Buying guide for Best vitamin B supplements
B vitamins do amazing things for the body, including keeping your heart and brain healthy, increasing energy, and even reducing stress. While you can purchase specific B vitamins individually, you might be better off purchasing a comprehensive B-complex supplement that contains all of the common types of B vitamins.
In order to choose the right supplement for you, it helps to understand which ingredients you need and which you’d be better off avoiding. You also want to consider other factors that may impact the effectiveness and digestibility of the vitamins.
Key considerations
As with any supplement, the ingredients should be your primary concern when choosing a B-complex vitamin supplement.
Types of B vitamins
Here are the common B vitamins you can expect to find in a vitamin B supplement and why you need them:
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Vitamin B1: Thiamine is good for your heart, and it also helps convert nutrients into energy that your body can use.
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Vitamin B2: Riboflavin also helps with the digestion of food and is beneficial for the brain.
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Vitamin B3: Niacin is useful for many things, including DNA production, healthy cholesterol levels and joints, and metabolizing food. It may also help to protect the brain against dementia.
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Vitamin B5: Pantothenic acid helps with metabolism, cholesterol, energy, and hormone production.
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Vitamin B6: Pyridoxine is essential for nerve, heart, blood vessel, and brain health, as well as DNA production.
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Vitamin B7: Biotin helps regulate metabolism and gene expression. You may know biotin as the vitamin of choice for improving the health of skin, hair and nails.
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Vitamin B9: Folic acid/folate helps with metabolism, the formation of blood cells and cell division and growth. It’s considered especially crucial for pregnant women.
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Vitamin B12: Cobalamin is essential for neurological health, blood cell production, and DNA production. When possible, choose a vitamin that offers methylcobalamin, which is more readily absorbed by the body than cyanocobalamin.
Other ingredients
Check the ingredient list for these as well:
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Probiotics: Probiotics are good bacteria that live in your gut and support your immune and digestive system. Some vitamin B supplements may include a couple strains of probiotics in addition to the B vitamins.
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Enzymes: Enzymes help your body break down food so it can be more readily absorbed and used for energy. They’re not common in vitamin B supplements, but you may be able to find a few that offer this if you’re interested.
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Artificial dyes: Artificial dyes serve no purpose other than to color the vitamin, and some argue that they may even be harmful to you. You might notice these as “FD&C” (Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act) followed by a color and number.
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Fillers: Fillers help to bulk up the tablet, but they don’t offer any real benefits. Common fillers include rice flour and magnesium stearate.
- Animal products: If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you should check the label carefully to be sure that the vitamin B supplement you choose does not contain animal products.
Expert tip
B-complex vitamins are helpful for cell metabolism, brain health, and energy levels. It is recommended that vegans take a B-complex supplement, as they are often deficient in these vitamins.
BestReviews Nutrition Expert
There are many different B vitamins that come in a vitamin B supplement, such as vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12. We note which vitamins come in each supplement in our research.
We consider whether a vitamin B supplement has received third-party verification to prove the supplement lives up to label claims. Although it’s not required, it’s a good idea to buy a supplement with USP verification or NSF certification.
We look at whether a vitamin B supplement contains fillers, such as magnesium stearate or rice flour. Filler can bulk up a tablet, but it adds no nutritional value.
Some vitamin B supplements come with probiotics, the good bacteria that live in your gut. Others come with enzymes that help the body break down food. When these are offered, we note the ingredient to decide whether it adds value to the purchase.
We note whether vitamin B supplements contain animal products like gelatin, as consumers who are vegetarian or vegan strive to avoid consuming these products.
Vitamin B supplements do not tend to have a pleasant aroma. In our research, we note that this is not necessarily a sign of quality or freshness.
We look at how much of the daily requirement is included in each serving when researching vitamin B supplements.
Vitamin B supplements come in capsule and tablet form. We note the size and form to determine how easy they are to take.
