10 Signs You Have a B Vitamins Deficiency (How to Boost B Vitamins Naturally)

If you've been doing everything right, eating clean, exercising, but somehow you're still not feeling your best, your energy's dragging, your memory is slipping, and it's frustrating because you know there's more to your potential. Well, what if the issue isn't just in your routine, but it's deep down inside your cells?

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Go to beyondbloodwork.com to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. Hey everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show.

I am your host, Dr. Axe, and each and every week on the show, we dive deep into the science and principles behind how to heal and grow in body, mind, and spirit. On today's episode, I'm going to be discussing B vitamins. This is an essential group that numerous people are deficient in, and these nutrients are B vitamins are very responsible for supporting cellular energy.

So if you are tired and fatigued all the time, there's a good chance this is part of your issue. If you have hypothyroidism, if you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, if you have an issue related to brain health, if you have an issue related to your metabolism and weight gain, B vitamins are critical.

And today I'm going to be going through exactly how to get your B vitamin levels up, which is going to support your energy, Your hormones, and a whole lot more.

Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and sign up for my weekly wellness newsletter where you're also going to get a lot of these show notes.

And so if you want some guides and you want to know exactly how to heal and transform your health, make sure to sign up for that weekly newsletter you can find in the show notes. And don't forget to subscribe. Okay, so B vitamins, there's lots of them. And by the way, I'm going to go through some former B vitamins that have been kicked off the B vitamin list.

Have you ever noticed when you count up, okay, you got B1, B2, B3, B5, what happened to B4? Or B5, B6, what happened to B7? We jump all the way in B8, we jump all the way to B9. I'm going to be going through how some of these other former B vitamins are lesser known but also essential to your health.

And generally, B vitamins, as I mentioned, they're important for energy production, nerve function, and the formation of red blood cells. And without enough B vitamins, your body struggles to convert food into energy and maintain healthy brain, liver, and nervous system function. And I want to go through some of these B vitamins and share with you the ones you might be deficient in.

The first one here is vitamin B1, also known as thiamine. This helps convert carbohydrates into energy. And so support your metabolism. It's also important for the functioning of your heart muscle. So B1 is important for that. Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, this plays a key role in breaking down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates into energy.

It also helps in the fight against oxidative stress. It's important for cellular function. I want to tell you a quick story. I used to do triathlons. I was on a triathlon team in college. And I had this issue where I kept getting lightheaded. And I went in and did a blood test called a nutrient deficiency test or an organic acids test.

And the only thing that came back that I was deficient in was vitamin B2. I started taking it, and all of a sudden my lightheadedness went completely away. And there's a lot of people right now that have weakness, they have fatigue, they're not sleeping, they've got nervous system issues, they've got thyroid issues, and they might be one single vitamin away.

Yeah.

From curing the issue. That's the reality. And there are so many people today with B vitamin deficiencies. Now, the next one here is vitamin B3, known as niacin. This is critical for heart health. It's also critical for cholesterol management. It helps improve blood cholesterol levels.

Whenever I've had patients come in with high cholesterol, I tend to prescribe them a B complex or a no-flush niacin, um, and along with CoQ10, omega-3 fats, and a few other very anti-inflammatory diet. But niacin is one of the things I typically prescribe and recommend. It's also important for DNA repair, um, in the production of sex and stress hormones.

So B3 is very, very important for blood flow, circulation, heart health, cholesterol management especially. The next one here is vitamin B5, known as pantothenic acid. This is very important for adrenal health. If you have adrenal issues or cortisol issues, you want to make sure your vitamin B5 levels are normal and healthy.

Also coenzyme A, it's important for— so for fat metabolism and blood health. But primarily B5, think adrenal health, cortisol, and energy levels. Vitamin B6, known as pyridoxine, this supports brain and neurological health, also neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, and immune function. Now B6, the people I see the greatest deficiency with B6 are women that are pregnant.

If you get morning sickness and you feel very, very sick, it tends to be a combination of a vitamin B6 and a magnesium deficiency. And so before— if you are planning on getting pregnant or are pregnant, you want to start taking B6 and magnesium, typically in slightly higher doses, before, okay, or during, because again, if not, it will lead to major morning sickness.

So B6 is very, very important for that, and it's all— it's important for a number of other things as well, such as methylation. So is vitamin B2 and B3 as well. B9 and 12 might be even more important, but those are— it is important for that as well. Next up is vitamin B7, known as biotin, which, which is sort of interesting. Some people consider biotin a B vitamin, some people don't.

