GAL B-Complex

Our company does not attribute any disease-prevention, treatment, or curative properties to our products, nor do we imply any such properties. That said, in the interest of transparency we provide the following information about the health effects of this product's active ingredients and their scientific background. We aim to present the latest, independent, and authoritative research to give interested readers a clear picture of the evidence. This is not intended to encourage a purchase. If our customers return to us with repeat orders, we hope it is only because they have experienced GAL's benefits for themselves, that is what we believe in, and why we do this work.

Introduction

B-vitamins are essential for proper metabolic function and for maintaining overall health. Supplementation is especially important for older adults, people following a plant-based diet, and pregnant women, who often don't get enough from diet alone. It's also useful for anyone with gene variants that increase their requirement, or who prefers to supplement minerals and trace nutrients individually rather than through a multivitamin.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

What it's for: Vitamin B1 is needed for energy production and for the proper function of muscles and the nervous system. The body can only store a small amount, so it's worth consuming daily. A deficiency limits how much energy the body can extract from food, which starts as fatigue and can progress to serious nervous system and cardiovascular problems. One classic early sign of deficiency is “brain fog”, a lack of mental clarity.

Which form is correct: The best forms of B1 for supplements are plain thiamine hydrochloride and thiamine mononitrate. The “active” coenzyme forms, thiamine pyrophosphate chloride, thiamine monophosphate, and thiamine triphosphate, are actually the least favorable forms, since they must first be broken back down into plain thiamine by enzymes before they can be absorbed at all. Even in the best case (with enough digestive and other enzymes present), they're only as good as free thiamine; in the worse case (not enough enzymes), the oral thiamine pyrophosphate isn't utilized at all.(1)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

What it's for: Vitamin B2 plays a key role in metabolism and energy production. Signs of deficiency include fatigue, skin problems, and dryness of the throat and lips. Its effects work through two important coenzymes, FMN and FAD. Food naturally contains B2 mainly in these forms, while fortified foods, milk, and supplements typically contain free riboflavin.

Supplementing B2 is especially important for people with an MTHFR mutation if they're taking B9 as folate or folic acid rather than in its methylated form (methylfolate). It's also important alongside high-dose B6 supplementation, as it helps prevent the rare neuropathic symptoms that can occur.

Which form is correct: Plain riboflavin is the best form, taken orally, it's one step ahead of “active” riboflavin-5'-phosphate, which can't be absorbed until it's first broken down into plain riboflavin. For active B2 to reach our cells, it must first convert to plain free riboflavin, which normally happens in the intestines but doesn't always occur reliably in certain health conditions.(1,2)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Why isn't there any B3 in this product? A deficiency can really only occur in someone who eats nothing but heavily refined food, since a wide range of natural foods contain plenty of it, meaning most people already get enough.(4) Chronic over-supplementation raises its own concerns, as excess niacin has been linked to various health problems. In some cases supplementing may be worthwhile, but even then we'd recommend it periodically rather than continuously, for example, a few times a month rather than daily.

What it's for: Vitamin B3 is also needed for proper metabolic function. It gives rise to two important coenzymes, NAD and NADP, which are essential to many energy-producing processes. NAD is required for the function of more than 400 enzymes, while NADP supports the production of cholesterol and fatty acids as well as the cell's antioxidant functions.

Which form is correct: Niacinamide, niacin, and nicotinamide riboside are all natural, well-utilized forms of B3.(5,7) There is also a synthetic form, inositol hexanicotinate, which was marketed as a cholesterol-lowering drug but turned out to be not very effective, it's only about 70% absorbed and breaks down very slowly.(6) As a result it keeps niacin levels abnormally elevated in the blood for a long time, unlike the natural forms, which are absorbed at close to 100% and rise and fall quickly in the blood. Since it isn't known what long-term effects continuously elevated niacin levels might have, this form is best avoided, and in general, daily B3 supplementation of any kind is best avoided too.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)

What it's for: Vitamin B5 plays a key role mainly in energy-producing processes, but it's also needed to build and break down proteins and fats. The coenzyme-A it forms is essential to the proper function of a great many enzymes.

