| Home > Site Map > Recommendations > V > Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) |
| Vitamin B5 (also calcium pantothenate) is an antioxidant nutrient that helps the body inhibit the formation of damaging free radicals. It is vital to human metabolism, and it also stimulates the healing process. Its deficiency is associated with hypertension and tachycardia (rapid heart beat). It is stored in high amounts in the adrenal glands but about 70% of absorbed pantothenic acid is excreted in the urine. Before pantothenic acid is utilized it must first be converted to the sulfur-containing pantotheine. Source The best food sources are brewer's yeast, wheat germ, wheat bran, royal jelly, whole-grain breads and cereals, green vegetables, peas, beans, peanuts, crude molasses, liver and egg yolk. Pantothenic Acid is water-soluble and stable in moist heat, but unstable in dry heat and acid or basic pH situations. Little is lost during normal cooking but 50% loss occurs in vegetables when they are frozen and 65% when they are canned. In addition, processed and refined grains lose about 50%, while processed meats lose up to 70% of vitamin B5. A common stable form of pantothenic acid is Calcium Pantothenate, a common ingredient in many supplemental formulas. Function Pantothenic acid is the chief precursor to coenzyme A (CoA), a necessary enzymatic co-factor in the biochemistry of man. CoA plays a major role in the metabolism of fatty acids, cholesterol, amino acids, vitamins A and D, steroid hormones and much more. To enumerate all the functions of CoA would take several pages. A deficiency in pantothenic acid affects the adrenal gland, the immune system, the cardiovascular system as well as the overall metabolism of lipids. While severe deficiencies are rare, many systems are compromised by insufficient pantothenic acid. The average intake of teenagers is about 5mg per day. |