Deficiency Diseases and Good Nutrition
Introduction to the B Vitamins
There isn't just one B vitamin, there is a family of them. They all perform different functions in the body, but they all work together. It is important to take them all in balance with each other, to make them work most effectively.One of the B complex's jobs is to act as coenzymes. An enzyme is a protein made by living cells that aid in catabolic and metabolic reactions in the body. A coenzyme stimulates the enzyme and provides a place for the reaction to take place. This is how you are able to build body materials and use the energy you eat in the form of foods. Your body uses three types of food for energy and building blocks: fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. You have to break them down before they can be used, and they couldn't be broken down without the B complex. Without the B complex, energy would be hopelessly locked up in food and you could never use it. Therefore, when you don't get enough of the B complex vitamins, you get tired. B complex vitamins help to normalize your appetite and digestive processes because of it's big role in recovering the energy in food.
The B complex works together to make neurotransmitters, keeping your brain and the rest of your nervous system healthy. Thousands of problems can stem from your brain not being able to transmit messages to the rest of your body. The B complex is also a vital part of red blood cell production. Red blood cells are responsible for supplying each cell with oxygen and removing waste carbon dioxide. B also helps to detoxify organs, like the liver. This is very important, as the liver is the organ that holds all the poisons and extra vitamins and minerals. When the liver has too many toxins in it, you can get cirrhosis, which is fatty build-up in the liver. When this happens, your liver doesn't work as well and more toxins go circulating around in your blood.
The B complex vitamins are water soluble. That means when you cook vegetables, much of the vitamins goes right into the cooking water which gets thrown down the sink. It's better to steam your vegetables, or use the water to make something, like rice or soup. Processing also takes B vitamins out of food. It is much better to eat whole, unprocessed, unrefined foods.
Brewer's yeast, seed germs, eggs, liver, organ meats, spinach, broccoli, whole grains, brown rice, and peanut butter are all good sources of the B vitamins. Another good reason to eat this complex "nature's way," is because in nature they're balanced for you. All you have to do is eat and enjoy, instead of trying to figure out how much B vitamin with how much other B vitamin you need to get the optimum balance. What trouble!
When you don't get enough B complex, you can experience a skin rash, sores in the mouth, loss of appetite, poor muscle tone, chronic fatigue, depression, premature graying of hair, and lower resistance to viruses and bacteria. Even if you're eating enough B vitamins, you still could be deficient if you drink too much coffee, tea, or alcohol. All are diuretics and can cause you to urinate away much of the B complex. Because the vitamins are water soluble, when you have enough, you just urinate the rest. It's very hard to get a B complex toxicity.
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Revised: 14 Sep 99