Understanding the B Complex of Vitamins

A Newborn baby lay in convulsions, which many drugs and sedatives had failed to relieve. She was given a single injection of a harmless substance. The convulsions stopped at once. Doctors discovered the child needed injections and tablets daily for the next eight years to prevent further trouble. A child with cyctic fibrosis was taking a powerful antibiotic to prevent infections. Neuritis of the nerves of the eye developed as a side effect of the drug. she was given some pills and the neuritis disappeared. The life - saving antibiotic could be administered without harm so long as the other medication was maintained. 

A 62-year-old woman came to an Alabama hospital with alarming symptoms. She had no appetite, suffered from nausea and vomiting, mental depression, pallor, muscle pains and heart pains. She had tingling sensations in hands and feet and a scaly dermatitis. She suffered from anemia, exhaustion, swollen ankles, extremely high cholesterol levels and a liver disorder. She had been on a highly nourishing diet to restore her health after a lifetime of heavy drinking. What was wrong? An injection of one harmless substance cured all her symptoms within a few days.This story was told in the American Journal Clinical Nutrition.

Seven young women taking oral contraceptives came to a Florida physician suffering from a desperately  serious form of anemia. So long as they took The Pill, the anemia grew worse. The physician gave them a harmless substance in a pill. They improved almost at once and could continue taking The Pill in good health so long as they continued to take the doctor's pill as well. What was it? A wonder drug? This story appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A five-month-old baby was vomiting persistenly and had an extensive skin rash which was spreading in spite of many medications his physician gave him. His breathing was abnormal; he appeared to have acidosis. Put on a new diet, he went into shock. The physician gave  him a bit of one harmless substance. The vomiting stopped immediately and within a few days the baby was completely well. The Lancet printed this account.

An acute alcoholic suffering from delirium tremens had not worked for three years, had been alcoholic for six years. He was taken to a New York hospital with an accumulation of fluid in his lungs. In the operating room a tube was inserted into his stomach. Into the tube was poured a liquid food. Within 48 hours the man was walking around, needing no further treatment than the prescribed feeding at regular intervals. After three months he had gained 30 pounds, was working steadily. Magic? Magic doesn't get into medical journals and that's where this story was reported.

A brain-injured child had had seizures every day for three years. His doctors had given him tranquilizers in an efforts to control the seizures, with no success. Ha was given some tablets and eleven day later had his first day completely free from seizures. A second child who had suffered from many seizures every day for two years was completely free from them within three days and was a healthy, happy child four years later. The doctor who treated him believes there many be as many as 20 million American children suffering from varying degrees of mental illness who could be helped with this same therapy. A psychiatrist reported this story in Schizophrenia, Volume 3, Number 2. 

An 80-year-old widow, living alone since her husband's, was depressed, hopeless, suicidal. She suffered from insomnia, was underweight, had an enlarged heart and a peculiar rash on those parts of her face and hands that are exposed to sunlight. She came to a British hospital, as given injections for three weeks, went home, completely well and cheerful.

A patient who had suffered for 20 years from inability to work, loss of interest in surroundings, loss of appetite, food allergies, dizziness, fainting spells, headaches, shortness of breath and nervousness was treated with  certain diet, plus some tablets. Within five days his acute symptoms disappeared, and three months later he was free from all symptoms and leading a well-adjusted life. This story was reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

A 10-year-old girl, once bright and alert, began to complain of abdominal pains and headaches. Her school grades deteriorated, she became cranky and difficult, refused to play the piano which she had always enjoyed. She heard "voices", felt afraid of many harmless things. People's faces seemed peculiar to her. Buildings appeared to be falling on her. Her physician gave her some tablets and within a month she was once again a bright, happy little girl.

These stories are not fiction. The tablets and injections given, in many instances, are members of the B complex of vitamins, completely harmless and beneficent. The diets accompanied some of the treatments are diets high in protein and the B vitamins. No wonder drugs are involved; no magic spells. All the stories appeared originally in highly reputable medical and scientific journals, which is where we found them when we were doing research for this articles.

There are many more stories of this kind-just as dramatic, just as convincing. In most of these cases, the B vitamins were given in what is called "megadoses" that is, amounts much larger than one would ordinarily get at meal times or in food supplements. In some cases, it appears that the vitamin or vitamins involved work like drugs. In others, it is apparent that the individual had need for far more of this particular vitamin then the rest of us need.

In every cases, the vitamin treatment is harmless, with none of the unpleasant side effects which accompany many drugs. Itis possible for you to use this information to help yourself or members of your family? With caution, yes, so far as the B vitamins are concerned, for they are water soluble, which means that, they are easily and quickly excreted and pose little threat of harm.

It is also our hope that this article, in some small way, can convince more doctors to use vitamins, especially the versatile B Complex, to alleviate much needless suffering.

Better still, with full knowledge of the B Complex, you can probably prevent such wide spread disorders that we discuss from ever appearing. That is the purpose of this article to help you to become acquainted with the B vitamins, what their role is in maintaining good health, what foods they are most abundant in, and how you can use them to secure abundant health for yourself and your family.

When we speak niacin, riboflavin and thiamine-three of the harmless substances referred to above-we are discussing three of the 11 B vitamins. Unfortunately, most of us known very little about this B complex,  team of vitamins that work together like mountain climbers, each helping the other out when the need arises. This, then, is one of the few articles on all of the B vitamins, their sources, their need in human nutrition, and some of the important research work being done with them. Although it is possible that more B vitamins will eventually be discovered, U.S. scientists now recognize only eleven. They are:

• B-1-Thiamine     
• B-2-Riboflavin
• B-3-Niacin
• B-6-Pyridoxine
• Pantothenic Acid
• Biotin
• Folic Acid 
• B-12-Cobalamine
• Choline
• Inositol
• PABA (Para-amino-benzoic acid) 

As you see, some of the B vitamins have numbers and some do not. Also, they skip from B3 to B6, then to B12, etc. Biotin was once called vitamin H. Some articles list B15 which, we are told, is being used most effectively abroad to prevent some serious conditions. One early classic book, Vitamins in Medicine, by Dr. Franklin Bicknell and Frederick Prescott, also listed vitamin B12a, B12b, B12c, B13 and B14.