Which form is correct: Calcium D-pantothenate is the most common, well-utilized form of B5.(1) There is also a form called pantethine, a B5 analogue not found in food, which has been used in high doses as a cholesterol-lowering agent.(8) Pantethine is considerably more expensive, but at best performs the same as plain pantothenic acid/calcium pantothenate, since when taken orally it converts entirely into pantothenic acid before it even reaches the bloodstream, and its absorption is no better than calcium pantothenate's.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

What it's for: Vitamin B6 takes part in protein and carbohydrate metabolism, cell division, and proper nervous system function. It's also required to produce the hormones dopamine and serotonin, so in more severe cases, a deficiency can even lead to depression.

Which form is correct: The best way to supplement B6 is with a mix of pyridoxal-5-phosphate and pyridoxine hydrochloride, at a combined daily amount not exceeding 25mg.(1) Either form on its own works perfectly well for most people, but there are cases where a mixed supply works better, so as a general rule, it's worth combining both forms in a product, at a daily dose not exceeding 25mg.

Vitamin B7 (Biotin)

What it's for: Biotin plays an important role in energy production and metabolism. A deficiency can cause thinning hair, skin problems, and various metabolic issues.

Which form is correct: Plain D-biotin is the well-utilized form of B7.(9)

Vitamin B9 (Folate)

What it's for: Vitamin B9 is needed to synthesize amino acids and DNA, along with many other biological processes. Supplementing it is especially important for people with MTHFR gene variants, and during pregnancy.

Which form is correct: B9 is often mistakenly called “folic acid,” but folic acid is actually just a synthetic, oxidized form of folate, found in many supplements and fortified foods. Methylfolate is the natural form of B9, available in 4 different forms (counting only salts made of purely natural isomers), 3 calcium salts and 1 glucosamine salt:

• Metafolin was the first to market, the Type I crystal form of methylfolate's calcium salt
• Extrafolate-S came later, the amorphous form of methylfolate's calcium salt
• Quatrefolic is the amorphous form of methylfolate's glucosamine salt (no other form of this salt exists)
• Magnafolate is the newest, the so-called Type C crystal form of methylfolate's calcium salt

Every methylfolate salt works well, they differ mainly in stability. The Type C crystal calcium salt (Magnafolate) is the most stable of all, though with proper formulation and an appropriately short shelf life, the other forms work correctly too.(9,10)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

What it's for: Vitamin B12 plays an important role in the proper function of the central nervous system, and together with folate and other B-vitamins, takes part in methylation, a process that helps repair DNA damage and prevent inflammation, among other things. It's essential for vegans, and also important for older adults. (Plant-derived “vegan B12” has a different structure, so-called pseudo-vitamin B12, and not only fails to serve as a source of B12, it actively blocks B12 uptake, worsening any existing deficiency.)(11)

Which form is correct: All forms are suitable, though cyanocobalamin is worth avoiding, not because of its cyanide content (even at extreme doses it contains less cyanide than a single flaxseed), but because it's cleared from the body faster, since it's a compound the body naturally produces as an excretion byproduct.

The active coenzyme forms the body produces (methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin) form in the same ratio regardless of which form is supplemented, since all forms break down into cobalamin in our cells before being put to use.(12) Methylcobalamin is the preferred form, since it's the most widely manufactured, making the purest, highest-quality supply available in that form. Hydroxocobalamin and adenosylcobalamin are harder to source reliably, particularly adenosylcobalamin, which is only available from questionable sources, which is why we don't recommend products containing it. The best option is a product that supplies B12 exclusively as methylcobalamin, since it converts to adenosylcobalamin in our cells at the same rate as adenosylcobalamin itself would, while being available from cleaner, better-controlled sources.