There’s a common thought that B vitamins give us energy. That is kind of true, but there’s a little bit of nuance to how B vitamins actually provide us with energy. They actually act as part of the puzzle to help our bodies turn food into energy that our cells can use. We have Vitamin B1, B2, B3—there’s no Vitamin B4—but there’s B5, B6, B7, then B9 and B12. It all has to do with the numbering system. There were certain compounds that were believed to be vitamins until they were found to have properties that didn’t technically make them so. So we don’t have a straight line of numbers, but the B vitamins all act in slightly different ways to help turn the food that we put in our body into energy that our cells can use.

For some examples, Vitamin B1 helps our body turn carbohydrates from food into glucose, which is the form that our cells need it to be in to create energy. Vitamin B2 helps to turn glucose into ATP in our muscle cells, our brain cells, our liver cells, and our kidney cells. ATP is the very last product of breaking down glucose for energy. So ATP in the cell gets converted into ADP, and when that occurs there’s a sudden burst and release of energy. So that is basically the very end piece of getting energy from glucose.

Another few examples are Vitamin B6 helping manage amino acid metabolism. We break down protein, turn it into amino acids that go into all of our body’s tissues, but most commonly thought of is our muscle tissue. Vitamin B6 also helps us to release stored energy from glycogen that is in our liver and in our muscles. The last example I wanted to share is Vitamin B9 and Vitamin B12. They both support the production of red blood cells and the pathways that help keep our red blood cells attached to oxygen. So all of the tissues in our body need oxygen to work optimally, and if we don’t have enough oxygen attached to our red blood cells, we feel tired. So the B vitamins help to keep that oxygen attached to the red blood cells and keep all of our tissues well oxygenated.

So the B vitamins are all water soluble, which means that we don’t store them in large amounts in our body. We can just excrete any excess in the urine that our body is not going to use immediately. However, if you take a Vitamin B supplement, you do want to be careful to follow the directions and take the supplement as recommended. And then of course, including foods in our diet that are good sources of all the B vitamins is super important. I always recommend that people start with food first. So foods that are high in all of the B vitamins include flaxseed, pork chops, salmon, beef, peas, tofu, tuna, chicken, avocados, mushrooms, eggs, beans, asparagus, and spinach. Adding these foods into your day-to-day meals and snacks can help ensure that you’re getting enough of the B vitamins in your diet.

If you have any questions about how to incorporate these foods into your meals and snacks, or if you want to know specifically how much of any certain B vitamin you should be getting, or if you would like some guidance on supplements, please feel free to stop by the front desk and set up a nutrition appointment, and I would be happy to talk with you about that more in person. Wishing you all a happy and healthy September.