Getting to Know Your B Vitamins

The B vitamins are a confusing lot. First off, unlike the other vitamins, the B vitamins are plural instead of singular and are broken up into over a half dozen numeral designations. Even more annoying, there are gaps in the numbers.  B4, for example, was choline, but choline lost its vitamin status for only being vitamin-like. It still gets grouped with the B vitamins sometimes because it’s an essential nutrient. But it’s not really a vitamin. So B4 gets skipped.  Folate is known as vitamin B9, but it’s often not listed as vitamin B9. It’s just chillaxing somewhere nearby, under one of its two names: folate or folic acid. (The latter is man-made).  Some people also call folate vitamin M just to confuse everything to greater degree. Furthermore, if you read the list of ex-B vitamins, there are still inexplicable gaps. The B-vitamins are like a terrible, unsorted junk drawer of health. Let’s try to sort out their basic functions here.

1. Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) 

• It helps the body turn carbohydrates into glucose for fuel
• Needed to metabolize fats and proteins
• It plays an important role in your nervous system
• Thiamin is important for healthy, hair, skin, and liver
• It is needed for proper brain function

2. Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 

• Riboflavin is the best name out of all vitamins
• Has antioxidant properties
• Helps metabolize food
• Also helps metabolize other B vitamins
• Needed for healthy skin, hair and brain

3. Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

• It helps to metabolize food
• Essential for nervous system and brain health
• Important for proper digestion
• Needed for healthy hair and skin

4. Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 

• Helps to convert food into fuel
• Critical to red blood cell production
• Needed to synthesize cholesterol
• Promotes a healthy digestive tract
• Helps in the manufacture of sex and stress hormones

5. Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxal, Pyridoxine, Pyridoxamine)

• Lowers homocysteine levels
• Helps convert food into energy
• Assists in production of neurotransmitters
• Aids the body in serotonin creation
• Related to cognitive functioning
• Immune system health

6. Vitamin B7 (Biotin)/ Vitamin H 

• Converts food into energy
• Good for hair and nails
• Critical for embryonic growth during pregnancy
• Makes and breaks down some fatty acids

7. Vitamin B9 Folate/Folic Acid 

• Helps prevent brain/spine defects in infants
• Reduces homocysteine levels
• May protect against colon cancer
• Essential for cognitive functioning
• Found in beet juice
• Needed for new cell creation

8. Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) 

• Reduces homocysteine levels
• Helps create new cells
• Important for metabolism and in the central nervous system
• Assists in creating new blood cells
• Breaks down some fatty and amino acids

There you have it. Your B vitamins. They all assist with metabolism and help out with cognitive functioning and mood.  They basically keep your body and mind on an even keel.  You’ll find a good amount of folate in Red Rush. For all your other B-vitamin needs, may I suggest Peak Endurance? It has a battery of B vitamins, making it the perfect companion for Red Rush beet juice.