HOLISTIC HEALTH NOTEBOOK

Those of you who read this column regularly know that when I attend a scientific symposium, I return all excited about some nutrient. Well, it happened again. I just got back from the International and American Associations of Clinical Nutritionist symposium, all ramped up about the metabolized form of the B complex vitamins. What does that mean: "metabolized form?"

We all know that the B complex vitamins are essential in the production of cellular energy, and in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. My nutrition textbook says that "members of the B complex have an essential role in the metabolic processes of living cells… Because of the close interrelationships among the B vitamins, an inadequate intake of one may impair utilization of others. Discrete deficiencies of single B vitamins are rarely seen clinically."

So we know that this family of nutrients is involved in every metabolic process of the body. When we take a supplement or eat a food that is rich in the B vitamins, however, those vitamins enter the body in a form that the body cannot use. They have to be metabolized into their bioactive forms.

The liver is assigned to this task, but as presenters at the conference affirmed, we may not be as efficient in this function as is needed by the body. We may take the vitamins into our bodies but if we inherited a defect in one or more of the genes that code for this function, the vitamins simply pass back out again, unused. Upwards of 35 percent of us may have inherited these genetic defects, leaving us undersupplied in this critical nutrient, even if we supplement.

Why is this a problem? If we are deficient in the bioactive form of B complex vitamins, our energy production is curtailed (we feel tired). Our risks of developing cardiovascular or mental disorders are increased because of a diminished ability in the methylation function, leading to high levels of homocysteine.

We cannot change genetics but we can help make sure those defects are not expressed by using the "already metabolized" forms of the vitamins. Look for words like L-5-methyl tetrahydrofolate, flavin mononucleotide and inositol hexaniacinate your vitamin bottle. If you are not using these forms, you may not be getting the benefits you expect. ¦

- Carol Simontacchi is the owner of

the Island Nutrition Center on Sanibel.

She can be reached at 472-4499 or on

the Web at www.islandnutritioncenter.

metaehealth.com.