Vitamin B
The B family is the busiest corner of the vitamin aisle — eight related nutrients that help the body metabolize carbohydrates, fats and proteins, sold both one at a time and bundled into complete B-complex formulas. Here you'll find everything from single B2, B5 and B6 bottles to the shelf's headliner, vitamin B12, in more formats than any other vitamin we carry — the selection you'd hope for from a dedicated vitamin store.
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B12 deserves its range of formats. Because so many shoppers want a convenient way to take it, brands offer sublingual tablets and lozenges that dissolve under the tongue, berry-flavoured liquids you measure by the spoon, and standard tablets and capsules — in strengths from 250 mcg up to 5,000 mcg. You'll also see two forms on labels: methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin. Both are licensed forms of B12; methylcobalamin is the one shoppers most often ask for by name.
If you'd rather not stack single bottles, a B-complex rolls the family into one capsule — formulas like a 100 mg ultra B-complex keep the whole set in balanced amounts. Some lines go a step further with "bioactive" or "coenzymated" B vitamins, which use the forms found in food, such as riboflavin-5-phosphate for B2. Check the label's NPN and directions, and ask your health-care practitioner which approach fits your routine.