The complexity of vitamin research is well demonstrated by the fact that other substances keep turning up in the B Complex of vitamins which one researcher or another in this country (U.S.) and abroad chooses to call a new vitamin. One such is vitamin B4 which prevents a disease of poultry, B5 which is essential for health in some animals, B8 also called adenylic acid, B14 which seems to be related to vitamin B12. Whether or not any or perhaps all of these may turn out eventually to be bona fide B vitamins remain to be seen. We know, however, that all these exist in the same foods.

Perhaps we should also add that some biochemists do not regard choline, inositol and PABA as vitamins, although they are part of the B Complex.

Vitamins -any vitamin- do not suddenly appear in a laboratory labeled vitamin B1 or B2. The biochemist does not pick up a cup of brewer's yeast must be vitamin B1 and the little pieces vitamin B2.

Until about 50 years ago, no one knew there were such thing as vitamins, although scientists and physicians knew, in general, that there were some substances in certain foods which could prevent certain deficiency diseases. If the substances were destroyed by heat or soaking or some other process, the disease would not be prevented, no matter how much of the depleted food was eaten. This was what the early scientists had to go on, and they made plenty of mistakes.

Dr. Casimir Funk, who died at 83 in Albany, N.Y. in November 1967, discovered vitamins in 1911. He had theorized that chemical substances, which he called vitamins (from the Latin word "vita" for life and "amine" for chemical compounds containing nitrogen) were capable of preventing deficiency diseases such as scurvy, pellagra and rickets, and indeed were essential to the sustenance of healthy life, according to the Dec. 1, 1967 issue of Time. The assumption that all vitamins contained nitrogen later proved to be wrong, and the "e" was dropped from "vitamin".

Moving from the Pasteur Institute in Paris to the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine in London in 1910, Dr. Funk pursued the causes of beriberi, the vitamin B deficiency disease that attacks the nerves, heart and digestive system. Beriberi was particularly prevalent in those days among Eastern people whose diet consisted mainly of polished rice.

Funk put test pigeons on a rice diet, the Time article continued. "First he fed them polished rice; then natural rice, with all its bran coating they thrived; when they did not they suffered from polyneuritis. Obviously, the bran-fed pigeons were getting a nutrient that the other were not. Funk concentrated the nutrient, now known as vitamin B1".

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1920, Dr. Funk went back to Europe, where he continued his research in Poland nd France. He returned to the U.S. at the start of World War II. "Funk continued his cancer research. All the while, he maintained more than a proprietary interest in nutrition, served as a research consultant to the U.S. Vitamin and Pharmaceutical Corporation, and helped to develop artificial vitamins", Time said.

Until 1926 scientists generally believed that vitamin B was a single entity. Then several scientists showed that there were at least two kinds, one of which could be destroyed easily by heat, another which was not destroyed by heat. Soon after, scientists in laboratories in many parts of the world began to isolate different parts of these substances, and, of course, called them by whatever name they happened to think of. Vitamin B2 was called riboflavin, except that in Europe that called it lactoflavin (because it is abundant in milk), and in the U.S. it was called vitamin G for a long time.

What is now pyridoxine has been labeled Factor Y, Factor I, Factor H, adermin and Factor B6. The term "vitamin B complex" at present refers to all vitamins split off from the original vitamin B nd identified chemically or by their biological effects. Bicknell and Prescott define a B vitamin s "an organic substance which acts catalytically in all living cells and which is essential for the nutrition of higher animals". A catalyst is a substance which causes biochemical changes to take place. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook, Food, defines vitamins as "one group of substance that in relatively small amounts are essential for life and growth".

By "catalytically", Bicknell and Prescott mean that B vitamins are involved in many of the incredibly complex workings of the body. And we do mean complex. In the official National Academy of a science's book, Recommended Dietary Allowances,  the B vitamin biotin is listed as taking part in about 15 or 20 processes involving many different enzymes. Scientists, you see, are not content with just observing that lack of biotin causes certain body symptoms. They must know, too, exactly what biotin does in the body that prevents these symptoms from occurring. Needless to say, scientists have only begun to untangle the mysteries. It may be hundreds of years before all the complexities are understood, or perhaps they never will be.

What we do know, basically and thoroughly, about the B vitamins is that they are indeed a "complex" which means that they are closely related to one another, that they work together and they occur, generally speaking, in the same groups of food.

Thiamine,  s we have learned, is the vitamin which prevents beriberi. It is also essential for proper nerve function. Its deficiency brings neuritis, paralysis, atrophy of muscles, edema or swelling. Symptoms disappear magically when thiamine is given.

Riboflavin can bring about a variety of symptoms hen it is absent or deficient: mouth inflammation, sores at the corners of the lips, visual fatigue, a "sandy" feeling of the eyes, in ability to endure bright lights. Seborrhea,  scaly skin disease, is also a symptom of riboflavin deficiency.

Niacin is responsible for the health of skin, nerves and digestive tract-a big order for a substance needed only in milligrams. Pellagra is the deficiency disease when niacin is lacking. It produces three conditions: diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia- and death if it is not treated. Niacin is also known as nicotinic acid. Nicotinamide, the physiologically active from of niacin, is also called niacinamide. 

Pyridoxine was recently listed by the National Academy of Sciences as being essential to human life and an official recommended dietary allowance was made. Lack of pyridoxine can also cause seborrhea, convulsions in babies, mouth disorders similar to those caused by lack of other B vitamins and nerve symptoms.

