If you follow sports you are aware of players that are deemed “underrated”. These are players that are seldom talked about yet contribute substantially to their team’s successes. While the marquee players grab all of the headlines, these underrated players go about their business and help their teams win games.
Today I am going to discuss what I consider an “underrated” vitamin, Vitamin B-6. Unlike Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin B-1 (aka “Thiamine”) whose importance is often discussed and people supplement with, Vitamin B-6 (aka “Pyridoxine”) does not make much news yet it is quite important to our bodies.
The richest sources of vitamin B-6 include fish, beef liver and other organ meats, potatoes and other starchy vegetables, and fruit (other than citrus). In the United States, adults obtain most of their dietary vitamin B6 from fortified cereals, beef, poultry, starchy vegetables, and some noncitrus fruits.
Vitamin B6 has many functions in the body, and it plays a role in over 100 enzyme reactions. One of its main roles is in helping the body metabolize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates for energy.
This vitamin is involved with:
- immune system function
- brain development during pregnancy and infancy
- creating neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine
- creating hemoglobin, which is the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen.
Studies have shown that elderly people with diminished mental acuity have lower levels of Vitamin B-6 than those elderly people with normal brain function.
It is probably a good idea for all of us to supplement our natural Vitamin B’s (there are 8 of them) with a Vitamin B supplement that contains Vitamin B-6 as well.
Vitamin B-6 is not the Lebron James of B vitamins, but it is certainly a great role player!
I could not find any songs to post about Vitamin B-6 but one of the fruit sources of Vitamin B-6 is an apple. Enjoy OC Smith’s “Little Green Apples”.
