10 Vitamin B Foods For Vegans & Omnivores, From Dietitians

Whether you've recently gone vegan or want to tweak your omnivorous diet, B vitamins are essential for overall health. As a group of eight vitamins, they are responsible for everything from muscle to cognitive function, says nutritionist Elana Natker, M.S., R.D.

Here's the thing about B vitamins: Because they are water-soluble and not stored by the body, vitamin B complex supplements are often wrongly referred to as "expensive pee" as they tend to make our urine fluorescent yellow if consumed in excess to dye, according to Valerie Goldberg Libraty, RDN, owner of No Diet Dietitian. But they're so much more than that, she says, noting that they're essential to numerous metabolic responses and red blood cell, DNA, and brain health. "I like to think of water-soluble vitamins [such as vitamin B] like a pinball machine," says Goldberg Libraty. "They bounce around and do their thing before they get knocked out."