Biotin has no number officially. Nor does our NAS set a daily recommended dose, although biotin is assumed to be essential to man. Symptoms of lack of biotin are: lassitude, lack of appetite, depression, muscle pain, scaling dermatitis, nausea, anemia, high blood levels of cholesterol and changes in heart rhythm.

Choline is officially regarded as a vitamin, although no official recommendation for daily intake has been made. In animals, it protects against abnormalities in pregnancy and lactation.  Lack of it brings anemia, cardiovascular disease and muscle weakness to various animals.

Pantothenic acid, discovered by Dr. Roger J. Williams of the University of Texas, is also involved in many enzyme activities within the body. Lack of this vitamin produces apathy, depression, instability of heart action, abdominal pains, increased susceptibility to infection, impaired function of the important adrenal glands which bulwark us against stress, and certain nerve disorders involving "pins and needles" feelings and muscle weakness. (Do these sound like symptoms of anybody you know?)

Folic acid is closely related in function to vitamin B12. Lack of it produces a kind of anemia (macrocytic) which can be fatal. Symptoms also include inflammation of the tongue, diarrhea, lack of ability to absorb food. It is listed in Recommended Dietary Allowances as folacin.

Vitamin B12  is the substance that occurs along with the rest of the B vitamins. Says Food, "It is required for the growth and proper nutrition of animals, but its role in human nutrition is not known". Hence it is not officially a vitamin. Adelle Davis in her book, "Let's Get Well, says that, in the absence of enough choline and inositol, lecithin cannot be formed in the body. Lecithin is that important emulsifying substance which keeps cholesterol from forming unwanted deposits on the insides of the blood vessels. So, although inositol is not officially listed as a B vitamin, it appears that one day it may be.

Para-amino-benzoic acid is sometimes considered a B vitamin, although is is not recognized officially as such. Miss Davis tells us it was available some time ago only on prescription. She tells marvelous stories about its ability to restore color to white hair and says that anyone wanting healthy hair should take large amounts of folic acid, PABA and pantothenic acid daily, as well as use every day wheat germ, liver, brewer yeast and yogurt.

Food states that the sometimes-mentioned vitamins B13, B14, and B15 have not been classified as vitamins and have not been provided to be essential to human health. As you can see, these are substances which occur along with the B vitamins, which one scientist or another has isolated and is studying. If someone can come up with proof that one or another of these is actually essential to human life and can prevent the appearance of certain deficiency symptoms, then this substance will probably (after many years of official inquiry) be designated as a vitamin. And that's the way these things are handled.

As we have said, it is unbelievably complex, as everything in nature is. The one certain lesson we can learn from studying the B complex is the lesson our food technologists have never learned and apparently incapable of learning. Nature likes things whole. Nothing worthwhile is achieved in natured with fragments. Lifting all of the B complex of vitamins from our wholegrain cereals-when they are milled and processed- then returning only bits of three of the B vitamins synthetically is probably the worst possible thing we would do, for the imbalances thus created are unimaginably complex. Many of the trace minerals are also lost in this refining process.

It may take centuries to discover the amount of harm we have done to human health by thus fragmenting one of man's basic foods-bread. Yet this is done by our giant smiling industry when they produce white flour, white rice, and all the highly processed breakfast cereals.

All the B vitamins occur together in the same foods, although one food may contain a bit more of one, a bit less of another. These foods are:

• Liver and all organ meats
• Eggs
• Milk, cheese
• Meat, fish, poultry
• Green, leafy vegetables
• Whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes
• Foods yeast

You can readily see that a diet consisting of just these foods alone is a complete diet if you add fruits and other vegetables for their vitamin A and vitamin C content. The foods in which the B complex of vitamins are most abundant are also those foods which contain the most protein, so a diet consisting of the foods listed above, plus fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins A and vitamins C, is the best possible diet to follow.

You can also see that, as soon as you begin to dilute this excellent diet with foods made from white refined flours and refined cereals, you lose B vitamins as well as precious minerals. As you add white sugar and foods made from it, you cut down severely on the vitamin B content of your diet, for all vitamins have been removed from the sugarcane to make white sugar. You also create imbalances because Nature has arranged that the B vitamins are essential for the body to process starches and sugars. Yet B vitamins are lacking in these depleted foods. And still, we are told that one-half of all food eaten in the U.S. is made up of white flour, processed cereal food, and white sugar.

A recent study sponsored by the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the American Institute of Baking and the Purdue Research Foundation, shows that most of the B Complex and vitamin E are lost when wheat is processed into white flour and then made into bread, cake, pasta, etc.

The milling and bleaching of hard and soft wheat for bread and cake strips away 90% of the vitamin E, the report stated. The loss is about 60% in the milling of durum, a variety of hard wheat, for pastas, but there is a further loss in the final processing into macaroni and similar products. As for pyridoxine, the highest loss for the B Complex, less than 15% of the vitamin B6 was retained in bread, 7% in cake, 10 to 20% in crackers, and 25% in macaroni.

Speaking before the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment in Washington on August 26, 1970, Dr. Henry A. Schroeder of Dartmouth Medical School said: "Most of the trace elements essential for health are removed from processed foods. Unfortunately, they are not restored to the food. The milling of wheat into refined white flour removes 40% of the chromium, 86% of the manganese, 76% of the iron, 89% of the cobalt, 68% of the copper, 78% of the zinc and 48% of the molybdenum, all trace elements essential for life or health", says Dr. Schroeder, a world-renowned expert on trace metals.

The B complex must be kept whole, as it is in whole grains, in whole seeds, nuts, eggs, liver, yeast. When you are buying a B Complex vitamin supplement, make sure it contains all of the B vitamins, As well as some yeast, liver or other rich sources of B vitamins, so that you will also be getting all the other vitamins that may be there but undiscovered, as yet.

