We all know that vitamins are important for our bodies, but how much do we really know about the specific vitamins?
In recent years, vitamin B5 has been touted as a crucial nutrient that promotes better bodily health. It’s actually one of the lesser-known vitamins because there haven’t been much-reported vitamin B5 deficiencies, but its health benefits shouldn’t go unnoticed; it does wonders by promoting healthier skin, eyes, hair and live plus facilitates the body’s energy production.
If you’d like to find out more about vitamin B5 and its amazing properties, read on to find out more about why its good for you!
What is Vitamin B5?
Vitamin B5, known as pantothenic acid or Pantothenate, can be found in all kinds of food — but only in small quantities, so that’s why people take vitamin B5 supplements. It’s an essential nutrient because it assists in the food conversion of glucose, helping to synthesize cholesterol and production of red blood cells, sex hormones, and our stress hormones.
Like all vitamin Bs, the pantothenic acid aids the body’s break down of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates so that the body can have the energy to carry out its day to day functions.
Aids Metabolic Processes
Vitamin B5 plays a role in synthesizing the Coenzyme A, the non-protein compound that is necessary for enzymes to function. Coenzyme A is specifically involved in the synthesizing of fatty acids and it is also consequential for the conversion of food into cholesterol and fatty acids.
Additionally, the body needs it for the creation of a fat-like molecular structure, sphingosine, that conveys chemical messages between the body cells. Last but not least, the liver also requires Coenzyme A to assist in the metabolizing of toxins and drugs, ensuring that the body remains as healthy as possible.
Maintaining a Healthy Digestive System
Vitamin B5 maintains the digestive system by maintaining its functions and assisting the body in utilizing the other vitamins. One such example is vitamin B2, which is a nutrient that allows the body to manage stress better. Even though further research has yet to be done about pantothenic acid helping to reduce stress levels, vitamin B5 is nevertheless believed to play a major role in regulating stress levels.
It does so by supporting our bodies’ adrenal glands, which thereby reduces anxiety or stress levels. With stress out of the way, the body doesn’t need to remain in the fight or flight mode; the digestive system can then perform its necessary roles for the production of energy.
Healing Properties For The Skin
There have been some studies done to show that vitamin B5 works wonders as a moisturizer and even has healing properties for the skin. When vitamin B5 was studied as a remedy for facial acne, results showed that the participants saw their acne clearing up and significantly reduced.
Overall, there was a call for more trials to be conducted, but the overall conclusion was that vitamin B5 does have promising effects on facial blemishes.
Lowering Cholesterol Levels
Aside from promoting clearer skin and a healthy digestive system, vitamin B5 also helps lower cholesterol levels. Our body has different types of cholesterols and vitamin B5 helps to raise the right ones; it increases the level of “good” HDL cholesterol while decreasing levels of the “bad” cholesterol.
Symptoms of Vitamin B5 Deficiency
Even though vitamin B5 deficiency isn’t common, some people can still suffer from a lack of vitamin B5 in their system. Clinical trials conducted revealed that possible symptoms are apathy, irritability, stomach pains, sleeping disorders, vomiting, depression, nausea, numbness and burning feet among many others.
Furthermore, people with rheumatoid arthritis have also been reported to be low in vitamin B5; although more clinical evidence is needed to prove this, vitamin B5 still plays a role in achieving the pink of health.
Recommended Daily Doses
Vitamin B5 is water-soluble so even if you consume it slightly in excess, it is not be stored in the body and will be excreted in the urine. Thus, we necessarily should consume vitamin b5 frequently to replenish its levels, to ensure that the body has sufficient amounts to function at its peak.
Infants can ingest 1.7 to 1.8 milligrams (mg) a day, while children of ages 1 to 3 can ingest 2 mg a day. For children of 4 to 8 and 9 to 13, their recommended dosage is 3mg and 4mg respectively. Finally, pregnant women should take 6 mg each day and breastfeeding should only consume 7 mg per day.
Food that Contains Vitamin B5
If you’re not much of a supplements person, you’ll be relieved to know that you can easily obtain vitamin B5 from lots of foods. Meat lovers can consume turkey, duck, pork, beef, chicken and especially the organ parts like the liver and kidney while Pescatarians can opt for lobsters, shellfishes and salmon.
You can also obtain vitamin B5 from your usual dairy products like milk, yogurt, and egg yolk. Then, for vegans and vegetarians, they can consider some of the few: lentils, soybeans, split peas, avocados, mushrooms, broccoli, corn, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, cereals, and whole bread.
Possible Side Effects
As mentioned earlier, a slight overdose should pose no harm to the body but if you’ve accidentally ingested 10 to 20 grams in a single day, you may experience diarrhea or an increased risk of bleeding. Sometimes, eating only a vitamin B5 supplement can result in an imbalance in the other B vitamins. Thus, for this reason, it is usually recommended to consume a B complex vitamin instead.
Get you daily Vitamin B5
On the whole, vitamin B5 is definitely good for your body because of how it contributes to better bodily health.
Taking daily supplements is a conscientious effort, but you can always opt for your natural foods as your source of vitamin B5. However, this means that you’ll need to be sure that you’re eating the best foods for your body, too. If you feel like you’d like to incorporate vitamin B5 pills into your diet, remember to consult your family doctor for additional advice, especially those with any existing health conditions and are currently on other prescriptions.
Each serving of SuperGreen TONIK contains 100% of your recommended daily amount of Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) along with 17 other vitamins and minerals. Check out all our Green TONIK ingredients here.
