Vitamin B – The Complex Vitamin
Strictly speaking, vitamin B isn't a vitamin at all. It's a complex (or group) of vitamins.
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Vitamin B complex is a mixture of various B vitamins that tend to occur together in food. It consists of 8 distinct vitamins: thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), nicotinic acid (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin (B7), folic acid (B9) and cobalamin (B12), all of which are true vitamins. Some compounds on sale include choline (Bp) and inositol (B8), but because these can be synthesized by a healthy undamaged body, they are not regarded as true vitamins.
PABA (B10), pangamic acid (B15), orotic acid (B13), laetrile (B17) and possibly adenine (formerly called vitamin B4) are also found alongside the rest of the B complex vitamins in food, but are no longer regarded as true vitamins.
Turkey is a good source of some B vitamins
Other nutrients have been given a vitamin B label in the past, including DMG (B16); many other "B-vitamins" appear to be arbitrarily assigned, possibly for marketing purposes, as the same label is applied to different substances in different places, and vice versa.
The best sources of B vitamins are whole unprocessed foods, as processing usually removes much of the content of B vitamins. For meat eaters, liver, meat and fish are good sources. Vegetarian sources include brewer's yeast, yeast extract, wheatgerm, wheat bran, whole grains, peas, beans, lentils, bananas and kombucha. Beer itself is not a good source, because alcohol inhibits absorption of most B vitamins and if taken to excess can lead to deficiencies.
There is no vegan source of vitamin B12 which can be used by the human body, including supplements.
