Vitamin B1 - Thiamin or Thiamine Chloride

 

• Vitamin B1 is also known as the anti-neuritic or anti -beriberi vitamin. 

 

• It promotes growth and muscle tone, aids in digestion and is essential for the normal functioning of nerve tissues, muscle and heart, and for proper metabolism of carbohydrates and fats and stabilizes the appetite.

 

• Natural sources of vitamin B-1 include dried yeast, rice husks, whole wheat, oatmeal, peanuts, pork, most vegetables and milk.  It is common that thiamine is added to white bread however, orthomolecular scientists generally consider this to be an unhealthy source due to the effects of white flour on the body.

 

• Alcoholics or those with very heavy refined carbohydrate consumption generally tend to be deficient in vitamin B1. 

 

• Deficiency in Vitamin B1 may lead to loss of appetite, weakness, nervous irritability, insomnia, weight loss, aches and pains, mental depression and constipation.  In children it may result in impaired growth. 

 

Additional food sources include:

 

Asparagus

Beef Kidney

Beef Liver

Brewer's yeast

Brown rice

Dried legumes

Garbanzo beans

Gotu kola

Kidney beans

Lamb

Milk

Navy beans

Nuts

Pork

Poultry

Rice bran

Rye

Salmon

Soybeans

Spirulina

Sunflower seeds

Wheat germ

Whole grain cereals

Yeast

Thiamine hydrochloride

Thiamine Mononitrate

Brewer's yeast

Torula yeast

Wheat germ

Sunflower seeds

Rice polishings

Pine nuts

Peanuts with skins

Dry soybeans

Brazil nuts

Pecans

Soybean flour

Pinto and red beans

Split peas

Millet

Wheat bran

Pistachio nuts

Navy beans

Buckwheat

Oatmeal

Whole-wheat flour

Whole-wheat grain

Dry lima beans

Hazelnuts

Wild rice

Cashews

Rye, whole-grain

Mung beans

Cornmeal, whole-ground

Lentils

Green peas

Macadamia nuts

Brown rice

Walnuts

Garbanzos

Garlic, cloves

Almonds

Lima beans, fresh

Soybean sprouts

Peppers, red chili

Sesame seeds, hulled

 

Consumption of alcohol, tannins in coffee and black tea and sulfites destroy thiamin or cause it to be useless in the body.

 

Deficiency signs

Results in Beriberi. 

Severe deficiency is uncommon aside from in alcoholics, which can cause Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. 

Mild deficiency results in fatigue, depression, pins and needles, numbness of the legs and constipation.

 

Benefits

 

Vitamin B1 is essential for energy production, carbohydrate metabolism and nerve cell function.

Resources

"How to live longer and feel better" Linus Pauling

http://orthomolecular.org/nutrients/vitamins.shtml