Roll Call

“Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)?”Here!Vitamin B6

Synthetic

Hasn’t appeared in a scanned product yet.

As a supplement

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.

A water-soluble B vitamin that exists in several related forms, including pyridoxine, and is required for amino acid metabolism, red blood cell formation, and nervous system function.

Why it’s used

Taken to meet daily vitamin B6 requirements and to address or prevent deficiency, which can affect nerve and blood function.

What the evidence is for

preventing and correcting vitamin B6 deficiency.

What the evidence says

According to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin B6 is an essential nutrient with a well-established role in metabolism, and deficiency is linked to anemia, skin changes, and nerve problems. Evidence for benefits beyond correcting deficiency, such as for mood or PMS symptoms, is weaker and less consistent.

Dose studied

1.3–100 mg — adult RDA up to the tolerable upper intake level, per NIH ODS.

Context

NIH ODS lists an adult RDA of about 1.3–1.7 mg/day and a tolerable upper intake level of 100 mg/day for adults, based on nerve-related effects seen at high, sustained intakes in research.

Rumors

  1. Correcting vitamin B6 deficiency, which causes microcytic anemia, cracked lips and a swollen tongue, dermatitis, depression and confusion, and seizures in infants.

    Supports — establishedhealth and safety evidence

    Studied in: people with vitamin B6 deficiency or at risk of inadequacy (e.g., impaired renal function, alcohol dependence, malabsorption syndromes).

    Measured as a biomarker.

How much is a reference amount

  • 1.3 mg a dayfor adults 19–50 · Recommended Dietary Allowance

    Upper limit 100 mg a day, from food and supplements together.

  • 1.5 mg a dayfor adults 51–70, women · Recommended Dietary Allowance

    Upper limit 100 mg a day, from food and supplements together.

  • 1.7 mg a dayfor adults 51–70, men · Recommended Dietary Allowance

    Upper limit 100 mg a day, from food and supplements together.

  • 1.5 mg a dayfor adults 71 and over, women · Recommended Dietary Allowance

    Upper limit 100 mg a day, from food and supplements together.

  • 1.7 mg a dayfor adults 71 and over, men · Recommended Dietary Allowance

    Upper limit 100 mg a day, from food and supplements together.

The worksheet planned one adults_19_plus row for B6. The DRI is age-differentiated: it rises at 51, and it differentiates by sex only from 51 onwards. Five rows, not one.

Every applicable line is shown because we don’t know which one is yours, and a reference intake is a target for a population, not a threshold for harm.