The B vitamins are basically 8 water-soluble vitamins, each of which plays an important role in our body's cell metabolism. In the days when they were not so well understood, the vitamin B complex vitamins were believed to be a single vitamin. It was therefore referred to as vitamin B (similar to how we refer to other vitamins like vitamin C or vitamin D).
Subsequent research proved that they are each chemically distinct vitamins and that they often coexist in the same foods, hence the early lack of distinction. Supplements containing all of the eight vitamins are now referred to as "Vitamin B Complex." Individual B vitamin supplements are still availabble, of course, but are referred to by their specific names (for example: B1, B2, B3... etc).
- Vitamin B1 - thiamine
- Vitamin B2 - riboflavin
- Vitamin B3 - niacin (includes nicotinic acid and nicotinamide)
- Vitamin B5 - pantothenic acid
- Vitamin B6 - pyridoxine
- Vitamin B7 - biotin (also known as vitamin H)
- Vitamin B9 - folic acid (also known as vitamin M and vitamin B-c)
- Vitamin B12 - cobalamin
So now you know what vitamin B complex is!
Vitamin B Complex