Posted by Questionmark on January 31, 2005, at 21:45:04
In reply to Re: Can you take b vitamins without a b-complex? » MM, posted by jujube on January 21, 2005, at 16:28:27
> What you should avoid doing is taking high doses of a single B vitamin without increasing the amount of all the others. This is an important rule not just because the B vitamins work together, but also because B vitamins compete in the intestines for absorption by the body. So, if you take a high dose of B12, for example, you might decrease the amount of say B6 being absorbed by the body and end up with B-vitamin imbalance.
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> So, to avoid this, it is important to take a B Complex that contains equal amounts of all the B vitamins. Then you can add additional amounts of the individual B vitamins that you need. I have read that it is safe to add up to 2 - 3 times the ammount of the other Bs you are taking. It is my understanding that there are no toxicity issues with the Bs since Bs are water soluble and any excess would just be peed out.
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> > I read that it wasn't good to take b-vitamins individually without a b-complex, or without the other b-vitamins being increased (I can't think of the right word here...I hate that SE) accordingly or in the right ratio to the certain b-vitamin. So is it bad to take them without the b-complex?
> > Thanks,
> > Meg
"What you should avoid doing is taking high doses of a single B vitamin without increasing the amount of all the others. This is an important rule not just because the B vitamins work together, but also because B vitamins compete in the intestines for absorption by the body."i have heard this info and consequent advice a # of times before from different people and non-research sources. But if it's the case that B vitamins compete in the intestines for absorption, then wouldn't it actually be better to take individual B vitamins at different times during the day, or apart from each other? Because the B vitamins in a B complex are all supposedly competing to be absorbed and so a smaller % of each of them are absorbed then otherwise would be. Also, if you still took them all in one day, your body would probably still be able to utilize them together enough when needed-- right?
i could be missing something. Or is the only/main reason that we aren't advised to take individual B vitamins seperately but still all during the same day simply because of the time/difficulty and inconvenience factors?
poster:Questionmark
thread:445287
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050131/msgs/450801.html