Okay, some people kicked it off the list, some people kept it on the list. But what biotin does is it supports the health of your skin, hair, and nails more than anything. Okay, so it supports your skin, hair, and nails along with the digestion and breakdown of certain fats and proteins.

Which is partly why also with what your nails are made of, of primary collagen, of why it supports the health of those areas. Vitamin B9, known as folate or folic acid. This is crucial for DNA production and cell division. It helps the formation of red blood cells and it prevents birth defects. Okay.

So vitamin B9, also crucial during pregnancy and important for energy production and cellular health. If your cells are sick or you're aging too quickly, It can also be due to a vitamin B9 deficiency or folate deficiency. And then vitamin B12, known as cobalamin, okay? This is important for red blood cell production, for preventing anemia. It supports nervous system, it supports DNA synthesis.

It's very important for cellular energy. In fact, B12 is oftentimes called the energy vitamin because it's the single most important vitamin for your energy levels. It's also important for adrenal function. And B12, of all the B vitamins on this list, is probably the one that people are most deficient in overall. Now, folate is also very high on that list, but I really think B12 is the highest.

Now, I want to mention a few other B vitamins that have been kicked off of the list, and the most important one of those is known as choline. Choline was vitamin B4, and it supports your memory, your mood, your muscle control. It also is crucial for liver function. It helps fat metabolism and prevents fat accumulation in the liver.

So it's critical for detoxification, it's critical for brain health, it's also critical for your cell membrane integrity. If you want to have healthy cells and age more slowly, choline is also important. And choline was once considered part of the B complex family of vitamins and was referred to as, as I mentioned, vitamin B4.

However, it was later reclassified because it did not meet full criteria as a vitamin. So in order for something to be called a vitamin, that's defined as an essential nutrient that the body cannot synthesize in its— in sufficient quantities on its own, so it must be obtained via diet. Now, that doesn't mean though that a lot of people aren't choline deficient.

Your body can synthesize and create some choline. However, if your gut microbiome isn't healthy, and your liver isn't healthy, you, you likely cannot— you're not producing enough choline on its own. So then that's going to affect your cell membrane, that's going to affect your brain, that's going to affect your liver and cause some of those side effects.

So I recommend most B complexes if they're high quality. Most of them will contain some form of choline in it as well. Again, though it's not considered a B vitamin, it is still very much like a B vitamin in many of its functions and importance to the body. A few others I just want to mention too. Vitamin B8, which it's no longer B8, but it's inositol.

Inositol was originally considered part of the B complex family. This is important for sleep. If you're not sleeping at night, it could be inositol. B8, inositol, is very important for sleep and brain and neurological health as well.

So those are the 2 most important B vitamins that I think were kicked off the list that probably should still that we should still consider getting in our diet or as a supplement. Now I want to talk about a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

It found that deficiencies in B vitamins, especially B6, B9, and B12, can lead to significant health problems including anemia and cognitive decline and low energy levels. And, and we see this constantly where people have low energy. And this is due to your cells and your thyroid and your adrenals are the primary organs and reasons why you feel tired all the time.

B12, B6 are probably the most important because B6 and B12 support your red blood cells carrying oxygen to the body. So again, they're very important for that. Also, as I did mention, nerve problems, B6 and B12 are there again. They're crucial for the function of your nerve system.

A lot of people that have nerve nerve degeneration, especially diabetics that get that polyneuropathy, they get that neuropathy and lose feeling and function of their feet, is due to B6 and B12 deficiencies. And by the way, metformin, certain drugs can make that worse. A few other side effects. Again, here are the— by the way, here are the top 10 signs you've got a B vitamin deficiency.

Number 1 is fatigue and low energy. Number 1 sign you've got a vitamin B deficiency. And this tends to be coupled with issues like hypothyroidism and low testosterone. Or adrenal fatigue. Number 2, if your skin is pale, that's a warning sign of B vitamin deficiency.

Nerve problems like tingling or pins and needles in areas, cognitive issues like memory loss, mouth sores or cracked lips, muscle weakness, mood changes or depression have been all linked to B6, B9, and B12. Vision issues, hair thinning or hair loss— this is really connected to B7. Known as biotin. And then digestive issues can also sometimes be tied to this, though it's not the most common.

But again, fatigue is the biggest one. If you've got low energy levels, it tends to be a B— you, you tend to have a B vitamin deficiency somewhere within your body. Now here's a few medical conditions also associated with B vitamin deficiency. Anemia, and this could also be megaloblastic anemia that's associated with B12 and B9 deficiency.

