If you’ve been searching for a good quality Vitamin B supplement, no doubt you’ve found the process discouraging! Anyone with any sort of gut imbalance is especially in need since beneficial flora manufacture some of these critical nutrients for us. (1)
It seems that every single brand includes one or more synthetic vitamins even those that claim to be whole-food-based.
Ironically, foods that naturally contain B complex are almost always fortified too.
A good example of this is (nutritional) brewers yeast, which contains folic acid, the synthetic form of folate.
Folic acid can harm the health of those with MTHFR genetic mutations. Estimates are that up to 50% of some ethnicities have at least one variant.
Prenatal vitamins and all multivitamins have this same problem, by the way! Go ahead and look at the label of the bottle you have in the pantry right now. It lists folic acid, doesn’t it?
Thus, buying a whole food form of B complex is no guarantee that you are getting what you think you are getting…natural vitamins ONLY with zero synthetics.
In other words, manufacturers seem to be able to slip one or more lab-derived ingredients in there and still label it a natural B complex.
I’m not exactly sure how they pull this off legally, but as a consumer, you need to be aware it’s happening so you can avoid becoming ensnared in shadowy marketing spin to the detriment of your health.
Natural Vitamin B Complex
What vitamins are contained in B complex anyway? Here are the nine I look for. Note that B17 isn’t usually included in conventional definitions.
- thiamin (vitamin B1)
- riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- niacin (vitamin B3)
- pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
- vitamin B6
- biotin (vitamin B7)
- folate (vitamin B9)
- cobalamin (vitamin B12)
- amygdalin (vitamin B17)
Why should you avoid synthetic versions of these vitamins? The reason is that synthetics can cause imbalances or even trigger a health crisis for those with certain genetic mutations.
Researchers have found that natural forms of B vitamins work as well or better than synthetics anyway, so why take the risk just because they’re cheap? (2)
Over the years, as I’ve combed through the dozens of brands of B complex supplements, I’ve discovered that there simply isn’t one that provides all 9 of these nutrients from food sources alone.
However, you can easily get them all by combining!
Here are the three truly natural, unfortified sources of B complex that I have in my home. I like to rotate them so I get everything I need…no synthetics required!
Real Food B Complex
If you prefer to take B complex capsules, Catie’s Whole Food B Complex is a good one to use.
It only contains food and herbs with no sneakily added synthetics. It even contains Vitamin B17, which is next to impossible to find together with other B vitamins. 
The only problem with this supplement is that it is plant-based, hence it does not contain any true vitamin B12 (contrary to what the label says).
Vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods like meat, eggs, and dairy. Plant forms contain a B12 analog that is not bioavailable to the human body.
Desiccated Liver
To get Vitamin B12 in its natural form, you will need an animal-based supplement.
Liver is the best source of Vitamin B12. While you can certainly eat grass-fed liver once a week to get what you need, other people find it more convenient to take a raw, desiccated liver supplement.
I recommend two brands: Perfect Supplements and Radiant Life because their desiccated liver is un-defatted (nothing removed) and they test to ensure their products are free from glyphosate residue and other impurities.
While desiccated liver supplements contain almost all the B vitamins in abundance, they are notably missing Vitamin B17. This is which is why I use Catie’s Whole Food B Complex above as well.
Unfortified Nutritional Yeast
Another good source of truly natural B vitamins is nutritional yeast.
While it is true that nutritional yeast is an ancient Egyptian source of B complex, most brands today don’t emulate the traditional version!
If you want to consume this ancestral food like Cleopatra may have enjoyed (pickled cukes were apparently her fave though), only buy nonfortified nutritional yeast.
There are several brands of unfortified yeast currently available. This is the brand I’ve vetted and use.
Hint: it tastes amazing sprinkled on heirloom popcorn!
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Is nutritional yeast bad for Candida sufferers? In a word, no.
The yeast is deactivated, so it has no chance to colonize or grow in the intestinal tract.
However, those that have mold allergy may have issues, so steer clear if you are one of these folks.
Finding the Best Vitamin B Complex
Ultimately, to get all the 9 vitamins within the B complex in completely natural form, my examination of the brands out there reveals that you need to supplement with BOTH animal and plant-based whole foods.
Animal food forms of B complex like liver powder are missing Vitamin B17. Similarly, plant-based B complex is missing Vitamin B12.