Vitamin B supplements range from about $0.15 to $0.40 per serving. While we consider price in our research, we also note that a higher price does not necessarily indicate superior quality.
When looking at different vitamin B supplements, we consider what area of the body they are intended to support, such as the nervous system or immune system.
Vitamin B supplement features
Form
Most vitamin B supplements are either capsules or tablets. Some say that capsules are easier for the body to digest than tablets, but this isn’t always the case. Choose the form that you prefer. There are also some liquid vitamin B supplements available for those who have trouble swallowing pills.
Serving size
Vitamin B supplements are usually not large, and most only have a single tablet or capsule per serving. However, you might need to take two or more pills per serving if the supplement you choose has a number of extras like probiotics, enzymes, and other vitamins or minerals.
If you don’t like taking pills, check the label to determine how large the pills are and how many you will need to take in order to get a full serving. Go with a supplement that offers the ingredients you want in the smallest serving size.
Daily values
Many B vitamins are small and affordable, so it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to put 200%, 500%, or even 1,000% of your daily value in each vitamin. This might seem like it’s beneficial, but it’s usually unnecessary. Your body can’t use all of those extra vitamins, so your body excretes them. B vitamins are water-soluble, so you don’t have to worry about them building up in your system if you take too much, but it usually isn’t necessary to exceed the recommended daily value by that much. You’ll also get some B vitamins through food, and that coupled with a vitamin B supplement should be more than enough.
Third-party verification
Supplement manufacturers are not required to prove the potency or purity of their vitamins, but some companies go the extra mile and seek third-party verification to prove that their supplements live up to the claims on the label. You might want to choose one of these verified supplements if you want to be absolutely sure about what you’re buying. Look for products that are USP Verified or NSF Certified.
Expert Tip
Look for third-party labels such as Consumer Lab and USP. These organizations test products to confirm that what's in the bottle matches the ingredients on the label.
BestReviews Nutrition Expert
Vitamin B supplement prices
When choosing a vitamin B supplement, it’s more important to pay attention to the price per serving than the price of the bottle. Take the total cost of the bottle and divide it by the number of servings the bottle contains. Be careful not to confuse the cost per serving with the cost per tablet because these may not always be the same.
Most vitamin B supplements range from about $0.15 to $0.40 per serving.
A higher price is not necessarily an indicator of a superior product, so you’re better off basing your decision on the supplement’s ingredients.
Tips
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Look for gluten-free supplements if you have a gluten sensitivity.
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Check the expiration date on the packaging. Be sure that you can use up all of the vitamins before they expire.
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Take your vitamin B supplement daily for best results.
- Stop taking the supplement if you experience a reaction. Consult your doctor if the symptoms do not go away.
Expert tip
Even though vitamin B can sometimes help with energy levels, it is important to make sure that you are first getting enough calories, which is what makes up the bulk of what our bodies require for energy production and to make us feel fueled.
BestReviews Nutrition Expert
FAQ
Q. My B vitamins smell bad. Are they expired?
A. Not necessarily. B vitamins don’t always have a pleasant odor, but that doesn’t mean they’ve gone bad. Check the expiration date on the packaging to see if they have actually expired.
Q. Why is methylcobalamin better than cyanocobalamin?
A. Methylcobalamin is the active form of vitamin B12 that your body can readily absorb and use. Cyanocobalamin must be converted into this active state before it can be used. This makes it cheaper than methylcobalamin for manufacturers, but it’s more difficult for your body to use.
Q. Who should take vitamin B supplements?
A. Pregnant women need higher levels of certain B vitamins, and a B complex can help with this. Older adults should also look into supplementing their vitamin B12, as the body’s ability to absorb this declines with age. Vegetarians and vegans, people taking certain medications, and those with health conditions like Crohn’s disease or cancer should also take extra B vitamins. Consult with your doctor if you’re unsure about whether you should be taking a vitamin B supplement.
