Vitamins and Minerals 101: Vitamin B

Multivitamins are a convenient way to get all of the major vitamins and minerals packed into one little pill, but they are not exactly the most soluble of food supplements. To get around this, many supplement manufactures have created powder drink vitamin formulas, serving to bypass this one issue. But the taste (and price) of some of these products may not be right for everyone. Fortunately, there is always one other option. Good, ol' fashioned food.

In order to get your vitamins, you have to know where to find them. Perhaps I'll make this a multi-part post; covering all of the major vitamins over the next few days and telling you in what foods they can found. Sound like a good idea? I think so. To that end, I'll start today with some the many types of vitamin B and their respective health benefits.

B1 - Found in whole grain bread, pasta, rice, and pork. This type of B vitamin helps release energy from food and also keeps nerve and brain cells nice and healthy.

B5 - Found in fish, meat, poultry, whole grains, legumes, milk, fruits, and vegetables. This vitamin helps with the metabolizing of carbs, proteins, and fats.

B6 - Found in chicken, pork, fish, liver, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Great for keeping serotonin levels where they should be.

B9 - Also known as folate, this can be found in many fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and beef liver. It helps break down fatty acids and has also been shown in some studies to reduce the progression of cancer in some cases.

B12 - Is found in abundance in eggs, meat, fish, poultry, and dairy. This form of vitamin B helps to form red blood cells.