Three B-Complexes: The Worst Dressed, Best Dressed, and Fairest of Them All

Most people purchase supplements believing that the nutrients in them will benefit their health. Many do not know where the nutrients originate or about other ingredients lurking in those tablets and even in many powders and capsules. There appears to be so many choices on the store shelves, but are there really? Before we look in on our three B-complex supplements, let’s take a look at what these supplements consist of and what the choices really are.

Synthetic vs. Natural Most vitamin supplements found in drug and health food stores do not contain vitamins that are truly natural, but are synthesized predominantly from petrochemicals and less frequently from plants. These are manufactured by six companies that are the sole producers of all the raw materials, which end up in the vast array of synthetic dietary supplements seen on store shelves. Also, only a small number of supplement companies, about 3%, actually manufacture their own products. The raw materials are purchased and a super assembler assembles the formulas for them.
There are three basic types of supplements: synthetic, crystalline, and whole food. These are available in numerous variations and combinations.

Synthetic vitamins are those that have been developed the laboratory. They are isolated chemical versions of vitamins. Crystalline vitamins originally had a natural food source, but have been extracted and isolated by processes that may have involved substances such as chemicals and solvents and high levels of heat. The crystalline vitamins, in the end, are much like the synthetics. "Whole food" vitamins are those that have been carefully processed and unaltered in any way that would change the molecular structure or biochemical combinations and actions of the vitamin complexes.

Many supplements claim to be "natural," but what does this really mean? To earn the right to be labeled "natural," supplements need only to originate from a natural source and/or be as little as 10% natural. Many supplements that are called natural have a food base but the primary ingredients are USP or synthetic vitamins. These would contain some co-nutrients that may assist the body in assimilating the vitamins in them.

There are companies who "grow" their vitamins in a "thick soup" of yeast and whole foods but the "nutrients" that are grown in this manner actually start out as USP (synthetic) vitamins. Nothing is going to change them from synthetic to whole and natural. Even supplements derived from natural sources such as herbs, yeast, foods such as rice bran, liver, berries, or bone can be dead and useless due to heat, pressure, or other processing techniques that destroy their enzymes. The way in which the materials are processed is extremely important in preserving the integrity of the nutrients contained therein.

Chemically, natural and synthetic vitamins are identical. The same ingredients are contained within the molecules but they are arranged in a different fashion. When a beam of polarized light passes through a natural vitamin it will always bend to the right, due to the molecular rotation of the natural substance. The letter "d" seen on some supplement labels represents dextro or "right." This indicates that the vitamin is the natural form.

As a beam of polarized light passes through a synthetic vitamin it splits into two parts, one part bending to the right and the other to the left. The synthetic supplements may be represented by the letters "dl" preceding the vitamin name. The "d" for dextro and the "l" for levo or left. This demonstrates that the molecular rotation of the synthetic is not identical to the natural form. The biological activity of synthetic vitamins can be 50% to 70% less than nutrients in natural, whole food supplements.
B vitamins are not generally referred to in conjunction with these letters but the difference in molecular structure between synthetic and a truly natural substance applies to them as well as any other nutrient.

Whole food supplements and some "natural" supplements will give foods as sources for the nutrients they contain. 

If a supplement is synthetic it will usually show the following as sources:
B complex – no source listed
B1 – thiamine mononitrate or thiamine hydrochloride
B2 – riboflavin
B5 – calcium D-pantothenate
B6 – pyridoxine hydrochloride
B12 – cobalamin
Folic Acid – pteroylglutamic acid
Biotin – d-Biotin

There is much controversy concerning the body’s reaction to synthetic vs. natural vitamin supplements. Many believe that the small differences between synthetic and natural are of no consequence. However, clinical evidence and several studies indicate that the body detects the difference and that natural forms of vitamins including A, B-complex, C, D, and E are more absorbable and assimilable by the body and have a more profound effect on deficiencies and disease than synthetics. This question comes to mind: Isn’t it possible that this could be true for all nutrients? Also, it has been shown that sensitive individuals who have reactions to the synthetic vitamins can take the truly natural forms with no problems.

There are some very real problems with synthetic vitamins and most supplements containing them. Not only are they synthesized, but are also isolated components completely removed from the family of micronutrients that accompany them naturally in whole foods. They are not intact with their co-factors such as enzymes, co-enzymes, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements, proteins, phytonutrients, and essential fatty acids as they would be in whole foods or properly manufactured whole food supplements. 

They cannot possibly have the synergistic, nutritional effect of the whole food vitamins.
Think about it! How can a dead, isolated, chemical supplement have the same action in the body as a live, whole, food concentrate? The human body was designed to recognize and utilize whole, live food not isolated chemicals. It is obvious however, that the synthetic supplements do have an effect on the body and even appear to be beneficial, at least initially.

Chet's CommentsKaren Railey, the author of this piece on B vitamins, writes some of the best and most detailed articles and eBooks in the Natural Health Movement. 

In fact, synthetic isolates will draw the accessory nutrients needed to assimilate and metabolize in the body, from the body’s stores. It is possible for this anomaly to create deficiencies of other nutrients, or if a person is already deficient, synthetic isolates may further deplete the body and eventually cause larger and more serious imbalances.

It is not logical to expect a chemical to build the body in a nutritional sense. It is my belief that synthetic vitamins have a pharmaceutical or medical effect and whole foods, super foods, and natural whole food supplements have a nutritive effect and help to build the body’s cells nutritionally. There may be times when either may be useful, however, for the long term a truly natural supplement would be best.

There is some debate concerning whether the synthetics or the naturals work better for severe deficiencies or conditions where a quick therapeutic result is needed. There have been reports of good results and poor results with both, but according to Dr. Richard Murray synthetic vitamins fail time and time again when put to the scientific test in human feedings. Over 200 studies have proven the superior efficacy of whole foods and whole food supplements as compared to the synthetics.

Supplements made from whole food concentrates will often have lower nutrient amounts listed on the label. Due to the fact that more of the nutrients will be available to and utilized by the body from this type of supplement than from the synthetic supplements, I don’t believe that this is of principal concern in most cases.

