Vitamin B6 is one of the eight B vitamins, and it supports normal energy metabolism, healthy red blood cell formation, the nervous system and cognitive performance. You only need a little each day: Australia's Nutrient Reference Values put the reference intake for adults at 1.3 mg and the upper level at 50 mg . The United States sets its upper level at 100 mg, and the European Food Safety Authority landed on 12 mg in 2023 . Hoola's daily serve contains 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate, which the register pairs with an equivalent of 10 mg of pyridoxine.
TL;DR
- B6 is a support nutrient, not a stimulant. It works as a coenzyme across more than 100 enzyme reactions, which is why it shows up in energy metabolism, red blood cell formation, the nervous system and cognitive function.
- The reference intake and the upper level do different jobs. One is the amount to aim for each day. The other is the ceiling regulators publish for long-term daily intake from food and supplements combined.
- The ceiling is not one number. Australia, the US and the European Food Safety Authority each publish their own, and they differ. Hoola's daily serve carries 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate, listed on the register with an equivalent of 10 mg of pyridoxine.
- The form on a label is a real distinction. P-5-P is the active coenzyme form of B6. Pyridoxine hydrochloride is the form most supplements use.
- You can check every one of those facts yourself on the public ARTG register.
What does vitamin B6 do?
B6 works behind the scenes as a coenzyme, which means it helps enzymes do their job rather than doing a job of its own. Your body can't make it, so it comes from food or a supplement . The active form, pyridoxal 5-phosphate or PLP, assists more than 100 enzymes , and those reactions reach into protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, haemoglobin production and the making of neurotransmitters .
Four of those areas matter most in a daily formula.
| Area | What B6 does there |
|---|---|
| Energy metabolism | Supports normal energy metabolism and the conversion of food into usable energy, including the reactions that release glucose from stored glycogen |
| Red blood cell formation | Acts as a coenzyme in the first step of building heme, the iron-containing part of haemoglobin that carries oxygen in red blood cells. It's a shared job: B6, vitamin B12 and folate all support healthy red blood cell formation |
| Nervous system | Assists in the synthesis of neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine |
| Cognitive performance | Supports normal cognitive function and mental performance. Trials that tested B6 supplements against a placebo in healthy people found insufficient evidence of an effect on cognition |
The list is shorter than a supplement label tends to promise, and that's the point. B6 isn't a switch you flip. It's one of the nutrients your body needs for those systems to run normally, which is why the dose question matters more than the benefit count.
How much vitamin B6 do you need each day?
The Australian reference intake for vitamin B6 is 1.3 mg a day for adults aged 19 to 50. From 51, it rises to 1.7 mg for men and 1.5 mg for women . The US figures match: 1.3 mg for adults 19 to 50, then 1.7 mg for men and 1.5 mg for women .
Those numbers describe adequacy, not a target to beat, and food covers them for most people. National survey data in the US shows most people take in the recommended amounts from food alone , and the B6 in a mixed diet is around 75% bioavailable .
That's the frame for everything below. The reference intake is a floor you're trying to clear. The upper level is a ceiling you're staying under.
How much vitamin B6 is too much?
Upper levels are published ceilings for long-term daily intake, and B6 has three worth knowing about: 50 mg a day in Australia , 100 mg a day in the United States , and 12 mg a day from the European Food Safety Authority's 2023 opinion .
They were set for different reasons. The US Food and Nutrition Board based its figure on long-term supplement studies, then halved the dose used in them to allow for the limits of the data . The European figure is the newest of the three, and the lowest .
Reaching any of those ceilings from food isn't realistic. The richest entries in the US Department of Agriculture's food tables sit around 1.1 mg a serve , and Harvard's Nutrition Source notes that 100 mg can only be reached by taking supplements . The US figure covers intake from food and supplements together .
Hoola's daily serve carries 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate. The register pairs that line with an equivalent: 10 mg of pyridoxine per serve. That's the like-for-like number against the upper levels above, and it sits below all three. Both facts are published.
What is P-5-P?
P-5-P is short for pyridoxal 5-phosphate, the active coenzyme form of vitamin B6 . The research literature writes it as PLP, and it's the form your body uses to run B6-dependent enzyme reactions, including the ones that build neurotransmitters and haemoglobin . It's also the standard measure of B6 status .
B6 arrives as a family rather than a single molecule. The three forms your body works with are pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine, and they interconvert in tissue. PLP is the principal active form, and pyridoxine hydrochloride is the usual form in supplements .
