Vitamin B5 500mg

B5 is one of the simplest vitamins to talk through, because almost no one runs short and no problems have been reported. These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store.

A good fit if

• Your diet is patchy or limited, and you want to cover B5 on its own
• You'd rather take one nutrient than a full B complex
• You understand the label statement: a supplement only helps if your diet isn't meeting your needs

Check with us first if

• You're pregnant or breastfeeding and it's a high-strength product. Your needs rise slightly, but we couldn't find safety data for supplements at these doses.
• Acne or hair loss is the reason you're buying. We couldn't find a trial of B5 tablets alone for either, and a naturopath can look at the whole picture with you.
• The product contains pantethine. That's a different compound from B5, and its Australian status needs checking.
• You take prescription medicines. Check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.

• Calcium pantothenate. Best known for: The standard form to swallow, in single B5 tablets and most B complexes. Absorption: We have no head-to-head absorption comparison between the oral forms. Typical use: Tablets and capsules. Schedule 1 item 1101, allowed with no conditions and no dose cap.
• Sodium pantothenate. Best known for: Another oral salt of the same vitamin. Absorption: We found no dedicated trial. Typical use: Oral supplements. Schedule 1 item 4624, allowed with no conditions.
• Panthenol and dexpanthenol. Best known for: The skincare forms. Panthenol is converted to pantothenic acid in the body, and dexpanthenol is its biologically active D-form. Absorption: Used mainly on the skin. The only hair trial with dexpanthenol gave it by injection, combined with biotin, so it tells us nothing about a tablet. Typical use: Creams, hair and skin products. There's no concentration limit, whereas pantothenic acid itself is capped at 0.1% on the skin.
• Pantethine. Best known for: A derivative, not vitamin B5 itself: two pantothenic acid molecules linked through cysteamine. Absorption: A different compound. Its trial used 600 to 900 mg a day, many times the daily intake figure. Typical use: Not a Schedule 1 ingredient name, so its Australian status needs checking. It was studied for cholesterol, which is something to discuss with your doctor.

Reference values. Australia hasn't set an RDI for pantothenic acid, because "there are no data to set EARs". It uses an Adequate Intake instead: 6 mg a day for adult men and 4 mg for adult women. It's 5 mg in pregnancy and 6 mg while breastfeeding. Children need from 1.7 mg for young babies up to 5 or 6 mg in the teenage years.

Typical supplemental range. There's no established supplement dose. B5 products and B complexes usually contain far more than the 4 to 6 mg daily figure. That isn't known to be harmful, but it doesn't do anything a normal diet doesn't, unless your diet is falling short.

Upper level. None has been set. In the reference values' own words: "A UL cannot be determined at this stage. There are no reports of adverse effects of oral pantothenic acid in either humans or animals on which to base a quantitative estimate." That means there are no reports to base a limit on. It doesn't mean a high dose was tested and found safe.

Worth knowing. Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) sets no dose limit for any B5 ingredient taken by mouth. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Almost every food: our sources don't give per-serve figures yet, so we won't guess

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Intake figures are known, but the safety of high-dose supplements hasn't been studied.
• Any prescription medicine. We found no interaction data for pantothenic acid.
• Pantethine products. It's a different compound, and not a Schedule 1 ingredient name.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.