B-Complex Vitamins – Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) Health Benefits
Although there have been many things touted as being a cure for hair loss, vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, has been shown to significantly decrease the levels of a hormone thought to be the main cause of baldness in men when combined with zinc and azelaic acid and applied topically to the scalp.
Pyridoxine has also long been recognized as being beneficial for the health of the skin in general, as its original name, antidermatitis factor, was given because low levels of vitamin B6 seemed to increase inflammation of the dermis. As we know today, high levels of inflammation in the skin is one of the major causes of premature aging.
So if you want to slow down the signs of facial aging and the loss of head hair, then don’t forget to include vitamin B6 as part of your everyday skin care routine!
Why Is Vitamin B6 Important?
In nature, vitamin B6 is found as a complex together with seven other B vitamins. Collectively, this complex is referred to as the vitamin B complex and its members are shown below:
• Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin)
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
• Vitamin B7 (biotin)
• Vitamin B9 (folic acid)
• Vitamin B12 (cobalamins)
If you are interested in learning more about the B vitamins in general, then please see the following two videos as they provide some excellent information about these important nutrients and what effects they have on the body.
In the rest of this article, we shall be focusing exclusively on the health benefits of vitamin B6.
There are 9 types of water soluble vitamins and the B vitamins make up 8 of those, the other one being vitamin C. Whether a vitamin is water or fat soluble gives a good indication of how likely you are to become deficient in it.
The reason for this is that water soluble vitamins cannot be stored in large amounts in the body, and so any excess that you consume will be excreted in your urine. As a result, in order to maintain optimal levels of health you need to consume such vitamins on a daily basis.
Breakdown Of Protein
One of the most important roles of pyridoxine in the body is the conversion of food into energy, and in general, this is also the case for the rest of the B vitamins. However, pyridoxine plays an especially crucial role in the breakdown and formation of amino acids, which essentially, are the building blocks from which your body is constructed.
Amino acids for example, are required for the construction of elastin and collagen, which are two proteins that are essential for the skin. Low levels of these proteins can cause the skin to wrinkle and sag prematurely, which ultimately leads to visible signs of aging especially on the face.
Amino acids are also important for muscle development, which is why bodybuilders tend to eat lots of meat. Once meat is broken down into amino acids by the body, it can then be used to repair and build muscle fibers making them bigger and stronger.
Another essential role that amino acids play in the body is in the formation of immune cells such as macrophages and natural killer cells which are responsible for protecting the body against invading pathogens.
A deficiency in vitamin B6 can therefore weaken your immune systems ability to fight back against bacteria and viruses, thereby making you more vulnerable to disease and infection.
Weight Loss
Vitamin B6 is also very important for carbohydrate metabolism and maintaining a healthy level of fat on the body. When you eat food your body is supplied with immediate energy in the form of glucose, which is basically just a type of sugar that is easily and quickly broken down.
Any excess energy that your body does not need is then stored as glycogen in your liver and your muscles, and when your glycogen supplies become full up, the rest of the energy from the food that you have eaten is stored as fat. So in simple terms, the reason people become fat is because they are consuming more energy than their body requires.
This is where vitamin B6 becomes important for weight loss, as one of its roles is to help you metabolize your glycogen supplies. Once your glycogen supplies become depleted, only then will your body start to use the fat it has deposited around your body in order to fuel itself, and this is when you start to lose weight!
Weight loss is further enhanced by the effects vitamin B6 has on protein metabolism previously mentioned. The bigger and stronger your muscles are, the more energy is required to maintain them.
As a result, people who lift weights on a regular basis tend to have a higher metabolic rate than people who do not lift weights regularly and so find it much easier to burn fat because their glycogen supplies become depleted faster.
Mood
How you feel about yourself is largely determined by your biochemical makeup, and this is influenced by a variety of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters that allow different regions of the brain to communicate with each other.
Because vitamin B6 helps you to metabolize amino acids, it is also important for the creation of neurotransmitters as their synthesis is partly dependent on the presence of these building blocks.
Some neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are imp0rtant in helping to regulate your mood. Low levels of serotonin for example, can cause you to feel down and even depressed, whilst high levels can make you feel joyful and happy.