What I consider as natural in the fullest sense of the word are those supplements concentrated from whole foods and processed in a manner that keeps all nutrients intact with all the co-factors and preserves the life of the enzymes in the concentrates. This type of supplement is generally more costly and difficult to manufacture, so consequently they are often extremely hard to find.
Let’s take a look at some of the ingredients that are included in vitamin supplements aside from the nutrients.

ExcipientsThe term "excipient" refers to materials used in tableting or encapsulation of nutritional supplements for any purpose other than its physiological effect. These range from natural and harmless to chemical and potentially problematic, particularly for sensitive individuals. In other words…some of these do have physiological effects even though that is not their intended purpose.

Fillers: These are used to increase the volume of material in a tablet or capsule to aid in easier processing. Tablets and capsules are generally made in only a few sizes so fillers are added to take up space in the molds or capsules.

Some of the common non-food fillers used are talc or silicon. These may cause problems with digestion and absorption. Food grade fillers include cornstarch, lactose, cellulose, sorbitol and calcium phosphate. There is a possibility that these may cause allergic reactions or sensitivities.

Binders: Binders are various compounds that are used to adhere all the components of tablets together. They are the base of many supplement tablets and include lecithin, honey, sorbitol, gum arabic, and cellulose. Gum arabic has caused asthma attacks, rashes, and allergies in some individuals.

Disintegrants: These are added to many supplements to aid in the disintegration of the tablet within the gastrointestinal tract by swelling and breaking the tablet apart. Most of these are made from cellulose.
Lubricants/Flow Agents: The use of lubricants aids in the release of tablets from molds and ensures unrestrained movement through the tableting machinery, making the manufacturing process smoother. Lubricants and flow agents such as magnesium stearate, calcium stearate, and stearic acid may be used that increase the time tablets take to dissolve thus, may reduce the bioavailability of the nutrients in a supplement. Other common flow agents are vegetable stearin and silicates such as silica.

Flavoring agents: Sweeteners commonly found in supplements are sucrose, fructose, maltodextrin, sorbitol, and maltose. Usually sweeteners are used in liquid, powdered, chewable, or sublingual supplements. Stevia may be found in a small number of supplements but will not be labeled as a sweetener due to FDA regulations prohibiting its use as a sweetener in foods or other products. Artificial or natural flavoring may also be added to supplements.

Coloring Agents: A pleasing and uniform appearance is the motive for adding these to supplements. Some of them are derived from beets, carrots or chlorophyll, but others are synthetics, which are often questionable as far as consumption and health are concerned.

Coating Materials: The reason these substances are used is to mask unpleasant odors and flavors, aid in swallowing the tablet, aid in preventing tablets from breaking apart and to protect them from moisture. A commonly seen coating material is listed on labels as pharmaceutical glaze, confectioners glaze or natural glaze is actually shellac. A supplement coated with shellac cannot be broken down or assimilated.

A vegetable protein coating (zein), which is derived from corn and Brazil wax is sometimes used as well as a coating made from palm trees.

Preservatives: There are companies that use natural preservatives such as vitamin C or E in their tablets. Tablets do not need added preservatives if they contain these or vitamin A, cysteine, methionine, or the minerals sulfur and selenium as they are all natural preservatives.

Capsules can be made without the use of excipients but are not always excipient free. Capsules are usually made from gelatin and are an animal by-product. There are some vegetarian gel caps available that are made from potato extract, however these are used by only a small number of companies.

Another interesting angle to think about. Some companies actually make tablets, crush them to a powder, and then encapsulate them. In this case you could still be getting some of those excipients inside the capsule! Powders may also contain excipients such as flow agents, sweeteners, colors, and/or preservatives.

Now, let’s take a close look at three different B-Complex supplements. The first two were chosen from what is available at drug and health food stores and the third is available only through health professionals. In all fairness it should be noted that tablets couldn’t be made without the use of some excipient material. Judge for yourself what is excessive and which would be the best for you.
Worst Dressed YourLife B-ComplexCost: $5.69 for 100 tablets.

Label: Each tablet provides:
Thiamin (Vit B-1) 10mg
Riboflavin (Vit B-2) 10mg
Niacin (Vit B-3) 10mg
Vitamin B-6 10mg
Folate 100mcg
Vitamin B-12 10mcg
Biotin 10mcg
Pantothenic Acid (Vit B-5) 10mg

Listed Ingredients:Thiamin Mononitrate (B-1): This is not the most commonly used form of B-1 used in supplements. Thiamin hydrochloride is the form of vitamin B-1 that is used in most dietary supplements.

Riboflavin (B-2): Vitamin B-2, or simple riboflavin. Interacts closely with thiamin.
Niacinamide (B-3): Vitamin B-3 in the form of nicotinamide.
D-Calcium Pantothenate (B-5): The most common synthetic form of vitamin B-5 or pantothenic acid. The most active and useful form is panthethine.

Pyrodoxine Hydrochloride (B-6): A synthetic form of vitamin B-6 that is often used as a coating in the manufacture of supplements to mask taste and odor.

Folic Acid: Available as folic acid or folinic acid. To utilize folic acid the human body must convert it to tetrahydrofolate then add a methyl group in order to form folinic acid. Supplying the body with folinic acid would bypass this process.

Cyanocobalamin (USP Method 2) (B-12): This is the most common form of vitamin B-12 but is not an active form, nor the best form to use. Methylcobalamin is the most beneficial synthetic form of B-12.
Biotin (USP Method 2): This is the isolated form of biotin. Biocytin, a biotin complex from brewer’s yeast is also available.

Para-Aminobenzoic Acid: PABA is a member of the B-vitamin family and is part of the folic acid molecule. PABA is said to aid in the assimilation of pantothenic acid.

