Vitamin B5: Everything you need to know

Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT
Written by Adam Felman
April 24, 2017

Vitamin B5 is a water-soluble vitamin from the B group of vitamins. It helps produce energy by breaking down fats and carbohydrates. It also promotes healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver.

People need B5 to synthesize and metabolize fats, proteins, and coenzyme A.

B5 is one of the less known vitamins, possibly because deficiencies of it are rare.

Vitamin B5 is also known as pantothenic acid, or Pantothenate. The word pantothenic comes from the Greek “pantou,” meaning everywhere. Nearly all foods contain small quantities of pantothenic acid.

Why do we need vitamin B5?

Vitamin B5 has many important functions. These include:

• converting food into glucose
• synthesizing cholesterol
• forming sex and stress-related hormones
• forming red blood cells

As with all B vitamins, pantothenic acid helps the body break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins so that our bodies can use them for energy and rebuilding tissues, muscles, and organs.

Coenzyme A

Vitamin B5 has a role in synthesizing coenzyme A.

Coenzyme A is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids and is important for converting foods into fatty acids and cholesterol.

Coenzyme A is also needed for the creation of sphingosine, a fat-like molecule that helps deliver chemical messages inside the body’s cells.

The liver needs Coenzyme A to metabolize some drugs and toxins safely.