B deficiency
- The tongue may be your first indication as it is an extension of our digestive system. The tongue may appear smooth and glossy due to a folic acid deficiency causing atrophy.
. - Your skin may have dermatitis around the nose and lips, cracked corners of your mouth, or irritation of sweat glands.
. - The GI tract can have diarrhea, your eyes may be hypersensitive to light.
. - Red blood cells may become anemic (too large of cells). It may also be a deficiency in folacin or vitamin B12 so jumping onto iron is not the ultimate fix sometimes.
. - You may experience degeneration of your peripheral nerves, convulsions, abnormal brain wave patterns, irritability, confusion, progressing delirium, or psychosis.
. - Muscles may become weak, pain in your calf muscles, and wasting disease.
How do you become vitamin B deficient?
Mainly it is your diet but prescription drugs such as INH2 used to treat tuberculosis and even aspirin can interfere with the vitamins’ efficiency. Over-the-counter medication such as aspirin is often taken daily by many. People don’t realize it disrupts the absorption of folacin in the gastrointestinal tract. It may also interfere with iron and vitamin C being absorbed.
Where do we get natural B vitamins?
By having a balanced diet! Our ability to digest enough of these much-needed foods is impossible with the degradation of our soil quality after decades of sprayed chemicals. To get a variety of the six B vitamins use the simple formula:
*2 cups of dairy (I prefer raw with enzymes intact to digest lactose) for riboflavin and niacin.
*2 or more servings of animal protein (beef, fish, poultry, eggs) for thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin, and vitamin B12.
*Organic, non-GMO whole grains (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and vitamin B6).
*Organic green leafy vegetables for folacin.
Note that your vitamins A, C, D, E, and K will be found in your other vegetables, fruits, and fats.
What else do B vitamins do?
Process nerves and the tissues that respond.
Replace old red blood cells. Some help to make red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout every millimeter. Without oxygenation, there will be NO release of energy. You won’t even feel them working but you will feel if they all slow down or stop! If you aren’t eating them, you will become sick eventually.
Who should NOT supplement with B vitamins?
When you do Hair Mineral Analysis you will learn if you are a fast oxidizer or a slow oxidizer. Someone who is a slow oxidizer (metabolism) needs many forms of B vitamins to increase their natural energy. If you are a fast oxidizer taking them will be like throwing rocket fuel on the fire pushing the adrenals further into burnout.
Hair Analysis and Vitamin B Deficiency
Though I’m looking to learn about your mineral balances and heavy metal toxicity, we need to ensure you are getting the right vitamins to interact with your minerals to work correctly. We are made up of minerals with openings for the vitamins to complete the key to our optimal health. I can tailor a diet and supplement program with the help of a Hair Mineral Analysis test to help you rebuild your deficiencies.
Are you ready for change to be healthy? LET’S CHAT about your health goals!
Learn more about a Vitamin B12 deficiency.
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