B Co-Factors

WHAT ARE VITAMIN B CO-FACTORS?

Vitamin B-cofactors include choline, inositol, PABA, and lipotropic factors, as well as the entire B-Complex itself. Indeed, all eight of the essential B vitamins are cofactors for many enzymes responsible for biosynthetic processes inside the body including the production of RNA and DNA. Cofactors could better be described as "helper molecules" that assist in biochemical transformations, helping enhance a variety of processes inside the body.

Cofactors can be divided into two sub-categories: inorganic and complex organic molecules we call coenzymes (substances that participate with enzymes in accelerating the conversion of chemical compounds). These coenzymes are derived primarily from vitamins and other essential nutrients. As such, these coenzymes play a pivotal role in the body’s energy metabolism as functional parts of enzymes involved in energy release and storage.

For instance, vitamin B1, or thiamine, one of the eight essential water-soluble vitamins (and a B co-factor), is critically important to glucose metabolism and acts as a cofactor for enzymes that break down glucose for energy production. Thiamine is also required for the synthesis of ribose from glucose and is therefore required for the synthesis of RNA, DNA, and ATP. It's then easy to understand why a thiamine deficiency will affect the brain and cardiovascular system and can result in a variety of symptoms such as confusion, irritability, memory loss, and heart failure, among many others.

BENEFITS OF VITAMIN B CO-FACTORS

• Enhance Energy Production
• Speed-Up Anabolic Reactions
• Support the Body’s Metabolic Processes
  
  

VITAMIN B CO-FACTORS POTENCY, FORMS & FORMATS

Vitamin B co-factors are sold in supplement form either as the individual B vitamins themselves or as coenzymes derived from B vitamins or other essential nutrients. Each of these is offered in a range of different forms too abundant to list for the scope of this article; however, these are detailed under the individual co-factors themselves.

Vitamin B co-factors, like B vitamins, are sold in conventional gelatin capsules, veggie caps, tablets, liquids, softgels, as well as in convenient sublingual tablet form.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR VITAMIN B CO-FACTOR SUPPLEMENT

B vitamins and their co-factors perform essential and closely interrelated roles in a wide range of catabolic and anabolic enzymatic reactions inside the human body. While any one B vitamin or co-factor can be used as a standalone to relieve particular symptoms or to treat a given health condition, this is best reserved for the short term, as the entire B family of vitamins, including their co-factors, work synergistically inside the body and are best supplemented as a complex.

If you do decide to supplement with one (or a few) isolated B vitamin(s) or B co-factor(s), this should only be for short-term administration to prevent depleting any of the other Bs, and throw off nutrient balance.

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