The B6 supplement vitamin is important to those who do not eat enough foods containing B6 because humans cannot produce this. There are actually six forms of this water soluble vitamin although one of these, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is the most important to people. The B vitamins need to be taken daily but the enrichment of flour used in the United States has prevented very much deficiency of these vitamins.
Adults need a little less than 2 mg/day to fulfill the Recommended Dietary Allowance. The B vitamins work together to help the body utilize the energy from food intake. Some common sources of vitamin B6 in foods are pork, poultry, eggs, fish and whole grains.
All of the B vitamins work together to help the body maintain blood glucose levels but B6 has other important characteristics. B6 is very useful in the metabolism of proteins. Studies have found supplementation with B6 shows improvement in asthma symptoms and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Vitamin B6 is necessary for the body to produce the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is one of the essential amino acids necessary for human health. It is one of the twenty amino acids found in the human genetic code. Tryptophan is extremely important and needed in the diet. Many disorders are thought to have their origins in a shortage of this amino acid. Among these is schizophrenia. Tryptophan can be converted into increased levels of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter, by vitamin B6 .
The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has set the upper limit for safe consumption of B6 supplementation at 100 mg/day for prolonged use. Most of the problems associated with over use of these supplement come about when dosage exceeds 1000 mg/day and are not severe. Sensory neuropathy can occur with high levels of supplementation of vitamin B6.
The symptoms of sensory neuropathy include pain in the extremities or, rarely, difficulty walking. Since vitamin B6 is water soluble excessive dosages are excreted in the urine. While this probably prevents overdose it also serves to make daily intake necessary.
With advanced age or certain diseases the vascular structures and neurons of the brain are prone to damage which a vitamin B6 supplement may help prevent. There is enough evidence of this to prompt serious scientific studies into the possibility that B6 may improve cognitive function. There are no conclusive findings of this at this time but inquiry into the matter does continue.
Deficiencies in B6 are associated with increased homocysteine blood levels. An elevation of homocysteine is a risk factor which contributes to cerebralvascular disease and may be toxic to nerons of the central nervous system. Studies have found that elderly persons frequently have lowered levels of B6. Hence supplementation may prevent further cognitive impairment and other neurological symptoms.Only further study into this correlate can yeild more conclusive evidence of this association.
One possible factor in the inconclusive nature of various studies of this kind is simply the newness of such scientific inquiry. Vitamin B6 has only been recognized since about the 1930's. Some of the elderly being included in studies today were born before the importance of vitamin B6 was known and may have been born with mild deficiencies. Only time will tell.
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