What are the benefits of Vitamin B6?

Vitamin B6 is a helper vitamin for a lot of chemical reactions. It is like a catalyst—the thing that allows everything to work. It has an inactive form and an active form. The active form is called pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP). This active version of vitamin B6 is pretty helpful for a lot of internal body processes.

Benefits

• Helps with anxiety

• Helps with depression

• Helps with stress

• Helps to control cortisol

• Helps to create serotonin

• Helps to convert amino acids into glucose

• Is a catalyst to make everything work

• Involved in many protein reactions

• Helps to make blood

• Makes GABA (neurotransmitter for pleasure, mood improvements)

• Involved in glycogen breakdown

• Involved in metabolism

• Involved in making neurotransmitters

Symptoms of deficiency

• Carpal tunnel syndrome (in pregnancy)

• Fluid retention

• Sleep problems

• Neuropathy

• Trigger finger

• Fatigue

• Dermatitis

• Cracks in the corner of your mouth

• Sleepiness

• Heart attack

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Moodiness

• PMS

• Red, irritated eyes

• Neuropathy

• Impaired glucose tolerance

• Nausea

• Edema

Causes of deficiency

• Consuming synthetic version of B6

• Pins and needles

• Alcohol

• Diabetes

• Liver problems

• Gut problems

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Birth control pills

• Antibiotics

• Steroids

• Stress

• Inflammation

• Birth control pills

• Malabsorption

• Genetics

• Colon problems

• Gastric bypass surgery

• Birth control pills

How to consume it

If you have a vitamin B6 supplement, follow the directions on the label for the proper dosage. In order to make B6 work, you also need vitamin B2 and zinc (a trace mineral). There are 7 forms of vitamin B6.

You can also take 50 mg of vitamin B6 3x a day to bring your mood right up and for breast tenderness, add iodine in the form of sea kelp.

Where to get it

If you want to get a vitamin B6 supplement, the wrong form would be pyridoxine hydrochloride (HCL). This is a synthetic version of vitamin B6 that has the potential to cause B6 deficiency symptoms. Pyridoxine HCL comes from petroleum, hydrochloric acid and formaldehyde.

The best natural forms of vitamin B6 are:

• Pyridoxine (not HCL)

• Pyridoxal phosphate

• Pyridoxal 5’-phosphate

Food sources of vitamin B6

• Chickpeas

• Pork

• Liver

• Tuna

• Salmon

• Eggs

• Beef

• Vegetables