Calcium Carbonate: An insoluble form of calcium found in nature as calcite (in limestone, marble, or chalk), aragonite (pearls), and in plant ashes, bones, and many shells. It is often used as a binder in supplements. It is not absorbable by the human body and may cause constipation.

Maltodextrin: An unfermentable sugar obtained by the hydrolysis of cornstarch. It is used for flavor, as a texturizer and bulking agent. Maltodextrin may contain free glutamic acid (MSG), which occurs as a result of processing.

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose: This excipient is a vegetable gum, which is commonly used as a main ingredient in artificial tear solutions. It is resistant to bacterial decomposition and is used as a disintegrant and emulsifier in this supplement. At this time there is no known toxicity.

Cellulose Starch: A starch made from plant material that is used as filler, binder and disintegrant. Starches processed from corn contain free glutamic acid (MSG), resulting from processing.
Croscarmellose Sodium: This material is a distintegrant derived from vegetable fiber.

Sodium Starch Glycolate: A disintegrant that is made from potatoes, maize, wheat, rice or tapioca starches. It is used in tablets containing insoluble ingredients such as magnesium stearate to help them break apart. If processed from corn, this starch will contain MSG.

Silicon Dioxide: Silica, a transparent, tasteless, powder that is practically insoluble in water. It is the main component of beach sand and is used as an absorbent and flow agent in supplements. It is also used in ceramics and scouring and grinding compounds.

Hydroxypropyl Cellulose: A vegetable gum commonly used in opthalmic applications. It is used as a disintegrant and emulsifier in supplements.

Red 40 Lake: An insoluble pigment used in food, drug, and cosmetics applications. The National Cancer Institute reported that p-credine, a chemical used in the preparation of Red No. 40, was carcinogenic in animals (Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, Ruth Winters, M.S., pg.185).
Polyethylene Glycol 3350: This excipient is used as an emulsifier, binder, and surfactant. It improves resistance to moisture and oxidation. Polyethylene is a polymerized ethylene resin and glycol is a dihydric alcohol.

Magnesium Stearate: This commonly used excipient can be made from animal or vegetable sources. It is used as a flow agent and surface lubricant. It is insoluble in water and said to be non-toxic but may hinder the absorption of nutrients.

Resin: Resins are used as binders and aid in water resistance. They may be of plant or synthetic origin and are used in lacquers, varnishes, inks, adhesives, synthetic plastics and pharmaceuticals. Synthetic forms include polyvinyl, polystyrene, and polyethylene. Toxicity is dependent on the ingredients used in the manufacture of the resin.

Dicalcium Phosphate: A mineral complex of calcium and phosphorous that is commonly used as a tableting aid, filler or bulking agent. Phosphates can induce the same symptoms as MSG in those who are extremely sensitive to MSG.

Polysorbate 80: A non-ionic surfactant that is a polymer containing oleic acid, palmitic acid, sorbitol, and ethylene oxide and is formed by microbial fermentation. It is used as an emulsifier, dispersant, or stabilizer in foods, cosmetics, supplements and pharmaceuticals.

Titanium Dioxide: An inorganic, white, opaque pigment made from anatase (from minerals) that is often used in supplements as a whitening agent. It is also used in paints and coatings, plastics, paper, inks, fibers, food and cosmetics. Titanium Dioxide is an oxidant.

Povidone: PVP is a synthetic polymer used as a dispersing and suspending medium.
Pharmaceutical Glaze: Shellac used by some manufacturers to coat vitamin tablets. Shellac is insoluble in stomach acid and supplements coated with shellac are difficult for the body to break down and assimilate.

Suggestions for use: Take one tablet daily with a full glass of water, preferably after a meal.
Chet's CommentsKaren Railey, the author of this piece on B vitamins, writes some of the best and most detailed articles and eBooks in the Natural Health Movement. 

This supplement is very inexpensive but it isn’t even worth its modest price.
The nutrients in the YourLife B-Complex are isolated synthetics and some of them are the least useful and/or least absorbable forms of the vitamin. All the amino acids and minerals that are needed to assimilate the nutrients that are in the tablet will be taken from the body. By the time the body deals with this, the fact that some of the forms used are not the most bio-available, and the various excipients in the tablets, some of which impede absorption, only miniscule amounts of the vitamins will be available to and assimilable by the body.

Nutrient levels in this supplement, though they do exceed the RDA, are very low if they are to be taken per label instruction. With these levels it would be better to take a tablet 3 to 5 times a day.

The YourLife B-Complex contains 18 different excipients and only 8 nutrients. This is a very lopsided picture. One would be ingesting more excipients than nutrients if taking this supplement. The pills are glued together with binders and coatings then have disintegrants that are supposed to disintegrate the tablet from inside out once consumed. Some of the excipients may cause allergenic responses in sensitive people and who truly knows what the long-term effect of ingesting them are.

In 1976 the Journal of Food Science carried an interesting report. When rats were given three different additives, one at a time, they stayed well. When they were given two additives at the same time they became ill. With a three additive combination they all died within 14 days.

Even if many of these excipients have been tested for toxicity, they have generally not been tested over long periods of time, nor have they been tested in combination. Aside from this, everyone is unique in how his or her body processes chemicals and responds to them.

This B-Complex contains no co-nutrients such as amino acids, vitamin C or magnesium to aid with the absorption of the nutrients. It does contain some PABA, which may help in the absorption of pantothenic acid.

