Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine

Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine, like the other B vitamins, plays an important role in the process that converts carbohydrates, proteins and fat into energy.

It helps produce healthy hemoglobin and plays a role in the production of more than 60 different hormones, neurotransmitters and enzymes.

Vitamin B6 (V-B6) supports the production of serotonin, which regulates your mood, sleep and appetite.

It further helps to lower the level of bad cholesterol and can help to prevent kidney stones. Adequate quantities will improve your immune system.

V-B6 together with vitamin B12 and Folic Acid may lower homocysteine levels and helps reduce the risk of heart attack.

Deficiency effects

A Deficiency of V-B6 may lead to overall weakness, apathy, moodiness, depression, insomnia, a loss of appetite, hair loss and a dry or cracked skin on the lips or tongue.

A deficiency of V-B6 can sometimes cause your nervous system to completely break down. You especially have to be careful with small children and babies.

If a V-B6 deficiency is not treated adequately, affected individuals can become irritable, anemic or even go into a convulsion.

Please note that pregnant women and women who take a birth control pill are more vulnerable to a V-B6 deficiency than others.

Foods high in Vitamin B6

The best naturally-occurring resources of V-B6 are, like many of the other B vitamins, pork, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, nuts, brown rice, avocados, bananas, carrots, soybeans, seeds and whole grains.

The recommended daily intake of V-B2 for adult men is 2 mg and for adult females 1.6 mg.

Please note that when you take too much V-B6 it can actually be toxic. If you take more than 2 grams a day, it can result in an irreversible damage to your nerve endings and the entire neurological system.

An intake of 500 mg per day, although this is high, is still considered safe.

Consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and tobacco inhibits the body's ability to properly absorb this vitamin.

Because of its rapid metabolism and solubility in water, V-B6 travels completely through your body in only 8 hours. Therefore it is very important that V-B6 is replenished regularly.