Vitamin B5 (Known as Pantothenic acid, Vitamin B5)

Boosts energy 
Aids health 
Vitamin 


Vitamin B5 is one of eight water-soluble B vitamins that your body needs on a regular basis.Vitamin B5 is an essential vitamin that your body needs to convert carbohydrate into energy. Symptoms of a vitamin B5 deficiency may include fatigue, insomnia, depression, irritability, vomiting, stomach pains, burning feet, and upper respiratory infections.All B vitamins help the body convert carbohydrates into sugar, which is "burned" to produce energy.In addition to playing a role in the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates for energy, Vitamin B5 is critical to the manufacture of red blood cells as well as sex and stress-related hormones.

Vitamin B5 also helps to maintain the health of your digestive tract. It also helps the body make better use of other vitamins (especially riboflavin). It is sometimes called the "anti-stress" vitamin because it is widely thought to strengthen the immune system and improve the body's ability to respond to stress. The body relies on pantothenic acid to help the adrenal glands produce stress hormones during times of both psychological and physical strain. This makes it useful for dealing with emotional upset, depression, anxiety, migraines, chronic fatigue, and withdrawal from alcohol or tobacco.

B complex vitamins play an important role in maintaining muscle tone along the digestive tract and promoting the health of the nervous system, skin, hair, eyes, mouth, and liver. B vitamins also help to lower homocysteine levels in your body. Homocysteine is an amino acid (an amino acid is a "building block" for protein) found in your blood. Homocysteine levels can increase when your body doesn't completely transform the amino acid methionine (which comes from food) into the various derivatives needed for the formation of protein in the tissues of your body. For most people, the rise in homocysteine is caused by a deficiency in the B vitamins [1, 2, 3].

Pantothenic acid gets its name from the Greek root pantos, meaning "everywhere," because it is available in a wide variety of foods. Because the vitamin B5 in food can be depleted during processing, fresh meats, vegetables, and whole unprocessed grains have more vitamin B5 than refined, canned, and frozen food. Supplemental pantothenic acid comes in two forms: calcium pantothenate and pantethine. Although more expensive, the former (calcium pantothenate) is better absorbed by your body.
It is very difficult to overdose on vitamin B5, as it is water soluble, and any excess is excreted in the urine. Doses of 10 grams (10,000 milligrams) or more a day can result in diarrhea.If you're deficient in vitamin B5, using a supplement will help to raise your energy levels and prevent symptoms of a deficiency, such as fatigue, insomnia, depression, irritability, vomiting, stomach pains, burning feet, and upper respiratory infections.The vitamin can be taken as part of a B-complex or high-quality multi-vitamin supplement.

1. Hung, C.J., Huang, P.C., Lu, S.C., Li, Y.H., Huang, H.B., Lin, B.F., Chang, S.J., & Chou, H.F. (2002). Plasma homocysteine levels in Taiwanese vegetarians are higher than those of omnivores. Journal of Nutrition, 132, 152-158
2. Seshadri, S., Beiser, A., Selhub, J., Jacques, P.F., Rosenberg, I.H., D'Agostino, R.B., Wilson, P.W., & Wolf, P.A. (2002). Plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 476-483
3. Verhoef, P., Kok, F.J., Kruyssen, D.A., Schouten, E.G., Witteman, J.C., Grobbee, D.E., Ueland, P.M., & Refsum, H. (1997). Plasma total homocysteine, B vitamins, and risk of coronary atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 17, 989-995

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