We're all aware of the many vitamins that our bodies require for good health. While some of them are very common like Vitamin C or Vitamin D, there some that we are not as familiar with even though they are very necessary. One of these often forgotten, but necessary vitamins is Vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin that performs quite a few different functions in our body and is essential for our overall health. Vitamin B6 is necessary for our red blood cell metabolism as well as being needed by more than 100 enzymes that are responsible for protein metabolism. Another important role for Vitamin B6 is to help our immune system and nervous system to function properly. Since it's hemoglobin that carries the oxygen to our tissues, we need Vitamin B6 because it is the vitamin that makes hemoglobin. The amount of oxygen that is carried is increased by Vitamin B6 as well. Another function of Vitamin B6 is to keep our sugar level at a normal range. It's very apparent that Vitamin B6 is very important to our bodies.
Sources of Vitamin B6
We've all heard about getting our Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of one drug or another, but seldom do we know what that means or what the recommended amount is. RDA is the average amount of level that we need to meet the requirements of 98% of healthy people in that gender group. The RDA of Vitamin B6 is 1.3 milligrams for adults under the age of 50; for men over 50 it is 1.7 mg and 1.5 for women over 50, with pregnant women needing 1.9 mg and nursing mothers 2 mg.
Vitamin B6 can be found in vegetable and animal food sources. Some of the more common sources of Vitamin B6 are beans, legumes, nuts, meats, eggs, fish, liver, chicken, avocados, whole grains, field salad, bananas and fortified cereals and breads.
Vitamin B6 Deficiency
Although signs of Vitamin B6 deficiency are seldom seen in the United States, they are occasional present in the elderly. A deficiency of Vitamin B6 can occur in individuals that have poor quality diets that lack many important nutrients. Symptoms of Vitamin B6 deficiency do not usually show up until the individual has been deficient for quite awhile. Some of the signs or symptoms of deficiency are dermatitis, sore tongue, confusion, depression, convulsions and anemia. Many of these symptoms can also come from many other medical conditions so it's important to seek medical advice for any of these symptoms.
