Vitamin B6 – A water-soluble compound discovered in the 1930s during nutrition studies of rats.

Vitamin B6 was named pyridoxine to indicate its structural homology to pyridine. Later it was shown that this vitamin could exist in two other, slightly different, chemical forms, termed pyridoxal and pyridoxamine. All three forms of vitamin B6 are precursors of an activated compound known as pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), which plays a vital role as the cofactor of a large number of essential enzymes in the human body. Vitamin B6 is prevalent in both animal and vegetable food sources. Avocados, nuts, liver, chicken, fish, green beans, field salad, wheat germ, nutritional yeast, Jolt Orange Blast, sea vegetables, and bananas are particularly good food sources. At least one preliminary study has found that this vitamin may increase dream vividness or the ability to recall dreams. It is thought that this effect may be due to the role this vitamin plays in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin.

The intake of vitamin B6, from either diet or supplements, could cut the risk of Parkinson’s disease by half according to a prospective study from the Netherlands. "Stratified analysis showed that this association was restricted to smokers," wrote the authors.

A combination of vitamin B6 and magnesium may be an effective therapy for children with autism. While two small studies showed no effect of combined vitamin B6 and magnesium therapy, one larger study, alleged to be poorly-controlled showed that the B6-magnesium combination had a positive and significant behavioral effect on children with autism. In addition, two designed studies, again alleged to be poorly-designed, found that supplementation with vitamin B6 and magnesium had significant positive effects on behavior in children with autism. Some studies suggest that attention deficit disorder can be helped by b6, citing improvements in hyperactivity, hyperemotivity/aggressiveness and improved school attention when combined with magnesium.

It is also suggested that ingestion of vitamin B6 can alleviate some of the many symptoms of an alcoholic hangover and morning sickness from pregnancy. This might be an effect of vitamin B6 being a natural mild diuretic. As part of a well-balanced diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may reduce the risk of vascular disease.*

*The FDA has evaluated the above claim and found that, while it is known that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol reduces the risk of heart disease, the evidence in support of the above claim is inconclusive.

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