Thiamin (Vit. B1) - what is it?
Thiamin, New RDA* 1.1 mg
Thiamin is a water-soluble vitamin, which means you need it in your diet every day because it can't be stored in the body.
Foods providing rich sources of thiamin include unrefined grain products, meat products, vegetables, dairy products, legumes, fruits and eggs.
*Sourced from EFSA WEBSITE
Thiamin - what does it do?
Needed to release energy from carbohydrate.
It is also involved in the nervous system and the heart.
Thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) is a co-enzyme in several enzymatic reactions. TPP may also have a nonco- enzymic function during stimulation of neuronal cells and other excitable tissues, such as skeletal muscle.
Deficiency
The biological half-life of thiamin is approximately 10 – 20 days and marginal deficiency can develop quite rapidly. Symptoms of sub-clinical deficiency include headache, tiredness, anorexia and muscle wasting. A regular daily thiamin intake of _ 0.2 mg/1000 kcal results in clinical deficiency and the disease known as Beriberi, which affects the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
Thiamin deficiency can result in a disorder of the central nervous system known as Wernicke’s encephalopathy, characterised by confusion, ataxia and coma. This condition is sometimes accompanied by a syndrome known as Korsakoff psychosis. Both conditions are typically found in alcoholics and co-exist in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
In developed countries, most cases of thiamin deficiency are associated with chronic alcoholism where dietary intake of the vitamin may be low and absorption and utilisation impaired. Thiamin deficiency may also be involved in foetal alcohol syndrome, characterised by growth retardation, psychomotor abnormalities and congenital malformations, in the offspring of alcoholic mothers.
Thiamin - Sources
Whole grains, nuts, meat (especially pork), fruit and vegetables and fortified breakfast cereals.
