Thiamin – Vitamin B1
A Closer Look @ Supplements
By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified,
Do you know which nutrient can protect the health of your heart and nerves, all while boosting your mood? Thiamin (vitamin B1) is a nutrient of many uses, including improving heart function, assisting in energy metabolism, protecting nerve health, and regulating your mood. Learn why you may need more thiamin in your diet.
What Is Thiamin? Otherwise known as vitamin B1, thiamin was the very first B-vitamin discovered.
As a part of that family, thiamin is mainly involved in energy metabolism:turning the foods you eat into a useable energy source for the body, otherwise known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
All of the B-vitamins work together to produce ATP, and each different vitamin is also involved in more specific aspects of the human body.
Thiamin helps support healthy nerves and a healthy heart, may positively influence mood, and may also be a useful tool for soothing heartburn
How Does Thiamin Work?Besides playing an important role in the breakdown, or metabolism, of carbohydrates, fats and protein, thiamin is also very important to maintaining heart health.
The human heart is the hardest working organ. It pumps blood in and out of its chambers numerous times a day.
This blood then travels to various parts of the human body, nourishing and oxidizing our cells.
Congestive Heart Failure
Thiamin may be useful for people suffering from congestive heart failure (CHF).
This B-vitamin has been shown to improve the heart’s “pumping power,” which is very important to someone who's heart is failing.
People with CHF often have very low levels of thiamin. It is believed that long-term use of diuretic drugs, which are often prescribed to CHF patients, deplete the body’s stores of thiamin.
One study of CHF patients on diuretics showed that taking 200mg of thiamin each day for six weeks improved the heart’s pumping power by 22%.
Diabetic Neuropathy Not only does thiamin help support a healthy working heart, it also helps promote nerve health throughout the body.
Diabetics especially suffer from nerve problems if their disease is uncontrolled.
Diabetic neuropathy, or "disease of the nerves" due to uncontrolled diabetes causes numbing of the extremities, which is usually detected first as a tingling in the hands and/or feet.
Since this B-vitamin is thought to support nerve health, diabetics may be able to minimize numbness and tingling by taking thiamin. Mood Disorders
Therapeutice doses of thiamin may help to boost mood, even when the vitamin is not deficient in the body.
One study of college-age women who were not deficient in thiamin reported improved mood, energy and alertness after just two months of taking 50 milligrams a day.
Another study showed that taking 10 milligrams of thiamin daily for three months can improve energy levels in the elderly. In this same study, thiamin was also shown to reduce blood pressure, assist in healthy weight loss and improved sleep quality.
Some reports even go so far as to claim that thiamin may be helpful in treating the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease, although this has not been proven.
How Can I Make The Most Out Of Thiamin? The Recommended Daily Allowance for thiamin is 1.1 milligrams per day for women and 1.2 milligrams per day for men. The doses mentioned previously were for therapeutic reasons, and therefore should be administered by a physician. Most people get enough thiamin in their regular diet, although deficiency is still possible. Thiamin deficiency can cause mood disorders, by increasing irritability, depression, unexplained weight loss, and muscle fatigue.
Severe deficiency results in a condition known as beriberi, which is characterized by nerve damage, muscle loss, loss of mental function, paralysis, and eventually death.
Thiamin is often added back to foods that are milled, since this process can cause a loss of nutrients.
To prevent deficiency, it is advised that you eat a variety of foods to ensure healthy intake of all nutrients.
Thiamin is found specifically in enriched grain products, dried bean, nuts, seeds, lean pork, and whole grains.
Be aware that drinking diuretics, such as coffee, caffeinated tea or soda, can deplete your thiamin stores.
Drink these in in moderation or take extra thiamin to make up for the loss.
Since thiamin is a water-soluble vitamin, any excess that is taken in and not used by the body will simply be excreted in the urine, so toxicity is not a concern.
