Might want to switch to a b complex. I heard a wives tale that b vitamins work in pairs and ramping up one can lead to a shortage in another. I don't even know how to research this for validity though.
Why is a multivitamin complex necessary after large doses of B vitamins? I thought that B vitamins are just water-soluble and your body removes the excess.
I just want to say the b complexes are indeed super important, but recent studies indicate a potential link between overly high dosage and some types of cancers, particularly in men. So be wary of overdoing it with those 3000% dv supplements.
B is divided into different forms. Some of them you can take a lot of (e.g. B12), while others you should be careful with (e.g. B6). I suggest you do some research.
Only some of them are on a daily schedule so actual pill count/day is low. Niacin (vitamin B3) for example leads to diabetes and liver damage when taken upwards of 4g/day. So I take 0.5 mg (nearly a tenth of the therapeutic dose, that too on alternate days, to reduce the potential for side effects even further). High dose vitamin B6 (>20mg/day, I take 3mg once every 5 days for 30x reduction compared to therapeutic dose) can lead to lung cancer in men. So the b-complex pill¹ is taken once every 5 days. Vitamin D overdose can lead to hypercalcemia so that's taken once a week (60000 IU) and some months I stay off it entirely as fat-soluble vitamins like vit. D tend to build up in the system. There are similar rules for other supplements as well.
¹The B-vitamins (1 to 12) + zinc + calcium are a single pill called "Recobex-Z". These are generally called "b-complex", it's a combination drug.
Essentially the daily pill count is 2 in the morning + 1 in the afternoon + 2 at night, so 5 pills/day. I also do supplement fasting days with no pills taken on that day.
One reason to take the latter is to make sure you don't get a deficiency disease.
And yet, what has started to come out (from what I understand and have read) is that taking a straight up multivitamin or something isn't that helpful. The general reason people seem to be finding being that the body doesn't absorb the stuff in the pill you just took very well, meaning you really aren't getting much benefit, if any, from taking said pill. Instead you would actually want to eat things that give you the vitamins and minerals that the body needs in order for it to be able to absorb those. Possibly including something such as a healthy fat which would promote absorbing the good things in stuff such as broccoli that much more. (again, from what I have read and understand) This is the possible reasoning behind the article saying taking multivitamins is marketing.
Skip the Cyanocobalmin. Enough people have problems metabolizing that form, and it also shouldn't be consumed solo.
Cheap and effective B Complexes exist that use better forms of the various vitamins exist; only lazy manufacturers still use stuff like Cyanocobalmin. A good multivitamin should also be covering your B need as well, I ended up making a short list of good multis, and Life Extension 2-per-day Capsules ended up being the least expensive of ones that made the list... you pretty much have to go to Thorne and pay more to get better.
Taking a vitamin B complex will give you a good boost of energy for a few hours. Beyond that, if you don't regularly take a multivitamin, now is a good time to start. I'd bet many people would be surprised at how much better they feel after a couple of days of taking one -- it seems that plenty of people have vitamin and mineral deficiencies in their diets that they aren't even aware of.
reply