Quite often these symptoms are your body telling you it's missing something. Some necessary ingredient it needs to maintain an energetic, healthy state. If you give your body what it needs, it will maintain and heal itself. Our bodies are amazing machines that only require a little maintenance and raw materials.



B-Vitamins are one of those very important raw materials.

The "happy" vitamin, as the B vitamins are rightfully called, are perfect for bringing balance to many systems of the body. But what constitutes a good B-Complex supplement? Here are some rules:

First, let's look at composition.

There are eight known B vitamins and all good products have all eight, in a somewhat balanced form. The eight (8) are Thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2) panothenic acid, niacin, vitamin B-6, biotin, folacin, and B-12. They are essential for human metabolism, growth, reproduction, general health, appetite, the normal functioning of the digestive tract, nervous stability and blood cell formation.

B vitamins are competitive in the body, thus the balance is important. B vitamins must be taken together in a balanced, complex form in order for your body to use them correctly. Your metabolism can be thrown off by taking an isolated component of the B's alone.

Some of the components of a B-complex are expensive to have in the supplement. Some are very inexpensive. Thus, when one sees 6000% of the recommended daily allowance of one B, (the less expensive one) and 20% of the expensive one, it is best to find out how much research has really gone into the product.

B vitamins are like a sports team. There is no "I in TEAM", we need everyone working together to achieve a winning combination. "You are only as strong as your weakest link." "Win one for the Gipper" --- wait '-- I think I am getting off track....

The FDA does not require vitamin companies to do research on their products. Therefore most companies don't do much or any research at all - it costs too much. The old saying of "you get what you pay for" really does hold true for vitamins and supplements. It is worth the effort to find a company that does the clinical research and can back up their nutritional claims.

Second, you need to think about bioavailability. What happens to a nutrient when consumed? Does it pass through the system unused, or does it get into the blood stream in the correct amount and do the job it is meant to do?

It takes the right blend of all eight types of the B vitamin in order for it to be absorbed correctly. Folic acid is a great example of this. It is very difficult to get folic acid into the blood stream. If taken alone a large part of each pill would pass through you and never get absorbed. But if taken correctly in a balanced form, folic acid could reduce hospital charges for women of child bearing age up to an estimated 20 billion dollars per year.

B vitamins have many positive effects on our bodies. They are so important they are one of the few nutrients the federal government mandates to be added to certain foods.

The problem with depending on only foods for an adequate supply of B is that intense heat, slow cooking, light, baking soda and baking powder all destroy B vitamins.

Consuming sugar, alcohol, caffeine and processed foods also causes your body to lose its supply of B. If that weren't enough, stress is another factor that can lead to a depletion of your body's reserves.

The importance of supplementing your diet with B can be seen every time you eat foods containing carbohydrates. To metabolize carbohydrates, the body requires B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, B-6, phosphorous, and magnesium. Since the last four of these are not replaced by "enrichment" of the food product, the body must draw on its own reserves.

For every ounce of white flour that we consume, the body must supply the previously mentioned nutrients to digest the flour; Pantothenic Acid, (B5) gets taken from the nerve and muscle tissue; Pyridoxine (B6) is taken from the Brain; Phosphorous and Magnesium are taken from the heart and bones.

As we deplete the body of these compounds we start to weaken the nerve and muscle tissue which could result in nerve problems and loss of muscle tone. The loss of brain tissue will affect the memory functions. And finally, phosphorous depletion will weaken muscle and rhythm function, affecting the rhythm of the heart.

Processing removes these nutrients and enrichment does not add them in a way that our body can use, thus our diet must be provided with these nutrients in some other way, such as supplementation, or suffer loss of body function later in life.

Benefits of B Vitamins include: - Helps convert food to energy - Helps form healthy red blood cells - Has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease - Has been found to reduce or even eliminate PMS symptoms - Helps reduce or eliminate anemia - Minimizes and even eliminates depression. - Helps prevent birth defects

If you are still unsure of whether you should be supplementing your diet with a good b-complex vitamin, here is a list of some indicators which may suggest you are not maintaining enough of the nutrient in your system:

- Mood changes

- irritability

- nervousness

- fatigue

- depression

- headaches

- dizziness

- trembling

- loss of appetite

- insomnia

- and sugar cravings.

So come on, let's all get happy!

Think about it...