There is not one vitamin B – there is a whole family of eight different vitamin B’s! It was originally thought that there was one vitamin B but as science and research progressed it was realised that they are chemically different and usually exist together in foods.

When found together, they are referred to as the vitamin B complex.

The actual B vitamins are:

  • Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
  • Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
  • Vitamin B3 (niacin)
  • Vitamin B5(pantothenic acid)
  • Vitamin B6(pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine)
  • Vitamin B7 (biotin)
  • Vitamin B9(folic acid)
  • Vitamin B12(various cobalamins)

B vitamins are very common in unprocessed food and they are found to concentrate in turkey, tuna, potatoes, bananas, whole grains and molasses.

Vitamin 12 is not found in plants and this means that vegans needs to pay close attention to their diets.

Tomorrow, we will deal more with the role each vitamin plays in the body and the associated deficiency diseases that occur if it is missing.