B Well

The B vitamins are a group or complex of water-soluble vitamins that play critical roles in cell metabolism by acting as co-factors for innumerable enzymatic reactions and thus helping with fatigue and the processing of many other nutrients.

B vitamins are primarily found in whole unprocessed foods (B it ever so humble, there’s no place like home… cooking). Processed carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour have a lower B vitamin content than their unprocessed counterparts. All B vitamins are particularly concentrated in meat, including turkey, tuna, liver and other meat products. Good sources for some of the B vitamins include whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, and molasses.

B12 is critically important to help prevent macrocytic anemia and to reduce the risks of adult sudden death syndrome (dropping dead from a heart attack), peripheral neuropathy, memory loss and other cognitive deficits. Absolute deficiency is most likely to occur among elderly people, as absorption through the gut declines with age; but a relative deficiency is common in children with Autism and related spectrum disorders.

This is important to know because B12 is not available from plant products, making B12 deficiency a very real concern for vegans or children who are on a self-imposed limited diet. Sneaky manufacturers of plant-based foods will sometimes mislead you by reporting the “B12 content” in their food product. This will create confusion because the standard US Pharmacopeia (USP) method for measuring the B12 content does not measure the B12 directly. Instead, it measures a bacterial response to the food. The bio-chemical cousins of the B12 vitamin that are found in plant sources are great for bacteria, but cannot be used by the human body. So a good B-complex supplement by mouth is just what the doctor recommends.

For a variety of reasons, type 2 diabetes has become much more common and along with it your risk of developing kidney disease. However, recently a research team found that you can protect yourself with high doses of vitamin B1, thiamine. In their study, they gave participants 300 mg daily (100 mg, three times daily).

To determine how well the nutrient worked, they measured how much protein, microalbumin, the patients lost in their urine during the three-month study. Their results were fantastic! The thiamine reduced protein loss by 41%. What's more, 35% of the patients stopped losing protein altogether.

So here’s the beef, it takes more than spinach to be strong.

B well.