The most easily overlooked B vitamins are actually related to the health of the whole body

Author: Zhang Yu, researcher at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, master's supervisor

Reviewer: Fu Rui, Chief Physician, Beijing Century Altar Hospital, Capital Medical University

In recent years, the popularity of vitamins has increased significantly and they are highly sought after. For example, vitamin C has the function of anti-oxidation and preventing anemia; vitamin D can not only promote calcium absorption and strengthen bones, but also regulate immunity. In contrast, when it comes to vitamin B, many people only think of the small white medicine bottle placed in the corner of the pharmacy. It seems inconspicuous, but in fact it is a seriously underestimated "invisible guardian" of health. So, what is its "extraordinary feature"?

Vitamin B complex, a water-soluble vitamin, seems small but is actually huge. They are small because they are small molecules; they are huge because, unlike other vitamins that mostly exist alone, vitamin B complex is a large family consisting of 8 members, so they are also called B vitamins. This family includes vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12. Seeing this, two questions may come to your mind. First, there are 12 serial numbers from 1 to 12, so why are there 8 members of vitamin B complex? Where are vitamins B4, B8, B10 and B11?

In fact, there are only 8 vitamins that are generally considered to be members of the B vitamin family. The substances corresponding to the missing numbers were reclassified or confirmed not to belong to the B vitamin family during the research process. Take vitamins B4 and B8, for example. They were originally referred to as adenine and adenine nucleotide, respectively, but subsequent studies found that functionally, they are actually key raw materials for DNA synthesis, so they were removed from the ranks of the B vitamins. Similarly, the numbering of B vitamins was not initially limited to 12, but was once ranked up to B17, but as the research progressed, the substances corresponding to these numbers were all confirmed not to belong to the B vitamins, so they were also discarded one by one.

The second question is, why are other vitamins named individually, but vitamin B exists as a group?

There is a story behind this. Two years after vitamin B1 was discovered, vitamin A was also discovered. Limited by the technical knowledge at the time, scientists believed that there might be two types of vitamins, one is fat-soluble and the other is water-soluble. The fat-soluble ones are collectively called group A, and the water-soluble ones are generally classified as group B. Therefore, the subsequent discoveries of B2, B12, etc. were directly classified into the water-soluble vitamin B sequence. However, with the deepening of research, the types of vitamins have increased, and scientists have gradually realized that the differences between them are significant and cannot be classified so simply, so new classifications such as vitamin C and vitamin D came into being. Despite this, the B vitamins continue to be retained as a group to this day because of the many commonalities between their members, such as similar sources (mostly from grains, yeast and animal livers) and functional interrelationships.

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What powerful functions do B vitamins have?

In fact, B vitamins are involved in almost all biochemical reactions in the human body. For example, vitamins B6 and B12, as coenzymes or coenzyme precursors, participate in the metabolism of sugar, protein and fat in the human body and are the key to releasing energy from food. Once they are deficient, the human body will find it difficult to obtain enough energy.

In addition, B vitamins play a key role in many aspects: they are important nutrients needed for blood production; maintain the health of the skin and mucous membranes; assist body tissues in effectively utilizing oxygen; help remove toxins such as alcohol and nicotine, and protect liver health; maintain nervous system function, and relieve headaches and migraines; reduce stress, eliminate fatigue, and make people energetic; prevent vascular occlusion, and protect the health of the heart and blood vessels.

Adhering to the concept of "brothers united, their strength is invincible", the eight members of the B vitamins never fight alone in the great cause of health, but focus on unity and cooperation. However, this also determines that their overall role in the human body depends on the one with the least content, just like the barrel effect. If one of them is lacking, the health effect will be greatly reduced. Moreover, in reality, there are many cases of B vitamin deficiency. Why is this?

B vitamins have two notable characteristics. One is that they are consumed in large quantities. As a "consumable" of cells, as long as the cells do not stop working, the consumption of vitamin B will not stop. The second is that they cannot be stored. Since B vitamins are water-soluble, the body will not store a large amount of them, and the excess will be excreted in the urine, avoiding cumulative poisoning like fat-soluble vitamins, but it also means that there is no "overnight food" and it needs to be continuously ingested from food.

However, the reality is that although B vitamins are widely found in rice bran, bran, yeast, animal liver, whole grains, vegetables and other foods, we often cannot get enough of them due to improper cooking and eating methods. In particular, most of the B vitamins are removed after whole grains are processed into refined grains.

So, what happens if a deficiency occurs? It can cause physical discomfort at the mildest and illness at the worst. For example, vitamin B1 deficiency can cause beriberi, accompanied by symptoms such as muscle weakness, mental apathy and loss of appetite. Vitamin B2 deficiency can cause angular cheilitis, chapped lips, glossitis, etc. Vitamin B3 deficiency may cause pellagra and even increase the risk of cancer. Vitamin B5 deficiency can lead to slow growth in children and problems with skin and hair health. Folic acid (a B vitamin) deficiency is closely related to problems such as habitual miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight and growth retardation in infants.

Which groups of people are more likely to be deficient in vitamin B? People who have a monotonous diet, suffer from chronic diarrhea or long-term alcoholism that causes intestinal absorption and utilization disorders, and people in special periods (such as children, teenagers, pregnant women, the elderly, people with mental stress, fever patients and people with exercise habits) who have increased nutritional needs are all high-risk groups for vitamin B deficiency.

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B vitamins, a group that is often overlooked, are actually like tiny gears in a precision instrument, silently supporting every physiological activity of the human body. From maintaining the stability of the nervous system and promoting energy metabolism to helping skin health and relieving stress, its importance is self-evident. Ignoring it may quietly affect your overall health. Therefore, let us re-examine this "invisible guardian" and ensure sufficient B vitamins through a balanced diet or appropriate supplementation to build a solid line of defense for overall health.