In fact, some drugs, such as ecstasy, cause a massive release of serotonin in the brain causing a person to experience an intense feeling of euphoria, hence the name ecstasy. The trouble is, after the drug has worn off, serotonin levels become depleted which then cause you to feel down and may even lead to long term depression.
Another important transmitter that vitamin B6 plays a role in the production of is the neurohormone melatonin. This hormone is vital for regulating your sleep-wake cycle, which is a term used to describe when you feel sleepy and when you feel awake.
Low levels of melatonin during the day is normal, but if melatonin levels do not rise to a high enough level before you go to bed, then you are likely to have difficulty falling asleep and may even suffer from insomnia.
Without enough vitamin B6 in your diet, you are therefore likely to feel tired and irritable during the day finding it difficult to concentrate, learn and remember new information.
But if your body has enough vitamin B6, then it will be able to produce the chemical messengers that it needs at the right levels and balance, thereby improving the way that you feel and the overall functioning of your body as whole.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Pyridoxine?
The health benefits of pyridoxine come largely as a result of its role in the breakdown of protein into amino acids, since those amino acids are then used by the body to construct the enzymes, neurotransmitters, hormones and immune cells that keep the body functioning and in good health.
A list and summary of the main benefits of pyridoxine can be found below.
• Helps to metabolize glycogen allowing you to burn body fat later on.
• Assists in the breakdown of proteins into amino acids.
• Maintains healthy skin by reducing inflammation, and so can benefit skin conditions such as acne and eczema.
• Improves your mood by balancing the levels of neurotransmitters and hormones in your brain and body.
• Can reduce symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) such as mood swings, aggressive behavior and depression.
• Helps the body to obtain energy from the proteins, carbohydrates and fats that you eat.
• Improves immune system health by providing the amino acids needed to create white blood cells.
• May help to reduce risk of heart attack by lowering levels of homocysteine when combined with folic acid and vitamin B12.
• Needed for the production of neurotransmitters and so plays an important role in promoting healthy brain function, learning and memory.
• Required for the production of the heme group of haemoglobin found in red blood cells.
• Required by nucleic acids for the formation of DNA.
• Assists in body detoxification via the release of sulphur from sulphur containing molecules.
• May help to reduce morning sickness in pregnant women.
• May improve symptoms of arthritis by reducing levels of inflammation in the body.
• Can act as a natural diuretic and thus reduce water retention by regulating the balance of sodium and potassium in the body.
• May reduce the risk of lung cancer in smokers by about 50%.
Vit-B6 Videos
The following videos talk about some of the beneficial effects vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) has on your body and overall level of health.
How Much Vitamin B6 Do You Need?
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin B6 is 2mg for men and 1.6mg for women, although some nutritionists state that you need 25-300mg for optimal health which can only be achieved with supplementation.
Where Do You Get It From?
Vitamin B6 is best obtained from meats, poultry, fish and beans although it is also contained in some fruits and vegetables.
Although B6 is one of the most stable B vitamins, levels can be decreased when food is heated, frozen or canned.
Who Needs Vitamin Supplements?
Although you only need a small amount of vitamin B6 and despite the fact that it is present in a wide variety of foods, it is quite common for people to get less that the recommended amount.
People on a high protein diet, vegans, vegetarians, smokers, alcohol drinkers, women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) pills and those on antibiotics or immunosuppressants may benefit from taking extra amounts of vitamin B6.
Higher doses of pyridoxine than the RDA can usually only be achieved via supplementation. B6 supplements are generally considered to be safe as the body will excrete what it does not need in your urine.
However, if you take too much vitamin B6 (more than 250mg/day) it may cause numbness in the hands and feet and inflammation of nerves leading to neurological problems.
Around 50mg-250mg per day is generally recommended for those supplementing with vitamin B6.
Signs Of Deficiency
Some of the signs of a vitamin B6 deficiency are:
• PMS
• Irritability
• Depression
• Sore Tongue
• Fatigue
• Dry skin
• Hair loss
• Insomnia
• Mood swings
• Cracked lips
• Anemia
Best Food Sources
Some of the best food sources of vitamin B6 are:
• Calf liver
• Herring
• Baked potato
• Turkey
• Wheatgerm
• Banana
• Raw cauliflower
• Peanuts
• Wholemeal bread
• Spinach
• Bell peppers
• Garlic
• Broccoli
