Vitamin B1 (thiamin) – The mood-boosting vitamin
Vitamin B1 is known as the “mood-enhancing” vitamin due to its dramatic effect on our nervous system and our mood. In addition to supporting the nervous system, vitamin B1 helps with carbohydrate metabolism, stimulates our immune system, repels mosquitoes, helps develop red blood cells, maintains muscle tissue, promotes growth in children, and helps control motion sickness. A synthetic version of vitamin B1 is added to white flour to prevent beriberi, but it is better to consume the natural form, which is found in abundance in whole grains. Because thiamin helps with carbohydrate metabolism, it also makes energy available to the body, including the brain. So if you’re not getting enough thiamin, you may not be feeding your brain enough glucose to think well.
Additional Thiamine Requirements
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, use oral contraceptives, cigarettes, or diuretics, you will need more vitamin B1. Those with diets rich in refined foods, too much sugar and junk food, and/or alcohol will also have higher thiamine requirements. Last but not least, heavy metal pollutants like mercury and stress also consume thiamin in the body and will increase its need. B vitamins are used to detoxify the body, and if you’re exposed to more toxins, you’ll need more B vitamins overall.
Symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency
Fatigue and insomnia, poor memory, poor brain function and muscle coordination, headaches, weakness, and confusion are symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency. Insufficient thiamine has also been linked to mood swings, disordered thinking, fear, and feelings of restlessness, all signs of mental depression that can often affect memory as well. Beriberi is a disease that can develop from severe B1 deficiency and is characterized by weakness, swelling of the extremities, and an enlarged heart. It affects the nervous, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems, but is rare in the US today due to the synthetic additive B1 in white flour.
Food sources of vitamin B1
Although you can get enough vitamin B1 to avoid beriberi, many of us don’t get the optimal amount, especially because of all the stress we face, both physically and emotionally. Some of the best sources of vitamin B1 are nutritional yeast, liver, and whole grains like whole wheat, brown rice, oatmeal, and rice bran. However, other foods such as watermelon, asparagus, fresh peas, pork, ham and beef, legumes, nuts, and seeds such as sesame seeds are also good sources of vitamin B1.
Also, if your gut is healthy and has a preponderance of good bacteria (probiotics), it will produce B vitamins. However, many of us have taken antibiotics over the years that have reduced the number of good bacteria, so unless If you’ve taken steps to overcome that, such as with large amounts of probiotics, either in supplement form or with cultured vegetables or lacto-fermented beverages, you’re probably not making all the B vitamins your body needs.
Should you supplement with vitamin B1?
If you have a healthy gut and no symptoms of vitamin B deficiency, and you eat plenty of foods that contain vitamin B, you may not need supplements. However, most of us are under enough stress and have also eaten a lot of refined foods that have stripped B vitamins from our bodies that B vitamin supplementation may be beneficial. However, unless you know you are severely deficient in vitamin B1 and are taking only B1 for a specific purpose and for a period of time under the care of a healthcare professional, we do not recommend supplementing with vitamin B1 alone. All of the B vitamins work together, and often supplementation with just 1 or 2 of them can cause other B vitamin imbalances. We recommend adding a whole food supplement that contains B vitamins, such as nutritional yeast and/or B vitamins. based on whole foods. These are very hard to find, but in our opinion, food-based B vitamins are worth your body’s use. It can take 6 months to 1 year to replenish your body’s supply of B vitamins, so supplementation can really help you catch up.
Copyright 2008, Karen Pijuan. This article may be copied only in its entirety and only if all links, including those in the resource box or above the author section, remain intact.