THEAnd vitamins of group B do not enjoy the same popularity that accompanies vitamin C and, for some time, the D. yet are very important for the brain, heart, metabolism, Even for the beauty of hair and nails. And we Italians risk not taking enough.
In a retrospective study, just published on Scientific Reports (magazine of the Nature Group), the researchers analyzed the data of patients with diagnosis of Neurodegenerative diseases and compared them with the progression of the dementia: they noticed that lower plasma levels of the B vitamins (and vitamin C) were associated with a greater risk of cognitive deteriorationwhile the highest ones showed a protective effect. How come? A possible explanation is that vitamins B6, B9 and B12 contribute to decreasing the concentration of homocysteinean amino acid that must be disposed of, because its raising is associated with cardiovascular events, with neurophanymming and neurodegeneration. It is a value to be controlled in blood tests. To understand each other: the homocysteine derives from the metabolism of methionine, which we take with protein foods, especially of animal origin.
A problem is that ntypical western diets abound meat and sausages and are scarce vegetables, Fresh and dried fruit, whole grains, legumes and seeds. In addition, the predilection for the ultra -prominent foods, in which micronutrients can be lost due to many industrial processes, such as refining cereals or the use of preservatives. Among other things, the B vitamins must be taken every day through nutrition because they are water -soluble, that is to say they melt in the water and are expelled with the urine (except for vitamin B12, whose liver reserves may be enough for years). And the care in finding them at the table should increase with age. Already after fifty years the gastric mucosa thinks, leading to a lower absorption of micronutrients.
Energy with yeast
So where to recover the B vitamins? Let’s start from the first. There Vitamin B1or thiamine, is widespread in plant and animal foods, but an excellent source is the beer yeastwhich can be added in bows, with a slight hazelnut flavor, with salads and soups. The thiamina, together with the Vitamin B2, O riboflavin, contributes to a very important process of our body: the conversion of glucose into energy. We owe to this very small substance if we walk, we speak, we live. Someone calls it vitamin of mood, in the sense that lower concentrations in the blood can induce irritability and has been related to depression. But the deficiency does not depend only on the diet. The authors of the research underline how diabetes, excess alcohol or hormonal alterations can influence absorption from food.
In recent years, Thiamine integration has been taken into consideration as a therapeutic approach for psychiatric disorders, but there have not yet been sufficient results to recommend it. Serotonin and grain germ the substances we ingest do a teamwork. B2, for example, participates in the conversion of the B3, called niacin, in its active forms, that is, able to perform the physiological functions. Among others, the transformation of an amino acid, the tryptophan, in serotonin. Frattaglie, fish and meat they contain significant quantities of niacin, but also owns the wheat germwhich is at the same time a good source of tryptophan. A bet of happiness, if not really a guarantee. The innermost part of the grain can be purchased in envelope and add it in the yogurt for breakfast or use it instead of the grated bread. Actually, Just eat whole grains To get the germ, which instead is removed with refining.
Strong nails and hair
The heart of wheat also contains others B vitaminsincluding biotin (B7), often cited by dermatologists because its deficit can be the cause of fragile hair and flaking nails. A small study reported in a revision of literature (on Clinics in Dermatology, 2023) proved that a 2.5 milligrams supplement per day led to a clinical improvement in the nails in six out of ten people. But at the table the Vitamin B7 is recovered, as well as in whole grains, in the liver, in brewer’s yeast, egg yolk, dry fruit, spinach, legumes, fish and crustaceans.
Antiage in sunflower seeds
Usually the integration of the Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine. A handful of sunflower seeds, a banana, a portion of potatoes and a leg of legumes or a second of chicken They satisfy a woman’s daily needs. The B6 has been called “forgotten vitamin”, but today it is known that it relieves the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and is investigated on the effects that could have on the health of the brain, given that it is involved in the proper functioning of the immune system and perhaps in the protection against neurophanymming. Although clinical evidence is needed, the probability that prevent aging has made it the protagonist of some anti -aging products, from supplements to cosmetic creams (where is inserted for possible moisturizing qualities and stimulus to the production of collagen).
Against cognitive decline
Always the same B6 returns with the B9 and B12 in the trio of vitamins of group B useful against cognitive decline and for neurotransmission. The folators, i.e. the natural forms of vitamin B9 that we find in food (green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus fruits, dried fruit, liver, whole grains), are transformed into the biologically active form (5-metiltetrahydrofolato), the only one able to penetrate directly into the brain and to fall within the synthesis of the chemical mediators of mental well-being: the serotoninwhich participates in the regulation of mood, sleep and appetite; dopamine, crucial by motivation and pleasure system; Noradrenaline, which acts in the response to stress. The advantages also concern the heart.
A British analysis has calculated that each increase of 100 micrograms per day of folate in the diet, i.e. eating just 70 grams of more spinach, It is associated with a 10 percent reduction of mortality from cardiovascular causes (the results on theEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition2023). In light of these scientific evidence, it is worrying that many Italians may have a deficiency of vitamin B9, perhaps because they neglect the Mediterranean diet and its share, large, of plants, or also because it is estimated that 30 percent of the population do not convert vitamin B9 with efficiency. If the doctor suspects it, he should suggest a B9 already active form supplement. They prescribe the supplement of folic acid (as is the name of the synthetic version of the B9) all gynecologists, according to international guidelines, of women who think of a future pregnancy: before gestation and at the beginning it is essential to prevent neonatal malformations such as spine bifida.
Clams, mine of B12
Great attention in pregnancy must also be paid to Vitamin B12, or cobalaminthe only one that is not naturally found in plant sources but only in animal ones. Those who follow a vegan diet is recommended to periodically check the plasma levels and to take a supplement as a precaution, in accordance with their doctor. Instead, a vegetarian diet with dairy products and eggs, while containing little vitamin B12, should cover the needs, which is relatively low. However, it is recommended to those who do not eat fish and meat for ethical reasons to take into consideration the bivalves, which have a very simple nervous system: a portion of clams contains almost 19 times the daily needs. Information is also useful for the elderly, in which the production of a molecule can be reduced in the stomach (the intrinsic factor), intended specifically to allow the absorption of vitamin B12.
Eliana Liotta (photo by Carlo Vangeri Gilbert).
Eliana Liotta is a journalist, writer and scientific popularizer. On Iodonna.it and on the main platforms (Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast) you will find its podcast series The good I want to.
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