Vitamin B6: Which Foods Contain It (and How Much Do You Need)?

Which Foods Contain the Most Vitamin B6?

The ranking of the best sources

There is no single “miracle food”: B6 is spread across many food groups. Some sources do stand out, however, for their content. Here are the most concentrated, animal and plant, as listed by the reference databases on food composition and vitamin B6 content^[9][10].

So which is “the richest food”?

It’s the most common question — and it has a small flaw: there’s no single winner. On the plant side, chickpeas lead; on the animal side, liver and oily fish such as tuna. But what matters isn’t the top of a ranking: it’s regularity and variety. Eating a little from each family over the week supplies B6 more reliably than fixating on a single food. And because B6 is found in so many everyday products, the goal is easily reachable day to day.

Animal or Plant Sources: How to Combine Them Well

Both worlds provide it

Unlike vitamin B12, which is almost absent from plants, vitamin B6 is found on both sides of the plate. That’s good news, especially for vegetarian and vegan diets: pulses, potatoes, bananas, seeds and wholegrain cereals all provide plenty.

A useful nuance: absorption

Not all the B6 in a food is absorbed in the same way. The B6 from plants is sometimes in a slightly less usable form than that from animal products^[9]. In practice this isn’t a problem for someone who eats a varied diet: it’s one more reason to combine sources rather than rely on a single one. And for a fully plant-based plate, the real point to watch is vitamin B12, not B6.

Does cooking lose B6?

Partly, yes. Vitamin B6 is sensitive to heat, light and water: some can be lost during cooking, pass into the cooking water, or disappear with canning and the refining of cereals^[9]. Nothing alarming, and no reason to eat raw. A few habits in the kitchen preserve more of it in your recipes.

• 1Prefer gentle cooking (steaming, en papillote) rather than long boiling in plenty of water.
• 2Reuse the cooking water from vegetables in soups or stocks, where the vitamin ends up.
• 3Choose lightly processed foods and wholegrains, which keep B6 better than highly refined products.

What Does Vitamin B6 Do, and How Much Do You Need?

Its role in the body

Once absorbed, vitamin B6 is converted into its active form, pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP). In this form it acts as a coenzyme — an indispensable part — in over 150 chemical reactions in the body, particularly in the metabolism of amino acids and proteins, carbohydrates and fats^[1][2]. It also plays a role in the production of haemoglobin and of certain brain messengers (neurotransmitters), which explains its role for energy in the cellular sense, the nervous system and blood formation^[3]. In the conversion of homocysteine — an amino acid — it also works together with folate, or folic acid (B9), and vitamin B12^[1]. Vitamin B6 belongs to the B-vitamin family, alongside riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3) and pantothenic acid (B5).

These functions correspond to authorised health claims in Switzerland and the European Union. They are the only wordings a product may use — a good yardstick for telling what is evidence-based from what is promotional^[11]. Vitamin B6:

• ✓contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue;
• ✓contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system and to normal psychological function;
• ✓contributes to normal red blood cell formation and to the normal function of the immune system;
• ✓contributes to the regulation of hormonal activity, to normal protein and glycogen metabolism and to normal homocysteine metabolism.

Cautious wordings that describe a supporting role — never the cure of a disease or an instant “energising” effect. “Reducing tiredness” means supporting a normal function when intake is adequate, not acting as a stimulant.

How much vitamin B6 a day?

The daily requirement for vitamin B6 is modest. In Europe, the reference values from the food safety authority put the recommended intake at around 1.7 mg a day for a man and 1.6 mg for a woman in adulthood^[7]; North American references give a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 1.3 mg up to about fifty, a little more afterwards^[9]. These values are for adults: needs vary with age and are lower in children. Either way you stay in the range of a few milligrams — a range a balanced, varied diet reaches without difficulty. In pregnant women and during breastfeeding (lactation) the requirement rises slightly; the same B6-rich foods — poultry, fish, chickpeas, potatoes, banana — fit easily into a diet for pregnancy. Questions that sometimes come up around early-pregnancy nausea or premenstrual symptoms are medical ones: raise them with your doctor, midwife or pharmacist rather than self-prescribing.

Vitamin B6 Deficiency: Is It Common, and What Are the Signs?

An isolated deficiency is fairly rare

Because B6 is so widespread, a deficiency from diet alone is rare in someone who eats a varied diet. When a deficiency appears, it often accompanies a lack of other B vitamins, or stems from an absorption problem or a particular medical situation, rather than from a poor plate^[2].

Which symptoms can warn you?

The deficiency signs and symptoms are non-specific, which makes them hard to pin on B6 alone. Reported are changes in the skin and mucous membranes — dermatitis, a skin rash, cracks at the corners of the mouth, an inflamed tongue —, weaker defences and, in advanced cases, neurological signs such as tingling in the hands and feet, irritability or low mood^[2]. Because these signs resemble many other causes, only a doctor can take stock, with a blood test if needed. You can’t diagnose a B6 deficiency on your own.

Who is most at risk?

The causes rarely lie in diet alone. Here are the main profiles where a B6 deficiency is more likely and which warrant medical advice.

If you recognise yourself in one of these profiles, talk to your own doctor rather than supplementing blindly: an assessment shows precisely what is actually missing^[5].

Do You Need a Vitamin B6 Supplement? And the Right Dose

The plate first — the supplement as a top-up

Because vitamin B6 is widely present in the diet, for most people a varied plate covers the requirement on its own. A supplement can top up this base in a targeted way — handy when the diet is limited. In particular situations — malabsorption, certain medications, after weight-loss surgery — it is clearly useful; your doctor then sets the dose.

Dose sensibly: more doesn’t help more

With vitamin B6, more doesn’t mean better. Through food, no excess is described; with supplements, a moderate dose is enough, because only very high amounts over a long time can, in the long run, strain the nerves^[6]. A simple reference value helps you stay in the right range.

This reference value also applies to pregnant and breastfeeding women and refers to supplements; vitamin B6 taken in through food is not included^[8].

Frequently asked questions