Deficiency symptoms
Failing emotional balance, expectations of disaster, insomnia, myasthenia, exhaustion, headaches, indigestion with diarrhoea or constipation, motion sickness, loss of appetite and weight loss, callous or burning sensations in hands and/or feet - so-called parasthesia often comes with prickling and failing muscle coordination, hypersensitivity to noise, and reduced pain tolerance.
Low blood pressure, aenemia, reduced metabolism, breathing difficulties and palpitations. The immune system's ability to fight disease is also considerably decreased. If a child is deficient in thiamin during adolescence, it may cause thiamin underdeveloped lips and enlarged heart, which can be seen in an X-ray picture.
Severe B1 deficiency can be worsened by alcoholism and often results in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by thiamine deficiency that results from poor nutrition in alcoholics.
Fatal B1 deficiency releases the classic deficiency syndrome beriberi, which, if left untreated, causes serious physical and mental damages and, at worst, heart failure.
The risk groups are alcoholics and drug addicts, people with failing liver function and/or bad intestinal absorption, intestinal inflammation and/or diarrhoea. Coffee drinking, smoking, heavy metal poisoning (amalgam) and stress can also be the causes of a vitamin B1 deficiency.
Some herditary diseases (Maple Syrup Urine Disease og lactacidosis) which affects the immune system were formerly mortal but can now be cured by huge doses of thiamin from the time of birth.
In the human body, thiamin is catobolized into its active form: thiamin-pyrophosphate (TPP). This coenzyme cannot be taken as a nutrient, since it will be catabolized in any case in the alimentary canal to thiamin and phosphate.
RDA: 1.4 mg.
Therapeutic dosages
As a general supplement. 10 mg. daily
In case of severe deficiency: 0.5 g. twice daily. If intestinal absorption is impaired, thiamin must be administered intravenously. The higher your intake of sugar and starch is, the more you need vitamin B1. Patients with myalgia, pain in the back or varying muscle pain can often be helped by thiamin.
Lage single supplements are best utilized if taken in the evening.
In addition to the deficiency symptoms already mentioned, thiamin can be used for the treatment of motion sickness, nausea, vertigo, and hangovers. 100 to 200 mg. daily is normally enough, but this amount can for short periods of time be increased to 500 mg. daily taken with large supplement doses of Vitamin B complexes.
Recent research shows that the vitamin strengthens the immune response, especially by stimulating neutrophil leucocytes and T-lymphocytes. Many people use vitamin B1 as a harmless insect repellant which gives the sweat a peculiar curry-like odour.
Richest natural sources
Wheat germ, rice husks, brewers' yeast, meat, pork.
