Benefits of B Vitamins
B-complex vitamins are the Rodney Dangerfield of nutritional supplements-they don't get no respect. All multivitamins contain a smattering of B vitamins, so what else do you need to know? Actually, there's a lot of new research, especially on folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. Here are 10 reasons why you should be taking these three vitamins-and at dosages higher than what you're likely taking now.
1. Stay Mentally Sharp
We lose about two percent of our brain volume every decade as we get older. Although this is a normal part of aging, accelerated atrophy is linked with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. British researchers studied annual blood tests and MRI scans of older men and women and found that those with the lowest blood levels of vitamin B12 had a sixfold greater risk of excessive brain volume loss.
2. Prevent Cardiovascular Disease
An elevated level of homocysteine-a toxic amino acid that damages the arteries-is a wellestablished risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Several clinical trials have demonstrated that supplemental folic acid and vitamins B6 and El2, which lower homocysteine, reduce risk of stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular events.
3. Keep Your Bones Strong
Everybody knows that calcium and vitamin D protect against osteoporosis and fractures. However, Harvard researchers recently discovered significant links between elevated levels of homocysteine and risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women. How do you lower homocysteine? B-complex vitamins.
4. Preserve Your Vision
Another Harvard team found that these vitamins also protect the eyes. In a placebo-controlled trial, women who took daily folic acid, B6, and B12 supplements had a reduced risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.
5. Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
In a study involving more than 5,000 women who took folic acid, B6, and El2 daily for about seven years, those over age 65 had a 38 percent decrease in risk of breast cancer and a 25 percent reduction of other invasive cancers.
6. Boost Your Energy
Vitamin El2 is an excellent energy booster. We offer B12 and magnesium injections at the clinic, and they're so energizing that some patients learn how to self-inject so they can continue them at home. High doses of oral B12 also improve energy, especially in people who have low levels to begin with.
7. Lift Your Mood
This dynamic trio also improves mood. These vitamins play an indirect, but critical role in the formation of serotonin and other neurotransmitters, and deficiencies-as well as high levels of homocysteine-are linked with mood disorders. Although B-complex vitamins not are a stand-alone treatment for depression, they're an important adjunct.
8. Stave Off Allergies and Asthma
A research team at Johns Hopkins has discovered that individuals with the lowest blood levels of folate (folic acid) are at a significantly increased risk of skin and respiratory allergies, wheezing, and asthma.
9. Get a Handle on Migraines
Researchers from "Down Under" have discovered that people who have migraines with aura are more likely to have mutations in a gene that leads to elevated levels of homocysteine. When they gave these· migraine sufferers high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 for six months, their homocysteine levels fell by 39 percent and their migraine disability scores were cut in half.
10. Live Longer?
TelOmeres are protective structures on the ends of chromosomes that shorten every time a cell divides. Their length is a marker of aging-as cells get older, telomeres get shorter. A recent National Institutes of Health study found that individuals who took daily multivitamins or vitamin B12 supplements had longer telomeres.
Why Stop at 10?
Let's throw in a handful of other benefits of these versatile vitamins.
Folic acid protects against neural tube birth defects and pregnancy complications, and in very high doses has been shown to dramatically reduce damage to the heart following a heart attack. Vitamin B12 has been used to improve Bell's palsy, diabetic neuropathy, infertility in men, and, when used topically, eczema. Vitamin B6 is an excellent therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome and trigger finger, a painful condition that affects the tendons in the hand. And special but endangered forms of B6, as I mentioned in the introduction, are potent therapies for kidney failure and heart disease.
How much should you take? Forget about the RDAs. As an example, the RDA of B12 for adults is just 2.4 mcg per day. Dutch researchers found that normalizing a mild El2 deficiency, however, required between 647 and 1,032 mcg-300-500 times more than the RDA!
Recommendation:
Here are my recommended minimum daily doses for healthy people: folic acid 800 mcg, vitamin B12 150 mcg, and vitamin B6 75 mg. If you are taking Forward, you're covered. People with high homocysteine levels or any of the conditions mentioned above may take up to 6,000 mcg of folic acid, 2,000 mcg of vitamin B12, and 125 mg of B6. (Neurological conditions tend to respond better to the methycobalamin form of vitamin B12.)
These vitamins are safe and well tolerated. However, very high doses of B6 may cause nerve damage.
Click here for B Vitamins Borrowed from drwhitaker.com.
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