Vitamins can be helpful tools which may help with energy levels and prevention of illness but they can be very hard to navigate when there are so many on the shelves at health food stores. When it comes to supplements I often tell patients you get what you pay for. Cheap supplements will have the cheapest form of nutrients in them which tend to be both harder to absorb and harder for the body to use (i.e. in their inactive forms). When looking at a vitamin supplement I turn straight to the label and start looking at the forms. On the label I look for vitamins to be in these forms:
Vitamin B1:
o The bad: I tend to avoid labels that don’t specify what the form is.
o The good: Bentofiamine has been shown to be a well absorbed form of vitamin B1 which can support the nervous system and promote a healthy blood sugar level. Another commonly found form is thiamine-HCl which is still well absorbed.
Vitamin B6:
o The bad: Some supplements will only contain Pyridoxine which needs to be converted to the active form by enzymes in the liver.
o The good: I look for a vitamin which contains Pyridoxal-5-phosphate which is the already active form of vitamin B6 and can be easily utilized once absorbed.
Vitamin B9:
o The bad: I tend to avoid supplements which contain the folic acid form of vitamin B9. This is because many people have a genetic predisposition to having difficulty converting it to the active form which may lead to an array of health concerns.
o The good: I always look for a 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (Also displayed as 5-MTHF) form. This form is active and can help lower homocysteine, prevent the birth defect spina bifida, and help with overall health.
Vitamin B12:
o The bad: I avoid cyanocobalamin because it is a synthetic, inactive form of vitamin B12.
o The good: Just like with vitamin B9 I look for the methylated form of vitamin B12. This form is called methylcobalamin and like 5-MTHF you don’t need to worry about someone’s ability to activate it. In addition, if you are looking to take vitamin B12 on its own look for a sub-lingual version. This form can be dissolved under the tongue which allows it to be absorbed directly into the blood stream.