Pantothenic acid (not sure why iHerb has this listed as "pantothenic acid with vitamin B5", because pantothenic acid IS vitamin B5) is a very important anti-stress vitamin. Here's why: it helps the body make cortisol. Whoa! Cortisol is the bad guy, why would I want more of that? Hold up. Cortisol is what is created by the adrenal glands to respond to stress. What happens if you are always under a lot of stress? Your adrenal glands are constantly pushing aside their other duties to create cortisol instead, just to keep up with your ridiculous stress levels. Additionally, your body "steals" other key hormones (mainly the sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) to manufacture cortisol just to keep up with your stress levels. As a result, hormone levels can be sub-par, you don't feel like yourself, and when your body is creating lots of cortisol and those other hormones are off, you get that "cortisol spare tire" right around your middle, in addition to a lot of other bad things health wise (heart health, etc). Enter B5: this little water-soluble vitamin helps the body manufacture cortisol! The result is that your adrenals can do more for you in other ways, and your sex hormones resume more natural levels. I am postmenopausal and the effect I noticed was an increase in progesterone levels from this, and an overall feeling of well-being. I have also heard that vitamin C is great to offset cortisol issues and paired with B5, they make a great team. One more tidbit: if you are super sensitive to, for instance, poison ivy rashes? That is an indication of your adrenals being knocked back, often by cortisone treatments for other health issues -- avoid corticosteroids as much as you can. They affect your adrenals! If you get a poison ivy rash, take some B5 and vitamin C until you notice the itching and other symptoms ease up a bit, then reduce your dose. You will find that if you take care of your adrenals, if you were previously sensitive to poison ivy, you will be less so when your adrenals are in better shape. One more thing: pantothenic acid is the complement to biotin. So if you are mega dosing biotin for hair or nails, you are likely throwing off your pantothenic acid. The approximate ratio between the two B vitamins would be 250 mg pantothenic acid for every 3000-4000 mcg biotin. Too much biotin and you'll break out (acne). Too much B5 and you dry up. You need to remember the interrelationships between vitamins and minerals when you supplement separately! Hope this has been helpful to some.