By choosing your source of B vitamins wisely, this problem is easily remedied by combining Real Food supplements such as the three listed above.
Hi! I quickly scanned the questions/answers here but didn’t see my question, so I’ll ask. What about those with MTHFR gene mutations. I have a +/+ of the A1298c. My dr recommends a methylated B12 and folate…. What are your thoughts about this? Obviously those would be synthetic. Any advice for a person with MTHFR gene mutations? Is it still better just to do the natural B’s and liver and figure my body will get what it needs…? Thanks!
Hi Sarah. I use Cataplexy B from Standard Process. Have you heard of this brand?
The last time I checked, it had synthetics.
I recently started a multivitamin brand Garfen of Life, mykind organics, whole food gummies Women’s Multi. I picked this because of being a whole foods to get natural and not synthetic. In looking, I think it is all good except doesnt contain B17 and the B12 is methlycobalamin. Just wondering if this is a good vitamin? I question now because you said they can sneak synthetics in whole food vitamins?
I steer clear of multi’s. They all contain at least one synthetic from what I’ve seen.
In search of a whole foods multi for my husband, I came across a brand I had not heard of before: Naturelo Whole Food Vitamins. What is your opinion on this brand? They seem to fit the bill in all your have suggested to look for in a whole food vitamin supplement. Thank you.
That is one of the better ones I’ve seen for sure! However, I personally would not take it for a few reasons. It has a lot of powdered greens in there which are subject to rapid rancidity. It also contains herbs which I would not feel comfortable taking on a daily basis. Ginseng is listed on the label, for example. I avoid ginseng like the plague as it gives me heart palpitations.
Hi Sarah, I’m 70 in remission on Ibrutinib, for non-hodgkins MCL. Trying to find a B-complex that doesn’t make me nauseous. I’ve tried different brands, recently Garden of Life MyKind. It seems silly to have to take ondansetron Hcl for the Ibrutinib which causes nausea and for a vitamin also. I’m so annoyed with my body! Is there a chance Catie’s might not make me sick? It is hard for me to eat enough of the right foods to balance my vitamin needs. Thanks
Would you recommend taking beef liver capsules in place of a multi-vitamin? I have a problem with most multi-vitamins and their ingredients. It seems beef liver capsules pretty much covers whats in most multi-vitamins. What are your thoughts? Thank you
I am not a fan of multi-vitamins and yes, I take desiccated liver instead of any of them! I haven’t found a single brand, including so called whole foods ones like Standard Process that don’t have synthetis in them.
Hi Sarah, have a 22 yr old son who has been vegetarian for 6 years, eats lots of dairy, but will not eat any meat or fish, his B12 was low on blood test, what’s the best way for him to get B12? He said the doctor told him to take the sublingual B12 , any brand. I love your website, have for many years!
He really needs to eat meat … at least take a desiccated liver supplement. For those who stubbornly refuse, yes, they will probably have to go the synthetic isolated vitamin route unfortunately.
I used to take food based vitamins but was told by my Naturopath to switch to synthetic vitamins due to the fact I don’t tolerate fermented foods well (candida, mold toxicity) Have you found this to be true? I would much rather take a food based supplement, but am concerned it could make me feel worse.
I know several people with mold and candida issues that do extremely well on the desiccated liver … MUCH better than synthetic vitamins IMO!
If you don’t tolerate fermented foods that indicates gut damage. If you sort that out then you will be fine with ferments!
I was reading somewhere about stabilized rice bran as a good source of non synthetic B vitamins- your thoughts?
Personally, I prefer non-grain based sources. Also, rice bran won’t have any B12 in it.
Stabilized rice bran is a source of vitamin B6 recommended by the Root Cause Protocol (but tastes awful to me). They also recommend bee pollen as a natural source of B vitamins.
Thank you for your wonderful articles. Synthetic vit’s have always been a pet peeve of mine. Here in Canada we have a company that makes supposedly 100% food base vit’s. The name is MegaFood, did you check this company? It is manufactured in the US distributed by Tallgrass. Thank you!
I took a look at the MegaFood B, and it does have folate instead of folic acid which is great. However, some of the other B’s are not from food. I would personally not take this brand. Also, it says only take one tablet per day … a truly food based B complex would require multiple capsules … not a single tab.