The Importance of Thiamin as an Essential Vitamin

Thiamin or Vitamin B1 is one of the essential nutrients the body must have to convert carbohydrates (food) into energy. And because of this particular characteristic, thiamin has proven very beneficial when your body combats stress. As a water-soluble vitamin, thiamin helps release energy from carbohydrates particularly well during metabolism. So people who are more energetic and have higher caloric intake require more thiamin than those are not as active. Thiamin also plays an key role in the normal effectiveness of the nervous system.

The importance of thiamine becomes apparent when examining the consequences of deficiency. Thiamine deficiency is called beriberi in humans and polyneuritis in birds. Without thiamine, muscle and nerve tissues exhibit poor or diminished growth. People with beriberi are often irritable, depressed, and weak. Disastrously, they may often die of cardiac failure.

Also, commonly at risk are the elderly and other people who have poor eating habits (including some dieters and people who fast frequently. Further, smokers and other users of tobacco products have low Bi levels because the products impair thiamine absorption. As is the case in all B vitamin diseases, thiamine deficiency is usually accompanied by deficiencies of other vitamins as well. Additionally, Wernicke's syndrome, a disease is associated with thiamine deficiency typically occurs in alcoholics. Disease symptoms include brain lesions, liver disease, and partial paralysis, particularly of the motor nerves of the eye.

Fortunately, thiamin is widely available in a variety of foods. Most all plants and foods contain some level of thiamin. Good sources of thiamin are whole grain products, enriched wheat, brown rice, seafood, lean pork, yeast, liver, and nuts. This long list would also include best greens and fruits such as apricots and pineapples. Sunflower seeds are a particularly good source.

However in today's typical grocery, grains are often stripped of B1 vitamin content during processing, then later added back to breads, cereals, and baked. Also, of important note is that thiamin is always lost when foods are cooked or processed. So, especially when cooking vegetables only add a small amount of water and keep the lid on the pan to preserve those vitamin nutrients. For the same reason, only rinse rice or pasta after it has been cooked. It's important to avoid reduce consumption of coffee, teas, black currants as these and similar foods contribute to the destruction of thiamin. And finally, thiamin destruction may be diminished when eaten with foods containing vitamin C or citric acid.