Vitamin B vs Vitamin C

How many times have you stared at a box of cereals and wondered about words like ascorbic acid, riboflavin and pyridoxine? Both vitamin B and vitamin C are vital to the growth and maintenance of your body. However, there are vital differences between the two that you ought to know about.

Both vitamin B and vitamin C are water soluble. This means that excess amounts of the vitamins are passed off in your urine. Remember, excessive levels of the vitamins are associated with toxicity.

The vitamin B complex group refers to a group of 8 vitamins. They are
1.Thiamine
2.Riboflavin
3.Niacin
4.Pantothenic acid
5.Pyridoxine
6.Cyanocobalamin
7.Folic acid
8.Biotin

However, vitamin is available in a single form only and this is known as ascorbic acid.

The symptoms that indicate a deficiency of the respective vitamins in the body also differ between each other. For instance, a deficiency of vitamin B may be indicated by mental problems, palpitations of the heart, indigestion and chronic fatigue. It is also characterized by such symptoms as chronic fatigue, insomnia and even rashes.

However, the symptoms indicating a deficiency in vitamin C are more distinct. They may range between bleeding gums to weakness, nose bleeds and even scurvy in extreme cases.

Sources of vitamin B include a variety of whole and unprocessed foods. Remember, any sort of processing reduces the vitamin B that is naturally contained in most foods. You may get a lot of this vitamin from meat, tuna, nutritional yeast, lentils and even bananas. Did you know that even beer is a good source of vitamin B because of its high yeast content? There are less harmful ways of getting it of course!

The main sources of vitamin C are fruits and some vegetables. Most fruits will give you your daily recommended share of vitamin C. Among vegetables, rich sources of vitamin C include broccoli, cauliflower and spinach. Remember, this vitamin cannot be stored by your body. For this reason, you need to take it daily, in order to avoid being deficient.

Both the vitamins are better absorbed when you take it in through food, rather than in the form of pills. The rationale behind this is simple. Natural food not only contains the vitamins, they also contain other elements that help them in being absorbed by the body. Pills will not provide you with this extra help!

Summary:
1. Vitamin B is found in 8 different forms. However, vitamin C is found only in a single form, ascorbic acid
2. Sources of vitamin B include meat, egg yolk, yeast etc. Vitamin C is obtained from fruits and some vegetables.
3. Deficiency of vitamin B in the body causes fatigue, mental problems and insomnia, amongst other symptoms. A deficiency in vitamin is mainly indicated by scurvy, bleeding of the nose and the gums.

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