like what is the actual meaningful gain here? will i actually notice any difference? ooh i love monitoring my folate levels
It will make a difference if you don’t get enough of it. But having enough of it will just feel normal.
To note, 13% of Americans may be deficient in B6:
So if you are one of the 1 in 8 who are deficient and consume an energy drink with B6 then you’ll feel more energetic just from the B6.
Then there’s the caffeine, taurine, and other B vitamins as well.
That said you can make your own “energy drink” by mixing (safe) levels of B complex, caffeine, and taurine into your favorite beverage.
That or take them separately if you know you’re deficient.
Magnesium is also worth trying as if you are deficient you can experience several symptoms including brain fog. It takes effect fast (within 30 minutes). If you take too much Mg then you’ll just accelerate the contents of you alimentary canal.
I think if you are low on B6 you will definitely notice it. If your levels of B6 are fine, then you probably won’t notice a difference.
How will you know you are deficient in B6?
From (US) NIH fact sheet:
Vitamin B6 deficiency is associated with microcytic anemia, electroencephalographic abnormalities, dermatitis with cheilosis (scaling on the lips and cracks at the corners of the mouth) and glossitis (swollen tongue), depression and confusion, and weakened immune function [1,2]. Individuals with borderline vitamin B6 concentrations or mild deficiency might have no deficiency signs or symptoms for months or even years. In infants, vitamin B6 deficiency causes irritability, abnormally acute hearing, and convulsive seizures [2].
Blood test to check for nutritional deficiencies
For B vitamins, you’ll probably just pee out any excess, so likely you’re just making really expensive pee unless you have a vitamin deficiency.
For the D,E,K,A vitamins, they can actually be problematic if consumed in too high of quantity over a long period of time, due to the fact that they are fat soluble and can build up and cause organ damage.
Of course, that’s only if you’re consuming far in excess of the necessary vitamins for a long period of time. Otherwise just like water soluble vitamins, your body just ditches anything over a useful amount.
Some vitamins that are hard to get otherwise are fortified into common staple foods, especially in developing countries, but with a healthy, balanced, modern diet, you’re probably getting what you need from your food. Unless you have a vitamin absorbing issue, other medical issue, or a lack of food variety.
The other issue is, just because the lab tested for high amounts of a vitamin does not mean that you will get those vitamins into your body. Most vitamins need a combination to actually get absorbed by your body or to not have an adverse effect. (Vitamin C needs iron, B vitamins often benefit from K, …) So, sometimes a food item with “low levels” of the vitamin will actually give your body more of it that something that just has vitams B crammed into it without anything to help your body digest it.
Marketing psychology.
Not really about whatever they are saying, it’s a way to drop the subliminal suggestion that there’s something “good for you” in there or that it has something competitors don’t. They often include the word “essential” when talking about vitamins to add the suggestion that you somehow have to have this thing.
Just like saying “all natural”. Dog shit and cyanide are all natural, but despite logic, most the people at some level absorb the suggestion that the product is somehow wholesome or healthy.
Partly true, but mostly not.
The vitamins and minerals are called essential because they are essential.
I have homozygous C677T mutations in my MTHFR gene, with homozygous COMT mutations further limiting neurotransmitter regulation. I feel very different when consuming foods high in activated folates, or related vitamins/supplements.
I have the same mutations. In me they caused severe depression for almost 20 years. Started megadosing l-methylfolate, and I wanted to live again practically overnight. So yeah, it can def make you feel different.
Hey, I found my people! I also megadose methylfolate, and that combined with Cymbalta completely cleared up my lifelong brain fog and severe anxiety. The depressed is still here, but it’s subtle and manageable. 100% was like night and day for me. Went back to collage and got a degree and everything. Learning wasn’t such a struggle for me.
Lol should we make a community?
I just kinda crave folate foods, but my folate methylation pathway is as mutated as it gets so I need a shitton of it.
Tbh I had folate deficiency anaemia for a long time. It’s not fun.
Also an important factor in preventing birth defects during pregnancy
All depends on if you’re deficient. If your levels are normal, it may not have much effect. But, according to the NIH, “Vitamin B6 deficiency is associated with microcytic anemia, electroencephalographic abnormalities, dermatitis with cheilosis (scaling on the lips and cracks at the corners of the mouth) and glossitis (swollen tongue), depression and confusion, and weakened immune function [1,2]. Individuals with borderline vitamin B6 concentrations or mild deficiency might have no deficiency signs or symptoms for months or even years. In infants, vitamin B6 deficiency causes irritability, abnormally acute hearing, and convulsive seizures [2].” If this is you, you might just feel a whole lot better.
“High in Fiber”
Maybe I shouldn’t eat the whole bag at once.
