Vitamin B6

Hair loss is caused by a number of factors, and among them is a deficiency in certain vitamins. No wonder why people with eating disorders or are poorly nourished tend to shed most of their hair. The reason behind this is our hair needs nourishment in order to grow healthy, so you can skip your hair salon appointment and start eating right today.

Among the potentially beneficial vitamins for healthy hair is Vitamin B6 – a water-soluble vitamin that is naturally presented in three main chemical forms: pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. Vitamin B6 is important for hair regrowth because it plays a role in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Remember that the hair on the scalp is mainly composed of keratin, which is a type of protein.

What Are The Vitamin B6 Benefits?

Vitamin B6 performs a array of functions such as assisting the transformation of tryptophan (an amino acid) into niacin (another B vitamin), takes part in nervous and immune system functions, helps maintain normal blood sugar levels, and helps reduce heart disease by maintaining the normal levels of homocysteine.

The person requires Vitamin B6 to manufacture hemoglobin, which is responsible for carrying oxygen to different cells in the body through the red blood cells. Thus, a Vitamin B6 deficiency could lead to a type of anemia that is like iron-deficiency anemia.

Vitamin B6 can also prevent hair loss and graying of hair by creating melanin (hair pigment0. As mentioned, Vitamin B6 is involved in cellular growth and protein metabolism, which is important to promoting the production of white blood cells (the body's defenses against infections and stress).

In addition, Vitamin B6 is needed to keep the lymphoid organs (such as thymus, lymph nodes, and spleen) that manufacture white blood cells, in optimum health. Laboratory studies of animals showed that a pyridoxine deficiency reduces the production of anti-bodies and suppresses the immune system response.

Vitamin B6 deficiency can occur in people with alcoholism, cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, hyperthyroidism, malabsorption syndromes, uremia, and in those taking certain medications. However, mild deficiency of the vitamin is common but can be alleviated by eating foods considered as major sources of Pyridoxine:

Ready-to-eat fortified cereal grains, baked potato, banana, garbanzo beans, chicken breast, oatmeal, pork loin, roast beef, fish, raw avocado, tuna canned in water, and smooth peanut butter.

Daily consumption of these sources can adequately provide dietary needs for Vitamin B6, which makes supplementation unnecessary.

Vitamin B6 toxicity has been found in a growing number of women who are taking supplements of the vitamin for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Vitamin B6 is used for providing relief from the discomforts associated with PMS, although clinical trials failed to affirm such benefits. Instead, vitamin B6 overdose can lead to such symptoms as an imbalanced activity in the nervous system, especially at daily doses higher than 2mg.

The recommended daily dosages for Vitamin B6 are: 1.3mg for people below 50 years old; 1.7mg for the male and 1.5mg for the female above the age of 50; 1.9mg for mothers- to- be; and 2mg for lactating women.

Although vitamin B6 has the reputation of being one of the most stable B vitamins, there is a significant loss in amounts when the pyridoxine undergoes processing, cooking, freezing, and canning. As much as 60 to 80 percent of Vitamin B6 is lost to canning vegetables, 15% from freezing fruits, 50 to 95 percent when grain is converted to another grain product, and 50 to 75% from conversion of fresh meat to meat by products.

To overcome the loss of pyridoxine from food processing, experts advice on the consumption of more amounts of vitamin-B6-rich food sources to meet daily dietary requirements.