Best DressedSource Naturals, Coenzymate B-ComplexOrange Flavored SublingualCost: $15.40 (sale price) for 60 tabs

LabelTwo tablets provide:
Coenzyme Vit B-1 (Cocarboxylase) 20mg
Coenzyme Vit B-2 (Flavin Mononucleotide) 15mg
Vit B-3 40mg
from: Coenzyme B-3 (Nicotinamide 10mg
Adenine Dinucleotide)
Inositol Hexanicotinate 34mg
Niacinamide Ascorbate 30mg
Vit B-5 (Pantothenic Acid) 25mg
Coenzyme Vit B-6
(Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate) 15mg
Coenzyme Vit B-12 (Dibencozide) 1,000mcg
Biotin 150mcg
Folic Acid 400mcg
Vit C (Niacinamide Ascorbate) 22mg
Other Ingredients:
Inositol (Inositol Hexanicolinate) 3mg
Coenzyme Q10 12mg
Inositol: This nutrient is part of the B vitamin complex and is found in lecithin. It acts as a mild lipotropic agent in the body, helping to emulsify fats.

Coenzyme Q10: There are 10 types of CoQ and CoQ10 is considered to be the main active one in humans. Ubiquinone is an electron carrier and is extremely important in the cell mitochondria, where it assists in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphatase) and ultimately helps to generate energy.
The supplement’s base consists of Mannitol, Sorbitol, natural orange & licorice flavors and sodium citrate.

This supplement is suitable for vegetarians and is hypoallergenic. It contains no yeast, dairy, egg, gluten, corn, soy, wheat, sucrose, starch, preservatives, artificial color, flavor or fragrance.
Mannitol: A sweet alcohol that occurs naturally in beets, celery and olives and is also synthesized from hydrogen and glucose (corn sugar). Mannitol is used primarily as a thickener, stabilizer and sweetener.
Sorbitol: Sorbitol is a natural sugar that is found in fruits such as berries, pears, plums, apples and cherries, and sea vegetation. It can also be synthesized from dextrose (corn sugar). Sorbitol is used for many applications: it is a thickener, humectant, texturizer, sequestrant, stabilizer, and sweetener.
Mannitol and Sorbitol are generally considered as safe, but there are some things to consider before using products containing them.

Sorbitol is contraindicated for diabetics. Also, Earl Mindell, in his book Safe Eating, claims that Mannitol can cause irritation to the intestinal tract such as cramps, bloating and diarrhea when taken frequently, in large quantities or in those with gastrointestinal problems.

The combination of the two can increase tooth decay by promoting the growth of Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium that sticks to the teeth. The bacteria are usually harmless but when combined with Mannitol and Sorbitol it promotes tooth decay. Brushing the teeth after taking this supplement will solve that problem.

Source Naturals states that there is a very small amount of Mannitol and Sorbitol in their enzymated B-complex.

Natural orange and licorice flavors: These are natural flavorings and will not generally present any problems. However, it is possible for them to contain small amounts of MSG as a result of processing.
Sodium Citrate: This excipient is extracted from citrus fruit or can be made by fermenting crude sugar. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits, tomatoes, coffee, apricots, peaches, pineapples, and some berries. Citric acid has been used for many years and is considered as a safe food additive, however, it is possible for it to alter urinary secretion of drugs making them less effective or more toxic. It is used to enhance flavor and add a tangy taste to products as well as being used as a buffer and sequestrant.
Suggested Use: 2 to 3 tablets daily or as recommended by your health care professional. Place tablet under the tongue and allow to dissolve slowly, altering the position of the tablet to avoid prolonged contact with the same area.

Coenzymate B Complex is a fairly expensive supplement. Let’s take a closer look at it.
This formula contains the B vitamins in their coenzyme forms; this means that they are already attached to the amino acids and mineral cofactors needed to make them biologically active. The body, specifically the liver, doesn’t have the task of converting the nutrients to their active form before they are available for use by the body.

This supplement is sublingual so the nutrients go into the bloodstream immediately as they are dissolved under the tongue. Because the tablets do not go through the digestive process, where much of the nutrient value of a supplement can be lost, a greater percentage of the nutrients are available to the body. With the coenzymate form of the B vitamins, you’ll need to take only half as much as you would of a standard B vitamin (Julia Ross, The Diet Cure, 1999).

Coenzymate B-Complex also contains Vitamin C and CoQ10, which helps with the absorption and assimilation of the B vitamins in the tablet.

Taking 2 to 3 of these tablets a day will provide ODA’s (optimum daily amounts) for B-12 and folic acid, two nutrients that Americans are typically deficient in. B-12 is in excess of the ODA, which would be excellent for those deficient in B-12, vegans and those who eat animal products in minute amounts. Others may find one tablet a day to be enough. The formula includes all the B vitamins, which is important because they work together and need each other to perform their individual, specific tasks in the body.

The nutrients in this B-Complex are synthetic but the supplement has been shown to be effective and is recommended by a number of people including Julia Ross, MA who practices at Recovery Systems, a California clinic. Because Coenzymate B-Complex can’t be used by diabetics and some people may be sensitive to Sorbitol, an alternative recommended by Ms. Ross is Country Life Coenzyme B-Complex capsules.

It still remains that this is a synthetic supplement and its effects will be that of a synthetic and not of a whole food supplement.

It is important to note that supplement manufacturers are not required to list all excipients of a product on the label. It may be necessary to contact the manufacturer to find out what is in the supplement aside from the nutrients if the other ingredients are not listed.

Most manufacturers are willing to answer questions about their products, however some may be uncooperative. Such was the case with Source Naturals. I spoke to a customer service representative who was very uncooperative. She didn’t want to take the time to answer questions and told me that the company did not send out full disclosure statements, monographs, certificates of analysis, research abstracts, or technical sheets to anyone, even health professionals.

When asked, she did tell me that they made most of their own supplements right there and that "of course, they tested all substances when they came in, and tested lots during and after manufacture." She seemed rather defensive about this. She did offer to send me some standard information of their enzymated B Complex, which she did.

The Fairest of Them All NutriPlex Formulas, B Food Complex, Cost: $34.00 for 250 tablets.