Thyroid issues, neuropathy, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular disease, especially elevated homocysteine levels, which can be connected to low B6 and sometimes vitamin B3 as well. Now I want to go through the role of medications in B vitamin deficiency. Did you know that there are numerous medications to deplete your body of B vitamins? The first is metformin.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism noted that long-term use of metformin has been linked to a 30% increased risk in dropping vitamin B12 levels. So almost every patient I've ever seen that had diabetes and that was on metformin long-term had a vitamin B12 deficiency. Also, oral contraceptives known as birth control deplete your body of B6, B9, and B12.

Proton pump inhibitors, B12. H2 blockers, diuretics deplete your body of B1. Antibiotics deplete your body of almost every B vitamin, but especially B9. Anti-seizure medications, statin drugs deplete your body of B9. ACE inhibitors and antidepressants deplete your body heavily of vitamin B6.

So we know that if you're taking a conventional medication, your likelihood of having a B vitamin deficiency is even higher. I also want to mention one of the biggest things that causes B vitamin deficiencies is emotional stress. In particular, In particular, vitamin B5, because that's connected to the adrenal glands, and vitamin B6.

So if you know you're under very, very, very heavy bouts of stress, you probably want to take a B-complex vitamin.

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And I want to talk about the subpopulations that have the greatest risk of B vitamin deficiency: vegans and vegetarians. Now, vegans especially. If you're a vegetarian, and you're consuming eggs and you're consuming dairy and some protein powder, you can get a— you, you tend to be fine with B12.

But when we have vegans or vegetarians that don't get much protein via plants, we tend to have major issues. B12 is only found in animal products, okay? So if you're a vegan or a vegetarian, you almost always want to supplement with a B complex or a B12 supplement. By the way, older adults also have lower levels of B vitamins, especially B12.

Women that are pregnant and breastfeeding tend to have lower levels of B9 and B6, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. People with digestive disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, Crohn's colitis, or leaky gut syndrome have lower levels of B vitamins especially B12.

And so you want to make sure if you have any of those conditions, you supplement with a B complex or make sure you're getting more foods that are high in B vitamins. Now, there are common tests where you can test to see if you have B vitamin deficiencies. One test is a micronutrient test or organic acids test that can look for B vitamin deficiencies.

Serum B12 test— this measures the level of vitamin B12 in your blood. A folate, known as a B9 test. This measures folate levels in your blood, crucial for red blood cell formation. And a homocysteine test— when it's elevated, homocysteine levels indicate deficiencies in B6, B9, and B12.

Now, one thing a lot of people don't realize is in order to absorb certain vitamins and nutrients, you need other vitamins and nutrients. If you want to fully absorb B vitamins, the most critical nutrient of all is good bacteria. It's probiotics. That is absolutely essential for supporting good bacteria.

Okay, so oftentimes if you've got low B vitamin levels, what's even more important than taking a B complex is taking a probiotic. The next one there is magnesium. You need magnesium to activate and work with B6 for absorption if you're low in vitamin B6. Another one is zinc. Zinc is important for the metabolism of vitamin B12 the absorption of B12.

And then vitamin C also works for the absorption of folate. So you want to make sure not only you're taking supplements, but you're eating foods that are going to have— that you want to make sure you're eating a diet that is very nutrient-dense. A lot of fruits, a lot of vegetables, a lot of organic meats, and a lot of probiotic-rich foods.

Now, here are some natural ways to boost your B vitamin levels with foods. Number 1 is consume organic meat, especially red meat, and consuming organ meats like liver. Now, you can take liver tablet— tablets or capsules. You can do chicken liver. You can also do a lot of red meat like bison and lamb and beef.

The next thing would be eggs, specifically egg yolks, are high in choline and certain B vitamins. Salmon is a great source of B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12. Dairy products Like raw cheeses and then fermented dairy like yogurt and kefir are really good options, especially doing raw fermented dairy from your local farmer's market.

Green vegetables, especially dark green leafies, are spinach and kale, especially if they're steamed, are very high in B vitamins. Beans are good. And then fermented foods, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, As we mentioned yogurt and kefir earlier, these are all miso. These are all going to help boost up those B vitamin levels.

Now I also want to mention that the form of B vitamins you take are important. B vitamins are better if they're taken in their methylated form. Okay, you want to take an enzyme activated or methylated form that is a higher quality. Listen, if you run out to your local drugstore, CVS or wherever, and buy those B vitamins. I think that most of the brands carried in drugstores are garbage.

