Who needs to take a vitamin B supplement, and are there any risks?

B Smart: Everything You Need to Know About B Vitamins and Your Health

By Pure Health Aesthetics & Wellness | Functional Medicine Blog

Are you feeling tired, foggy, or just not like yourself? Before you reach for another cup of coffee, let’s talk about something your body might be missing - B vitamins!

These powerhouse nutrients are essential for energy, brain function, and overall vitality. And while you’ve probably seen “B complex” supplements lining the shelves at your local pharmacy, you might be wondering—do you actually need them?

Let’s break it all down.

🧬 What Are B Vitamins, Exactly?

B vitamins are a family of eight essential nutrients that help your body convert food into usable energy, support healthy brain and nerve function, create red blood cells, and even play a role in mood and skin health. Collectively, they’re referred to as the B complex.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each one:

• B1 (Thiamin): Helps turn carbs into energy and supports nerve function

• B2 (Riboflavin): Essential for red blood cell formation and acts as an antioxidant

• B3 (Niacin): Supports healthy skin, digestion, and the nervous system

• B5 (Pantothenic Acid): Helps metabolize fats, proteins, and carbs

• B6 (Pyridoxine): Involved in over 100 enzyme reactions related to metabolism and immunity

• B7 (Biotin): Supports healthy metabolism, hair, skin, and nails

• B9 (Folate): Crucial for DNA synthesis and pregnancy health

• B12 (Cobalamin): Supports energy, red blood cells, and brain health

Here’s the catch: your body can’t make B vitamins on its own. This means these are considered essential to life. You need to get them from food—or supplements if you’re deficient.

🥗 Where Can You Get B Vitamins?

Many whole foods are naturally rich in B vitamins, including:

• Meats and fish (especially liver, beef, poultry, salmon)

• Eggs and dairy

• Leafy greens, mushrooms, potatoes, asparagus

• Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, and quinoa

• Legumes like lentils and beans

• Citrus fruits

• Fortified cereals and nutritional yeast

When you eat a variety of whole foods, you’re likely getting most of the B vitamins your body needs—along with bonus nutrients like fiber, antioxidants, and minerals.

🤔 Who Might Need a B Complex Supplement?

Not everyone needs to supplement with B vitamins. But there are some groups who may benefit from extra support:

1. Vegans and Vegetarians

Vitamin B12 is almost exclusively found in animal products. If you follow a plant-based diet, you may need to supplement or get tested regularly.

2. Older Adults (65+)

As we age, our bodies can struggle to absorb B vitamins—especially B12. If you’re feeling tired, forgetful, or weak, B levels might be part of the puzzle.

3. Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women

Folate (B9) is essential for fetal brain development and red blood cell production. Most prenatal vitamins include it, but proper dosing is key.

4. People with Digestive Conditions or Certain Medications

Health issues like celiac disease, Crohn’s, or a history of gastric bypass can interfere with nutrient absorption. So can long-term use of antacids, metformin, and antibiotics.

Not sure where you stand? Functional medicine testing can help uncover exactly what your body needs.

5. Modern Day Living

Today more and more is expected of us from our day-to-day activities. B-vitamins are involved in so much especially energy and hormone production. This is why we recommend getting tested to see if your body is needing more than just the minimal requirement.

⏰ When’s the Best Time to Take B Vitamins?

B vitamins are water-soluble, so they don’t need to be taken with food—but they can be if that feels better on your stomach.

Many people prefer taking them in the morning to align with their energy-supporting role, but ultimately, the best time is whenever you’ll remember to take them consistently. Because B vitamins can help with energy production, we recommend avoiding taking at supplement at night.

💧 Pro Tip: Take your B vitamins with a full glass of water to aid absorption.

🧪 Should You Test Your B Vitamin Levels?

Absolutely—especially if you’re dealing with fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, or hormonal imbalances. In our functional medicine practice, we often find that many clients are low in one or two B vitamins—most commonly B12—not all eight.

Instead of guessing, we recommend targeted lab testing to evaluate your levels and create a personalized plan. We use only “WHOLE BLOOD NUTRIENT” testing. The reason is because traditional medical testing only checks serum nutrients.  The problem with that is nutrients need to be in the cells not outside the cells in the serum.  So we want to test all the blood nutrients for accurate measurement and need.

Our Final Takeaway: Don’t Sleep on the B’s

B vitamins are vital for energy, mood, brain function, metabolism, and more—but you don’t always need to reach for a supplement. A nutrient-rich diet can go a long way, and functional medicine testing can reveal when more support is needed.

If you're feeling off and can’t quite figure out why, it could be time to take a deeper look.

Ready to Find Out if a Vitamin B Deficiency is Holding You Back? Schedule your personalized root-cause health assessment with our team at Pure Health Aesthetics & Wellness and get clear, science-backed answers tailored to you during our functional medicine appointment. Schedule today by calling 614-839-1044

Thrive from the inside out. It starts with understanding your body.