Vitamins for the Heart
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Knowing Your Vitamins and Minerals Facts

One of the vitamins for the heart, Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine, is another essential vitamin and plays a key role in the production of hormones.  Vitamin B6, also called Pyridoxine or Pyridoxal Phosphate, is the fastest metabolizing member of the B complex vitamins family. It too is a water soluble vitamin. Because of its solubility and rapid metabolism, its journey throughout the body is completed very quickly.  This vitamin matabolizes so fast that it takes only about 8 hours for this vitamin to pass completely through your system.  It is even more important that this vitamin is replenished on a regular basis, a B complex vitamins supplement is an option.

Like the rest of the B complex vitamins, Pyridoxine plays a role in the metabolism process.  It converts fats, proteins, and carbohydrates into a form of energy the body can burn.  Pyridoxine aids in the production of healthy hemoglobin by making more iron available.

Even more impressive, vitamin B6 plays a role in the production of over 60 different hormones, enzymes, prostaglandins and neurotransmitters. It is also involved in the direct production of the sleep, mood, and appetite regulator called serotonin.

It is a fact that vitamin B6 can:

• assist in the prevention and the formation of painful kidney stones, 
• help promote a healthy immune system,  
• help lower the bad cholesterol in the blood and
• when combined with Folic Acid and Vitamin B12, it also reduces heart attack risks.  You can see why vitamin B6 is one of the important vitamins for the heart.  

Sources of Vitamin B6

This vitamin can be found in many of the same foods that the other B vitamins are found. Pork, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, nuts, brown rice, seeds, whole grains, carrots, bananas, avocados, soybeans and whole grains are a few of the sources.

As far as daily intake of vitamin B6, women should consume 1.6 milligrams, while men need to take 2 milligrams.  Note:  Vitamin B6, or Pyridoxine, is one of the few vitamins, that when taken in excess, can actually be toxic.

You should be cautious not to exceed 2 grams a day, because it can result in irreversible damage to the nerve endings and to the entire neurological system. A level of up to 500 mg per day is considered high, but is still considered safe.

Symptoms of Vitamin B6 Deficiency

Those individuals that experience a Vitamin B6 deficiency might suffer from symptoms that include:  moodiness, apathy, depression, fatigue, insomnia, hair loss, a loss of appetite, and anemia.  In extreme cases, a deficiency of vitamin B6 can cause the nervous system to completely break-down.  A special note of caution should be made about deficiencies in children and babies, because both are far more vulnerable to this type of deficiency. If this condition is left untreated, the affected person can experience convulsions, become anemic, or become extremely irritable.

Pregnant women, excessive alcohol drinkers, the elderly, teens, and women on birth control pills tend to be more vulnerable to developing a Vitamin B6 deficiency than others. The explanation involves the diminished capacity for these certain groups to absorb this very important vitamin.  If you are in any of these groups, be extra sensitive to your daily consumption of vitamin B6.

Based on the vitamins and minerals facts for Vitamin B6, or Pyridoxine, it is clear that this vitamin is an essential part of your diet.  It is certainly one of the most important vitamins for the heart and its health.  As an extra precaution against a deficiency of this vitamin, consider a high quality nutritional multivitamin supplement, or B complex vitamins, as a regular addition to your normal diet.