B Vitamins for energy and metabolism

[Mlana13]

Hello all, I am wondering if anyone has any advice on taking B vitamins. I have found in the last year no matter what I do I have very low energy and my metabolism seems to have definitely lowered in the last few years. I have heard of folks taking B vitamins to help both of these issues. Does anyone have any thoughts, or other recommendations? 

[Mukluk4]

I would suggest giving it a try.  Either it works for you (legitimately or a placebo effect) or doesn't.

[Dominique]

I would focus on the basics first: eat a healthy diet (this should cover your needs in most micronutrients, including vitamin B), get enough quality sleep, engage in regular physical activity etc.

I don’t think supplementing in vitamin B will do much for energy and metabolism. I personally take a multivitamin (which includes a bunch of Bs) everyday as an insurance policy, but I don’t expect it to fix any particular issues and I probably wouldn’t notice the difference if someone replaced it with a placebo. As I said, if you eat a healthy and varied diet, you will get your vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients from it.

[MrTimothyIrvine]

I agree with the others that you might as well try it and see if it has an effect, even if it's just placebo - but that the foundation of your regimen should be a healthy diet, regular exercise, and enough sleep.

I personally take a few supplements, so adding in one more capsule is easy. 

Remember that there are several different kinds of "B" vitamins, so you might want to take a "B Complex" perhaps in addition to a daily multivitamin. 

I would note that you probably shouldn't take B supplements just before bed (some people seem to have sleep issues when taking them at night) 

[emili]

hey there.. I would encourage you to look for the root cause of why you feel tired. metabolism slowing down, I am not sure how you would know it has... but the low energy could be any number of things. Not enough deep sleep, stress, lethargy or a number of other reasons that I would encourage you to talk with your doctor about. by all means take a B vitamin, but I think after the initial maybe its working, it will be where you are today, simply because the root cause is still there. I think to start, I would see if you are eating things to support your body, sleeping/resting enough to support your body and making sure your brain is getting the food it needs through rest, creativity and positive thinking..

[Esya]

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@emili wrote:

hey there.. I would encourage you to look for the root cause of why you feel tired. metabolism slowing down, I am not sure how you would know it has... but the low energy could be any number of things. Not enough deep sleep, stress, lethargy or a number of other reasons that I would encourage you to talk with your doctor about. by all means take a B vitamin, but I think after the initial maybe its working, it will be where you are today, simply because the root cause is still there. I think to start, I would see if you are eating things to support your body, sleeping/resting enough to support your body and making sure your brain is getting the food it needs through rest, creativity and positive thinking..

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I agree with @emili. We are so used to patching symptoms in Western society, that we often do not bother to fix the cause. See if you can find the root cause and consider discussing it with a doctor.