Most B6 on a shelf is pyridoxine hydrochloride, and a label that just says "vitamin B6" usually means exactly that . Absorption doesn't differ much between the forms . What differs is which one is doing the enzyme work , and that's the part a label can tell you.
Hoola's B6 is listed as pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate at 1.57 mg per gram, which lands at 15.7 mg in the 10 g daily scoop, paired on the register with an equivalent of 1 mg per gram of pyridoxine, or 10 mg per serve. It's the same approach across our B group: the active forms, named, with the quantity published.
Which foods are high in vitamin B6?
B6 is spread across a wide range of foods, which is why most people never have to think about it .
| Food | Serve | Vitamin B6 |
|---|---|---|
| Chickpeas, canned | 1 cup | 1.1 mg |
| Beef liver, pan fried | 3 ounces | 0.9 mg |
| Tuna, yellowfin, cooked | 3 ounces | 0.9 mg |
| Salmon, sockeye, cooked | 3 ounces | 0.6 mg |
| Chicken breast, roasted | 3 ounces | 0.5 mg |
| Potato, boiled | 1 cup | 0.4 mg |
| Banana | 1 medium | 0.4 mg |
| Turkey, roasted | 3 ounces | 0.4 mg |
Figures from the US Department of Agriculture's food composition data, published in the NIH fact sheet on vitamin B6 .
A medium banana carries about a third of the 1.3 mg reference intake for an adult, which is a decent return for a piece of fruit. Two details sharpen the picture. Around 75% of the B6 in a mixed diet is bioavailable , and plant foods carry part of theirs as pyridoxine glucoside, a form that's roughly half as available as the B6 in other foods . If your diet leans plant-based, that's the figure to know about.
How do you check the B6 in a supplement?
Start with the register, because a listed product's ingredients are public. The ARTG is the Australian register of therapeutic goods that can be supplied here, and you can search it by name, ID or sponsor . Type in AUST L 508472 and you get Hoola's entry: the sponsor, the listing date and every active in the formula, including pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate .
Once you're there, three things are worth checking.
- The form. If it says pyridoxine hydrochloride, that's the standard supplement form. If it names pyridoxal 5-phosphate, you're looking at the active coenzyme form .
- The quantity. A dose is a fact rather than a claim, so it should be printed. Hoola's is 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate in the 10 g scoop, with a 10 mg pyridoxine equivalent beside it.
- The rest of the B group. The same check works for every B vitamin in a formula, and the forms are listed the same way.
If you want the longer version, the Ingredients & Benefits hub breaks down all 27 actives in Hoola, and the Knowledge Hub runs the same explainer format across the other vitamins.
One scoop, one number on the label, one entry on the register. If B6 is the one you came for, the vitamin B6 collection gathers the detail in one place, and the Hoola Daily Multivitamin page lists every dose in the formula.
Frequently asked questions
What does vitamin B6 help you with?
B6 supports normal energy metabolism, healthy red blood cell formation, the nervous system and cognitive performance. In your body it works as a coenzyme across more than 100 reactions, including the ones that build neurotransmitters and haemoglobin . They're support roles in systems that already run on their own, which is the honest scope of a vitamin.
What happens if you take vitamin B6 every day?
Daily B6 is the normal pattern. It's a water-soluble vitamin, so your body takes what it needs and clears the rest , which is why the intake figures are set per day rather than per week. Australia's upper level is 50 mg and the US figure is 100 mg ; Hoola's scoop carries 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate, a 10 mg pyridoxine equivalent, and that sits below all three.
What's the difference between pyridoxine and pyridoxal 5-phosphate?
Pyridoxine hydrochloride is the form most B6 supplements use, and it's what a plain "vitamin B6" on a label usually means . Pyridoxal 5-phosphate, or P-5-P, is the active coenzyme form your body uses to run B6-dependent enzymes . Hoola's B6 appears on the register as pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate .
Does your body store vitamin B6?
Not in any meaningful amount. B6 is water-soluble, so your body clears what it doesn't use, and that's why the intake figures are written per day .
Can you get enough vitamin B6 from food?
For most people, yes. B6 turns up in fish, poultry, potatoes, chickpeas and bananas, among plenty of others , and around 75% of it is bioavailable from a mixed diet .
How do you check the vitamin B6 in a supplement?
Two steps. Search the ARTG by the product name or its AUST L number to see the ingredients and the form they're listed in , then check the label for the quantity per serve. Register for the form, label for the amount: Hoola's is 15.7 mg of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate in the daily scoop, paired with a 10 mg pyridoxine equivalent.
