When to take vitamin B?

The most important things in brief

• There isn't just one B vitamin - it's a whole group of vitamins.
• For this reason, we also speak of the vitamin B complex.
• You can use supplements to ensure the body and organs are supplied with vitamin B.
• But when should you use this option and take B vitamins?

When people talk about vitamins, we know many things intuitively. Vitamins are important, they are indispensable for all phases of life and they are particularly found in fresh fruits and vegetables. Everything is not wrong - and yet in need of supplementation. At least in relation to vitamin B. Because there is no "one" vitamin B, it is a complex of eight different vitamins.

Eight vitamins make up the vitamin B complex

Now one might think that these vitamins must be somehow related to each other. This is the case for some of them, at least in terms of the positive effects they have on our organism. For example, they strengthen the nervous system or improve energy metabolism. Others reduce tiredness and exhaustion, strengthen hair and skin, help with cell division or the formation of red blood cells.

But B vitamins are not really related. Most of them are found in plant foods, from legumes to grains, from vegetables to fruit, from potatoes to rice, and from soy to mushrooms. But at the same time there are B vitamins that are also found in animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs, offal, meat and fish. Vitamin B12, for example, is only found in animal foods.

So it depends on your own diet

The question of when you should take vitamin B in the form of supplements depends first and foremost on your diet. The thesis that a balanced diet is the healthiest is absolutely true for the vitamin B complex. Anyone who eats animal products such as fish, meat or cheese covers the entire range of B vitamins including vitamin B12.

For vegetarians and vegans, this is of course not intended as a call to eat meat, but you should be aware - if you eat a purely plant-based diet - that you are probably not consuming enough vitamin B12. This could also apply to vitamins B2, B3 and B6, although these are not only found in animal foods, but also in a few plant foods.

When should you take vitamin B?

Especially if you deliberately avoid animal products, it makes sense to take supplements with B vitamins. However, there is no harm in taking this dietary supplement if you eat dairy products, fish and meat, because the body simply excretes any excess B vitamins in the urine.

In some cases, however, vitamin B deficiency can be due to genetic reasons. The good news: Your family doctor can examine the blood plasma to determine whether certain B vitamins are not sufficiently available. If this is the case, you can counteract the deficiency with the appropriate preparations. The time of day when you take it doesn't matter. However, if you have a nervous stomach, it is advisable to take the dietary supplements with a meal, i.e. after eating.