Getting Enough Vitamin B6 Without Taking Too Much
TweetHow much vitamin B6 should I take?
It's a common question, and the answers depend on whether you are just wanting a minimum of "vitamin insurance" or whether you are facing special circumstances that have caused you to experience a vitamin B6 deficiency. But first a word about the maximum dosage of vitamin B6:
No one ever needs more than 600 mg of vitamin B6 a day.
And the reason you would ever take that much vitamin B6 would be that you suffered sideroblastic anemia and you needed a variety of B vitamins because of bone marrow problems. If you really need that much vitamin B6, you also need a doctor's supervision for your disease. And if you had certain kinds of mushroom poisoning, you might get a single dose of up 10,000 mg of B6 under doctor's supervision.
Dosages of 1,000 mg of vitamin B6 a day have been associated with numbness and breathing problems, but no one needs to take that much. If for some reason you do need to take high-dose B6, then it's important to remember:
Dosages of 500 mg of B6 per day and higher are less likely to cause problems if you get adequate protein in your diet.
But the real problem is an imbalance in the amino acids for which vitamin B6 is an enzyme cofactor, not the B6 itself.
Most of the time a much lower dosage of B6 will correct a deficiency. Here are some typical dosages of the pyridoxine form of B6 used in various diseases:
- 50 to 600 mg a day for sideroblastic anemia
- 100 to 500 mg a day, with other B vitamins, for people with high homocysteine
- 100 to 250 mg a day for luteal phase defect in women trying to conceive(read more about vitamin B6 and pregnancy)
- 50 mg a day for people with chronic liver disease
- 2 to 5 mg a day for people receiving dialysis or who have chronic kidney disease
Just avoiding vitamin B6 deficiency symptoms only requires 1 to 2 mg a day, more for people over 70 and lactating mothers, less for teens and adults under 50. Children under six usually need no more than 0.5 mg a day and infants who are fed formula (not breastfed) may only need 0.1 or 0. 2 mg of B6 a day(you may also be interested in vitamin b6 for children ). But any dosage under 10 mg a day is certain not to cause any side effects.
Return to Vitamin B6
Return to Nutritional Supplements Home Page
Home: Nutritional Supplements
E-BOOK FOR EVERYONE
FIGHTING INFLAMMATION 101 is full of information you probably won't see anywhere elseor Get Your Free-Ebook below
    |
Half of the modern drugs could well be thrown out of the window, except that the birds might eat them.
Dr. Martin Henry Fischer
Featured Health Supplement
All ingredients are assessed at
molecular level to ensure synergy, safety and effectiveness. This is crucial because when some ingredients are combined they will help create other substances in the body.