Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble compound that was discovered in the 1930s during nutrition studies on rats. It is found to be excreted within eight hours after ingestion, and therefore it needs to be constantly replaced by eating whole foods or taking supplements. Vitamin B6 was named pyridoxine to indicate its structural homology to pyridine and later shown that vitamin B6 could exist in two other, slightly different, chemical forms, termed pyridoxal and pyridoxamineis actually a group of three substances: pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine. All forms exist routinely in foods, and have equal vitamin B6 activity, which plays a vital role as the cofactor of a large number of essential enzymes in the human body . Vitamin B6 is fairly stable to heat but may be lost in cooking water. Exposure to alkalis and UV light lead to a reduction of vitamin B6 content.

The Benefits of Vitamin B6

Several groups of people who may become deficient in vitamin B6 and may therefore benefit from supplementation are:-

Woman on the contraceptive pill – may alleviate depression sometimes associated.
Pregnant women.
Alcoholics.
Smokers.
Bodybuilders consuming 200-300grams of protein a day.

As well as those listed above, there are several other conditions that have been shown to benefit from vitamin B6 supplementation. These are:-

Premenstrual syndrome – many medical practitioners are beginning to prescribe vitamin B6 for this condition up to 200mg daily.
Prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting – due to irradiation, drug therapy, anaesthesia and travel sickness.
Carpal tunnel syndrome.

Properties

Vitamin B6 is rapidly converted in the body to the coenzymes pyridoxal phosphate and pyridoxamine phosphate. The coenzymes play essential parts in:-

Protein metabolism

Energy production

Fat metabolism

Central nervous system activity

Haemoglobin production

Contra-indications/Precautions

Should not be taken by anyone taking levadopa, or the anticonvulsants phenytoin and phenobarbitone.

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