Vitamins are very important for us if we want to keep healthy and as such one of the most important is B vitamins.
B vitamins are a group of water soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. All the B vitamins assist the process by which energy is produced in our bodies.
The B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, once referred to as vitamin B. Research later showed that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods.
Individual B vitamin supplements are referred to by the specific names of each vitamin like vitamin B1, vitamin B2 or vitamin B3 just to name a few.
Because B vitamins are water soluble, they are execreted in urine. Good sources of B vitamins include bananas, potatoes, whole grains and chili peppers. Beer is also a good source of B vitamins because of the yeast that is used to make it and this vitamin is also added to energy drinks.
B vitamins came into being by Joseph Goldberger, an American doctor who came across some convicts who had a strange disease in 1916. The convicts had swollen tongues, headaches, skin rashes and upset stomachs, some of them were even said to be mentally ill.
Goldberger suspected that it was due to their diet. He took blood from one of the convicts and injected it into himself to prove his theory.
He ate the skin rash of one and swallowed the discharge from the intestine of another. He wanted to know if the disease was caused by a germ because by doing this he would catch it and if it was from a poor diet he should be healthy.
In the end he didn’t get the disease, he concluded that the convicts were suffering from a lack of the vitamin niacin (nicotin acid).
This vitamin can be found plentiful in the liver, meat and fish. Niacin belongs to a group of vitamins called the B vitamins. All B vitamins assist the process by which energy is produced in our bodies.
Insufficient intake of B vitamins can cause many diseases like beri beri and other defiencies, this extra-ordinary vitamin can even be found in dietary supplements, capsules and medicines. Sufficient intake of this vitamin will give a healthier and longer life.