New research by scientists at the University of Reading has shown that high-dose of vitamin B6 supplements can reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.
Young adults were made part of the study, which was published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. They took the tablets daily for a month.
The lead author, Dr David Field, said that the brain’s functioning relied on a “balance between excitatory neurons that carry information around and inhibitory ones”.
Some theories, he said, connected mood disorders and other mental conditions with a disturbance of this balance.
“Vitamin B6 helps the body in the production of a specific chemical messenger that inhibits impulses in the brain,” he said.
Researchers believe that this “calming effect” was associated with decreased anxiety.
Vitamin B6 increases the production of GABA in the body, which results in more positive feelings.
