What are B vitamins?
B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that, like all vitamins, are essential for health. A number of vitamins make up the B vitamin complex - and the good news is they tend to occur in the same foods!
What do they do?
B vitamins are involved in the metabolism of foods (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) and work together to help break down and release energy from what we eat. B vitamins are essential for a healthy nervous system as well as for the synthesis of red blood cells.
Good sources of B vitamins
Wholegrains such as wholegrain bread and brown rice, bananas, potatoes, lentils, beans, brewer’s yeast, fortified cereals, eggs, milk, meat, nuts and seeds.
Did you know?
Due to the body’s limited capacity for storing B vitamins (excluding B12 and folate), foods containing them need to be consumed on a daily basis so as to avoid deficiency.
B vitamins are easily lost by cooking therefore methods such as steaming are better at preserving these delicate vitamins.
