Why Your Body Needs Vitamin B5
Medically reviewed and edited by 
Updated: January 05, 2025
4 mins
Although vitamin B5 isn’t as known for its health benefits as vitamin C or D, it’s still essential to maintaining your well-being.
This compound is often described as the unsung hero of the vitamin world because it’s crucial for maintaining everything from healthy skin to hormone production.
That’s why it’s important to ensure you’re getting enough B5 and to know how to regulate your intake.
In this article, we’ll look at everything you need to know about vitamin B5, including common sources of this nutrient to help you take better care of your health.
What is Vitamin B5?
Vitamin B5 — or pantothenic acid — is one of the essential water-soluble nutrients in the B complex family.
It’s integral for maintaining proper nervous system function and helping the body convert food into energy.
How much vitamin B5 do you need to take every day?
The amount of vitamin B5 you need depends on your age, gender, and life stage. Generally, dietary reference intakes are outlined by the Food and Nutrition Board as follows:
Group | Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) |
|---|---|
Infants | - Newborn to six months: 1.7 mg - Seven to 12 months: 1.8 mg |
Children | - One to three years: 2 mg - Four to eight years: 3 mg - nine to 13 years: 4 mg |
Adults and children over 14 | - 5 mg |
Pregnant or breastfeeding women | - 6 to 7 mg |
If you don’t get enough vitamin B5, you may be at risk of developing a deficiency. This can cause symptoms like:
Persistent headaches and fatigue
Irritability or restlessness
Trouble sleeping
Numbness and burning in the hands and feet
Gastrointestinal issues and loss of appetite
Muscle cramps
Impaired muscle coordination
Vitamin B5 deficiencies are typically rare as this nutrient is found in a number of foods that most people can easily access. We’ll discuss this in the next section.
Although a deficiency may be unlikely, you can consume too much vitamin B5. This can cause issues like diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort.
Where Does Vitamin B5 Come From?
Pantothenic acid is a common nutrient found in various foods and supplements, offering several convenient options for managing your intake.
Dietary sources
Consuming vitamin B5 through a healthy diet is one of the easiest ways to ensure an adequate intake. Popular foods rich in dietary pantothenic acid include:
Meat: Organ meats like liver and kidney are particularly high in vitamin B5. Other good sources include chicken, turkey, and beef.
Vegetables: Mushrooms — especially shiitake — are rich in this vitamin. Avocados, potatoes, and broccoli also provide a good amount. Many of these vegetables are also a great source of fatty acids, which help support your overall health.
Dairy products: Milk, yogurt, and egg yolks are excellent sources of pantothenic acid.
Legumes: Lentils, split peas, and soybeans not only provide protein but also a good dose of vitamin B5 that can help you reach your RDI.
Whole grains: Whole-grain breads, cereals, and products made from unrefined wheat, oats, and barley can help you meet your vitamin B5 needs.
Incorporating a variety of these foods into your diet can help you maintain adequate intakes of vitamin B5 to support your overall health.
Supplements
While most people can get enough vitamin B5 through their diet, pantothenic acid supplements can be helpful for individuals who:
Have specific health requirements
Follow restrictive diets
Have certain health conditions that cause malabsorption
Require more energy metabolism support
Vitamin B5 supplements can be found in several forms, with calcium pantothenate being the most commonly used.
It’s important to consult with your doctor before you start using vitamin B5 supplements to ensure you’re taking the right dose.
How Does Vitamin B5 Work in the Body?
Like other B vitamins, Vitamin B5 is essential for several vital bodily functions. Here’s how it supports these systems and processes:
Healthy skin and hair: Pantothenic acid helps support the production of fats in the skin cells, which are necessary for reducing common signs of aging and dark spots. It also helps strengthen hair follicles by supporting the adrenal glands that produce hormones essential for growth and development.
Promotes proper nervous system and liver function: Vitamin B5 acts as a coenzyme essential for the proper transmission and reception of nerve impulses. It’s also involved in supporting the liver’s metabolic functions, helping to detoxify substances to help keep the organ healthy.
Supports a healthy digestive tract: By promoting the production of digestive enzymes in the stomach, vitamin B5 can help the body break down food and absorb nutrients more effectively.
Supports the production of red blood cells: Vitamin B5 supports the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen to various parts of the body to ensure optimal functioning. This process is vital for maintaining energy levels and overall health.
Makes sex and stress-related hormones: Pantothenic acid is essential for helping the adrenal glands produce sex and stress-related hormones. These hormones include cortisol — which regulates immune and metabolic functions — and androgens and estrogens, which support sexual development and reproduction.
Key Point: Is Vitamin B5 Bad Because it Produces Stress Hormones?
Stress hormones — like cortisol — are often associated with negative health implications, like inflammation and disease.
However, remember that these hormones are only harmful when they occur in persistently high levels due to chronic stress.
Cortisol is a hormone that the body needs to function, and it’s not harmful if it remains balanced.
Other Important Uses of Vitamin B5
Cosmetic benefits
Topical vitamin B5 has shown promising results in skin care for its hydrating and healing abilities.
It’s become a popular ingredient in moisturizers and serums because it helps improve the skin’s hydration, elasticity, and softness.
This can help reduce the common signs of aging — like fine lines or wrinkles — and dry skin conditions like eczema.
Plus, vitamin B5 has anti-inflammatory properties to soothe redness and irritation, making it a good treatment for acne or skin rashes.
Its healing abilities also make topical vitamin B5 a great option for treating itchy skin conditions like diaper rash, poison ivy rash, and insect bites.
In hair care products, pantothenic acid is used to strengthen follicles to reduce breakage and enhance shine by sealing in moisture.
Medical uses
Some research suggests that high doses of vitamin B5 may help treat high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.
This is due to pantothenic acid’s ability to reduce high blood lipid levels and lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — two known risk factors for heart disease.
Preliminary research also suggests that vitamin B5 may improve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
This is because low levels of vitamin B5 can cause symptoms associated with RA, such as stiffness and joint pain.
Although the current evidence is promising, more research is needed to confirm the medical benefits of vitamin B5.
Should You See a Doctor about Your Vitamin B5 Intake?
Deciding whether to consult your doctor about your vitamin B5 intake depends on several factors, including your overall health, diet, and specific symptoms you may have.
You should speak to your doctor if you:
Experience symptoms of a pantothenic acid deficiency, such as persistent fatigue, irritability, and muscle cramps
Have dietary concerns or follow a restrictive diet
Suffer from health conditions that affect nutrient absorption, such as Crohn’s or celiac disease (CD)
Are considering using any vitamin supplements, including those containing pantothenic acid
Consulting your doctor under these circumstances can help them determine whether your intake of vitamin B5 is sufficient or not.
If not, they can recommend an appropriate course of action to help you increase your vitamin B5 intake and avoid potential health complications.
Take Control of Your Vitamin Intake with LifeMD
If you’re looking for more information on improving your vitamin intake to support your overall well-being, LifeMD has got you covered.
Our team can connect you to medical professionals who can guide you on healthy habits — all from the comfort of your home.
Make an appointment with LifeMD to start taking control of your health.
LifeMD makes it easy to stay on top of your health because talking to a doctor, filling your prescriptions, getting your labs done—and more—are all easy and cost-effective. Come discover a healthcare solution built around you and your life.
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