I don't know if this is the right forum, but what are some good sources of vitamin B6?

Well according to wikipedia

 

"Vitamin B6 is prevalent in both animal and vegetable food sources. Liver, chicken, fish, green beans, field salad, wheat germ, nutritional yeast, sea vegetables and bananas are particularly good food sources"

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B6

Thanks Bluenoise,

 

I'm also wondering what kind of vitamins I could take that would have an effect on my mood. I wonder because ever since I went on my high protein/low carb diet, I've been eating way less fruits. In that time, I've also become a little more irritable and prone to moodiness. I'm think maybe I should buy some vitamin pills. I read that B6 is good for raising seritonin levels. What do you (or anybody) recommend?

You should probably just start eating fruit again.

 

Many fruit is so low in calories that eventhough it's all from carbs it wont add that much to your diet.

 

Vitamin C might help. It gives a pretty instand effect to mood, though may not be so long lasting.

Thanks again Bluenoise,

 

Is it possible to OD on vitamins?

Yes, very much so! An overdose of vitamins can be very harmful. Especially try not to ingest excessive amounts of fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K.

 

As for B6, it is found in: "most foods, esp. whole-grain cereals, wheat germ, bananas, potatoes, beans, liver, poultry, meat; also made by gut bacteria"- Student Handbook, Vol 5. 1998, and deficiency symptoms include: "skin problems, cracked lips, anemia, weakness, irritability, depression."

 

Since B vitamins are water soluble, taking a supplement of B vitamins shouldn't be any kind of problem. You could also just take a multi, as they have the B vitamins included. DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, blah, blah, consult and doctor, blah.

 

I am pro ditching the Atkins though. The only way to lose weight is to reduce caloric intake or burn more calories. Anything else is water weight and snake oil, to my way of thinking.

I agree with the above post on most thing.

However I'm not going to say to stop you're hight proteins diet. If it works for you, then stick with it. I just want you to know that you can still eat fruit and have a high protein diet. What you really need to cut out from such a diet are things like white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes etc... Fruit is so low in calories that it wouldn't make much of a difference to any diet. Except that it would add tonnes of excellent nutrition.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that refined sugar and bleached flour were good for you. I just believe it is essentially unhealthy cut fruit (don't some high protein diets also ban certain vegetables?) from one's diet. Eating properly is hard enough, and when you cut a food group like that, quality is bound to suffer.

 

As far as mood goes, many feel the B complex vitamins make them more energetic, as B vitamins affect metabolism. I believe you will find a lot of the energy drinks on the market include the B group. I personally haven't noticed this effect.