I love B Vitamins. They do so many things for our bodies. In general, they are very important for your energy levels, heart, blood sugar balance, handling depression and anxiety, sugar and alcohol cravings and they help form red blood cells. B’s are key nutrients for the prevention of Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, hypertension, mental illness, hyperactivity, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and help create methylation.
Methylation is a key biochemical process that is essential for the proper function of almost all of your body’s systems. It occurs billions of times every second. This process helps repair your DNA on a daily basis, controls homocysteine levels (a substance that can damage blood vessels) and it helps recycle molecules needed for detoxification. It also helps maintain mood and keep inflammation in check. Without methylation, you at higher risk for conditions like osteoporosis, diabetes, cervical dysplasia and cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, depression, pediatric cognitive dysfunction ( mood and other behavioral disorders), dementia, and stroke.
Ok, so what do we need to eat and need to avoid to have a good amount of B’s in our system? Well, real food is always a good place to start. You need to eat a variety of these foods – beef, chicken, pork, fish, avocados, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, Lima beans, Brussels sprouts, spinach, legumes, nuts and nut butters, sea vegetables, brewer’s yeast, egg yolks, liver, kidney and beef brains.
And what are the things that just suck the B Vitamins right out of you that you should avoid? Anything made with white or even wheat flour (bread, pizza, crackers, bagels, donuts, cakes, etc.) I call it Vampire food when I’m talking to children because the synthetic B vitamins added to the food create a need for real ones, and to digest the carbohydrates requires huge amounts of B’s, so you use them up really quickly.
The other things that deplete you of B’s are birth control pills, antidepressants (funny, you need B’s to avoid depression and antidepressants make you worse! But we all knew that, right?) sulfa drugs, antibiotics, estrogen therapy, diuretics, cortisone, large amounts of caffeine and of course, alcohol.
So wait a second. You can’t just run out and buy any old B Vitamin Complex from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Those are synthetic, chemical B’s made from coal tar in a laboratory. Yes, that’s right – I said coal tar. That’s just going to make your liver and that methylation process I was talking about earlier work over time to get rid of the vitamins because they aren’t real- just toxic chemicals. You need B Vitamins made from organic, whole food.
Personally I take or use in my practice:
Cataplex B and Cataplex G – Take these together for the full spectrum of B’s
Folic Acid B12 – Great for methylation, preventing birth defects, heart health
Catplex B12 – Pernicious anemia, energy
Inositol – sugar cravings, diabetes, ADD/ADHD, OCD, muscular and nerve pain
Choline – fat metabolism, fatty liver
B-6 Niacinimide – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, numbness, use with birth control pills, adrenal insufficiency
Niacinimide B-6 – depression, dermatitis, schizophrenia, increased circulation, menopausal symptoms
These recommendations are for the reduction of stress only. They are not intended as treatment or prescription for any disease, or as a substitute for regular medical care.