5 Vitamins That Help Maintain Nerve Function

Vitamins and minerals are essential to maintain health. However, some vitamins are better at supporting certain bodily systems than others. It’s vitally important that the nervous system, which has something to do with just about every system in the body remain healthy throughout life.

Here are five vitamins that help maintain nerve function.

1. Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine, is needed to help the body use Vitamin B12. It’s also needed for the body to use magnesium and hydrochloric acid. Vitamin B6 also helps balance the levels of potassium and sodium, which in turn regulates bodily fluids and supports normal nerve function. Other vitamin B6 benefits include the creation of erythrocytes and antibodies. It also helps the liver release glycogen, which is essential for energy. Like most of the B vitamins, B6 is water soluble.

2. Vitamin B1

Vitamin B1, or thiamin, is also a water soluble vitamin that helps to break down carbohydrates into glucose, which the body uses for energy. It’s also very important to maintain a healthy nervous system as well as a positive mental attitude. It’s found in the germ and bran of wheat and the husk of rice, as well as brewer’s yeast and blackstrap molasses. Because it’s water soluble, it’s excreted from the body and has to be replenished every day.

3. Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal proteins and the best sources for it are organ meats. Fish and dairy products are also good sources of Vitamin B12. It’s necessary for the metabolism of nerve tissue. As people age their ability to absorb Vitamin B12 decreases, and some people can’t absorb the vitamin at all. Some of these people have the vitamin injected. Vegetarians will need to get this vitamin through supplements.

4. Choline

Another of the B complex vitamins, choline and inositol make up lecithin. Choline can also be had from egg yolks, liver, brewer’s yeast and wheat germ. Choline helps the body use fats and cholesterol and is very important in supporting the health of the myelin sheaths that protect the nerve cells. It also helps with the transmission of nerve signals.

5. Vitamin D

Vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin, is the only vitamin able to be synthesized by the human body. Ultraviolet rays from the sun activates a form of cholesterol in the skin and changes it to Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps support a stable nervous system and the normal functioning of the heart.