About Vitamin B5
If you want to know about Vitamin B5 read on. It is also known as Pantothenic Acid and is one of the eight water soluble vitamins that make up the Vitamin B complex. Vitamin B5 is a nutrient that is essential for life and partakes of a wide range of functions, including making fats, hormones, hemoglobin and neurotransmitters. Also Vitamin B5 is needed in growth, reproduction and normal functioning of the body.
Pantothenic acid also helps the body absorb and utilize vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and vitamin C. Vitamin B5 is a precursor of coenzymes that are part of important chemical reactions in the body necessary for the production of energy from food.
Since Vitamin B5 is easy to find in a wide variety of food sources, deficiency symptoms are rare. For people that simply don’t or can’t eat a good and healthy diet and become deficient of Vitamin B5, the end result is pretty much complete systems failure in the body.
Like most Vitamin B nutrients, Vitamin B5 has the following symptoms of deficiency: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal problems, fatigue, insomnia, tingling in the extremities, and water retention.
It is believed that depression, anxiety, and other personality changes may increase the need for Vitamin B5 in the diet.
Vitamin B5 has been used to treat skin conditions such as rosacea and acne.
Food sources of Vitamin B5 include poultry, fish, meat, whole grains, broccoli, mushrooms, and legumes. It is important to note that since it is easily destroyed by heat, Vitamin B5 potency can be lost during food preparation.
While no RDA (recommended daily allowance) exists for Vitamin B5 the amount considered adequate in adult diets is 4 to 7 mg. This is consistent with the average intake of 2-3 mg/1000 calories in typical diets.
When you know about Vitamin B5, Then you can use this information to better your nutritional health and well being. Like all B vitamins, Vitamin B5 is difficult to overdose on, this, however does not mean it does not happen