Label: 

B Food Complex proprietary blend 300mg
Primary Yeast
Rice Bran Extract
Defatted Wheat Germ
Sprouted Barley Malt
Peavine
Oat Bran
Beet Root
Liver (lyophilized)
Brain (lyophilized)
Figs
Sunflower Seed Powder
Other Ingredients:
calcium, cellulose, vegetable stearate and silica
Calcium: There are many types of calcium and it would be better if this was clarified on the label.
Cellulose, vegetable stearate, and silica have all been described above.
This product contains no corn, dairy, soy, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
The NutriPlex B Food Complex is reasonably priced and of good quality. It is truly what it claims to be…a whole food concentrate.

The label is quite different from what we are used to seeing; there are no separate vitamins or milligram amounts listed. This is because the supplement is made from concentrated whole food and not isolates or chemicals. The nutrients in this supplement are an entire B complex, which includes all the B vitamins intact with all the other nutrients that are with them in nature. You are getting 300mg of a complete B complex in each tablet.

I spoke to Vic Shayne, PhD, who founded NutriPlex two years ago. He and his wife, seeing the rarity of properly manufactured, truly natural whole food supplements, made the decision to develop their own. Dr. Shayne was friendly and helpful, freely answering my questions. He assured me that their products are chemical free and that care is taken to use those excipients that are less likely to inhibit the dissolution rate of the supplement or hinder the assimilation or metabolism of the nutrients by the body. Proper manufacturing processes insure that the enzymes in the products remain alive and intact.

These supplements are made from organic (both certified and non-certified) vegetables and any animal products used are acquired from New Zealand cattle that are not given antibiotics, pesticide laden food or growth hormones.

This product contains glandulars so would not be acceptable for those who are strict vegans. Vitamin B-12 is not readily available from vegetable sources so this leaves a choice to be made: Take synthetic B-12 or take natural supplements containing B-12 derived from animal products.

The clinical results obtained with the use of NutriPlex supplements have been encouraging and many people have benefited from their use. These supplements provide a way of obtaining concentrated whole food nutrition that the body recognizes and can easily utilize. B-Food Complex provides all natural food sources of the complete vitamin B complex and its synergists including enzymes, coenzymes, minerals trace minerals, and amino acids.

These supplements can be taken indefinitely and without concern for toxicity, which is often a consideration with long term and/or high dose usage (over the therapeutic doses) of many synthetic vitamins.

The B vitamins are vitally important in supporting the brain, maintaining proper function of the nervous system, endocrine system, digestion and elimination, enzyme systems, and the liver, heart, kidney and other organs. They assist in blood sugar regulation, protein, carbohydrate and fat metabolism, building red blood cells, hormone regulation and production, the maintenance of mucosal, epithelial and eye tissues, normal growth and development, and more.

This whole food B complex makes available to the body an excellent and recognizable form of the B vitamins, which will be of great nutritional benefit in supporting the aforementioned functions and systems.

Suggested Use: 2 to 4 tablets daily or as directed by a health care practitioner. Some of the literature recommends chewing or breaking up the supplements for best results, though this is not stated on the product label. They don’t taste bad either!

Diet and SupplementationThe extreme importance of responsible, healthy food choices and eating a diverse properly balanced diet as a number one priority must be emphasized here. The next step would be to address juicing and booster foods including products such as green foods (barley grass, wheat grass, chlorella, spirulina, etc.); Living Food, bee pollen, kelp, nutritional yeast, and stabilized rice bran to add needed nutrients to the diet. Then as necessary, supplements should be added to the protocol. It is difficult to get all the nutrients needed from food alone, particularly in the case of a deficiency, condition, or disease state where food and even booster foods cannot provide enough nutrients to produce the needed therapeutic effect.

It is important to remember that health will never be optimum if an unhealthy diet is consumed and lots of supplements taken with the idea that the supplements make up for eating poorly.
There are no completely perfect vitamins out there so we must choose from the myriad of choices that ironically, offer so few choices and learn to distinguish the "worst dressed" from the "fairest," and make decisions concerning what is best for us and our health. Remember…a supplement is only as good as its ingredients.

by Karen Railey

The Truth About B Complex Vitamins

The B group of vitamins may be one of the most commonly misunderstood of the vitamins, simply because these are several distinct vitamins lumped together. The fact that the vitamins in this group are known by both letter and number becomes confusing to many people. It’s just often more difficult to remember numbers, meaning you may remember that it’s one of the “B vitamins,” but not remember which number is associated with that particular one. It may help to find out that each of the B vitamins also has a name.
• B1 is also thiamin

• B2 is also riboflavin

• B3 is also niacin

• B5 is also pantothenic acid

• B6 is also pyridoxine

• B7 is also biotin

• B9 is also folic acid

• B12 is also cobalamin
You should note that there are four additional substances in the B complex group, though they are not known as vitamins because they are not necessary for normal body function. They are choline, lipoic acid, PABA and inositol. When you purchase B complex vitamins, these four will not be included, and at least one or two of the recognized B vitamins may also be omitted. B5 and B7 are so widely available in food that most people simply get enough of these vitamins, even if they aren’t eating a healthy diet.
Arguably one of the most commonly recognized uses of the B vitamins is an energy booster. Some health care professionals tout the advantages of taking B12 in large doses to combat tiredness, but most seem to agree that starting a regimen of B vitamins is only advisable in severe cases.
More recently, research suggests that some Vitamin B deficiencies may aggravate certain health issues or health risks, and that an increase of those vitamins will help relieve symptoms or lessen the risk. Notably, Alzheimer’s is one of those diseases and sufferers of this disease sometimes show improvement from added Vitamin B on a daily basis. Vitamin B2 has also been used to help some migraine patients. The correlation between certain health issues and vitamin deficiencies is certain, though finding the right treatment may be tricky. One of the most common problems with using vitamins from the B complex group to treat health issues is the fact that many diseases and health issues have overlapping symptoms. Treating those symptoms may ultimately cause more problems than it cures. Talk to your health care professional before taking extraordinary steps toward a vitamin regimen, including those that include complex B vitamins.

by: Bob Benson