You're better off not even taking them. You want to go and buy a brand that is whole food based. Whole food based vitamins are going to be something like Ancient Nutrition or Garden of Life or Longevity Rx. There, there, there, there. You want to flip over the bottle and it should say, you know, it should say amla berry. It should say spinach. It should say probiotics. It should.

Say food on the label. Okay, so when you're buying a brand of vitamins, you want to look for methylated nutrients, enzyme-activated nutrients that are in their whole food form.

And there are many people that have the MTHFR gene variant that doesn't allow them to convert the methyl— the folate that they consume in food into methylfolate, which is what your cells need and your organs need in order to actually make it usable. Okay, imagine that when you eat certain foods, it gives you the car, it gives you everything but the wheels.

Okay, everything but the tires and wheels. Then once it gets in your body, we got to put those wheels on. Okay, that's what it's like is you're taking a B vitamin, it's like consuming a car, you need something to be running through your body, but it doesn't give you wheels.

Most people can put the wheels on, 60% of people, 40% of people who have this variation, their body isn't putting the wheels on. So then they have this thing that they can't do anything with, okay? Versus when you take a methylated B vitamin, it gives you the car with the wheels, okay? So you don't need to add it on, it's already good to go.

So, so for a lot of you, you're better off taking a methylated B vitamin, a methylated multi, or your supplements need to have especially the B— the B6, but the B9, B12 have those in their methylated forms.

Okay, now I do want to say for most people that like taking a liver supplement or an organ supplement is really, really fantastic for, um, for, for the— because it has other nutrients as well that are important for methylation. If you're a person and you're low in B vitamins, here's what I would suggest.

Number one, I'm going to surprise you with this, the number one thing you should take is a probiotic. It's not even a B complex. I think the number one thing most of you guys should take is is a probiotic because it's critical to the absorption.

There are studies that show anywhere from a 40 to a 50% increase in the actual absorption of the B vitamins you're getting from your food if you take a probiotic supplement. That's number one. Number 2 is take a B complex supplement, okay? Ideally that has some methylated or enzyme-activated or real nutrients in it.

Number 3 is a liver or an organ supplement, okay, that has things like liver, kidney, heart in it. You want to take an organ supplement. And those are the top 3. If you've got B vitamin issues, you take those 3. You take a good high-dose probiotic, especially with soy-based organisms. You take a methylated B complex. You take a liver organ supplement. You're going to feel night and day difference.

It's going to help tremendously. A few other things that are good for supporting B vitamin levels: stinging nettles, ashwagandha, trifala, astragalus. Some of these herbs have high B vitamins, but also they work with your body to absorb nutrients and they support your cellular— your cells in creating, working with those B vitamins to create cellular energy. Rhodiola rosea is another good one.

So there are some herbals and foods that are good for that as well. So I want to reference a powerful study here on probiotics to prove my point. This was a study done and they looked at vitamin B1, B3, B5, and B12 levels when somebody took not only a B vitamin supplement, but they took a probiotic supplement with it. By the way, this wasn't even a high-dose probiotic supplement.

This is simply a lactobacillus strain supplement. Now, this was, this was an animal study, but they found an increased rate of absorption between 15 and 71%. Think about that. Some people had nearly as or over a 70% increase in absorption from taking this low-dose single-strain probiotic supplement with the B vitamins.

Now imagine if you take a high-dose, super high-quality probiotic supplement, it could increase your absorption rate by over 100% in all likelihood. So, so the reality is taking a probiotic supplement with your vitamins can do wonders.

Okay, so it's important that again, and I would say especially if you've got gut or digestive issues with this, or or a medical condition like a thyroid issue or autoimmune disease, you absolutely want to take a probiotic with it as well.

So remember this: B vitamins are crucial.

Most people have a B vitamin deficiency. They have at least one of those vitamins they're deficient in. You can go and get a blood test done, like a micronutrient test. It's a great test to look at it. You can test for homocysteine. You can test for B12. That's a great way to know. But also just look at your symptoms. Do you have low energy? Do you have hypothyroidism?

Do you— are you on one of those medications we talked about? If so, consider taking at the very least a probiotic and a B complex supplement with methylated nutrients. It could absolutely be a game changer for you and for your health. Hey, I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I hope you'd enjoyed this episode. On B vitamins.

This is part of my series on vitamins and nutrients. I've covered vitamin D and magnesium and zinc and so many others. If you haven't listened to those, go back and listen. I think it'll be eye-opening, and it's always great to be educated, right? So now you can help others get well as well.

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