Vitamin B6 can help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety: Research
Anxiety and Depression are quite common in today’s world, especially the post covid one. Everyone is dealing with some sort of mental imbalance, either hard to carry on with life or simply drowned in sorrow for no reason. In light of it, research has found that using high-dose vitamin B6 pills can help reduce the symptoms of Anxiety and Depression.
The study’s findings were reported in the Journal of Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental. Researchers at the University of Reading conducted a study in which a high dosage of vitamin B6 was given to young people for a month. By the end of the month, scientists discovered that the subjects were feeling less worried and sad.
The study brings to light the increased benefit of the supplement hypothesized to alter brain activity levels and prevent or treat mood disorders.
Dr. David Field of The University of Reading’s School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, who is also the principal author of the study, explained that the brain operates due to a delicate balance between excitatory neurons. These neurons transport information and curb overactive behaviour. However, recent hypotheses have described that the disruption of this balance due to mood disorders and other neuropsychiatric illnesses could improve with the consumption of Vitamin B6, resulting in increased levels of brain activity.
“Vitamin B6 helps the body produce a specific chemical messenger that inhibits impulses in the brain, and our study links this calming effect with reduced anxiety among the participants,” said Dr. Field.
Earlier, research showed that marmite or multivitamins can lower stress levels, but not much study was conducted to determine which specific vitamins in these products are responsible for this outcome.
The recent finding, however, was conducted on the possible function of vitamin B6, a substance that inhibits impulses between brain nerve cells.
As per the experiment, over 300 volunteers were allocated to take one vitamin B6 or B12 supplement each day with their meals for a month. During the course of the medication, it was observed that Vitamin B12 had no effect compared to placebo. On the other hand, Vitamin B6 was found to have a different result.
To conclude, people who consumed Vitamin B6 on a daily basis had higher GABA levels, confirming the theory that the said supplement was the cause of the decrease in anxiety. The visual tests performed showed only minor yet safe variations that were consistent with managed levels of brain activation.
In his statement, Dr. Field said, “Vitamin B6 is present in a wide variety of foods, such as tuna, chickpeas, and other fruits and vegetables. The large dosages utilized in this experiment, however, imply that further supplements might be required to have a mood-improving impact.”
He further said that the search is in its early stages and their studies showed that the effect of Vitamin B6 on anxiety was much less than what one might anticipate from the drug. However, people in need of it must choose nutrition-based therapies in the future. It is because such alternatives have fewer negative side effects than medications.
“To make this a realistic choice, further research is needed to identify other nutrition-based interventions that benefit mental wellbeing, allowing different dietary interventions to be combined in future to provide greater results.”One potential option would be to combine Vitamin B6 supplements with talking therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to boost their effect,” Dr. Field stated.
Ms Kalinga