A neurologist has warned that taking too much of this vitamin can lead to peripheral neuropathy and nerve damage
A doctor has issued a warning about a popular supplement(Image: Getty)
A neurologist has issued a warning that a widely-used supplement could turn “toxic”. The expert says consuming excessive amounts of this vitamin could lead to damaged sensory neurons.
Our bodies depend on specific vitamins and minerals to function at their best. While the majority of our nutritional needs are met through a healthy, balanced diet, certain people may require daily supplements.
Yet there are important cautions surrounding supplement use. In a video shared on social media platform TikTok, a neurologist elaborated further.
Dr Baibing Chen, widely known as Dr Bing, explained that certain vitamins can prove “toxic”. He said: “A lot of people think that because vitamins are natural and you can get them over the counter, they can’t cause you any harm, but that’s not completely true.
“Some vitamins can absolutely be toxic. For example, vitamins A, D, E, and K. These are fat-soluble vitamins and can build up in your body.
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“And even water-soluble vitamins like vitamins B and C, which you think that you’re supposed to be able to just pee out, are not always harmless.”
Particularly, he highlighted vitamin B6. Also referred to as pyridoxine, B6 is essential for the body to utilise and store energy from protein and carbohydrates in food.
It also enables the body to produce haemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body. B6 occurs naturally in foods including pork, poultry, peanuts, soya beans, oats, and bananas. Dr Bing continued: “One that surprises people is vitamin B6, and you can overdose on it.
“I’ve seen this several times as a neurologist, and at high levels, B6 becomes more toxic, and it disrupts normal neuronal signalling and can overstimulate and damage sensory neurons, which then lead to degeneration of those nerve fibres.”
It is possible to take too much of this supplement, he said(Image: Getty)
This can trigger symptoms such as peripheral neuropathy. Dr Bing said: “That’s why patients will develop numbness, tingling, burning, pain, and balance problems because the brain is getting distorted or incomplete sensory input.”
However, he explained that this risk doesn’t stem from just one large dose of B6. “The biggest issue is not someone taking a massive dose at once, but it’s rather stacking,” he said.
“I had a young patient taking multivitamins plus energy drinks every day, plus an anti-stress supplement, plus a sleep supplement. None of them seem extreme, but they all had B6 and he had no idea, and he ended up with neuropathy.
“Even after stopping it, recovery is not always complete. Now, to be clear, I’m not against supplements; I recommend them to patients when they’re indicated, and I take some myself.
“But it needs to be individualised. And we need to be smart about it and be evidence-based.”
An excess of vitamin B6 can result in peripheral neuropathy (Image: Getty)
What does the NHS say?
His guidance is supported by the NHS website, which cautions that excessive B6 can result in peripheral neuropathy. It states: “Taking 200mg or more a day of vitamin B6 can lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs known as peripheral neuropathy.
“This will usually improve once you stop taking the supplements. But in a few cases when people have taken large amounts of vitamin B6, particularly for more than a few months, the effect can be permanent.
“The effect of taking vitamin B6 at doses between 10mg and 200mg is unclear. So there’s not enough evidence to say how long these doses could be taken for safely.”
The health body advises that you should not consume more than 10mg of vitamin B6 daily in supplements unless recommended by a doctor.