Here Is an Interesting Article that is topical, relevant and speaks about results of good nutrition. Thank You Dr. Podell.

From The January 1999 Issue of Nutrition Science News

Doctor's Insight

Thiamine's Mood-Mending Qualities

By Richard N. Podell, M.D.

Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is essential for the citric acid function known as the Krebs cycle—the primary biochemical path by which useful energy is extracted from glucose, amino acids and fats. The RDA of 1.1 to 1.5 mg a day provides enough thiamine to prevent beriberi, a potentially deadly deficiency disease, but is it enough to optimize biochemical function or to maximize a person's subjective well-being? How many people would feel better if they took more? Does medical science have the testing skills to tell who needs how much?

Researchers from the department of psychology at the University of Wales in Swansea, together with the Basel, Switzerland-based Hoffman-LaRoche pharmaceutical company, recently put these questions to the test. One hundred twenty healthy female college students were given either 50 mg thiamine, considered a high dose, or a placebo. At the beginning of the study all but one volunteer had normal thiamine levels as measured by the standard erythrocyte transketolase test.

Despite their ostensibly normal nutritional status, after two months the students who took extra thiamine more than doubled their scores on the clear-headedness and mood subclasses of the bipolar Profile of Mood States (POMS) psychological test. Students treated with placebo showed no change. Those taking thiamine also increased their quickness on a reaction-time test. Again, the placebo group was unchanged. Finally, improvement also occurred on POMS subscales that measured if a participant felt confident, composed or elated. However, these latter results were not statistically significant.¹

The same group of researchers had previously demonstrated the benefit of thiamine supplementation in people with subtle, borderline or subclinical thiamine deficiency.^2,3 The current work with healthy college students augments earlier research by showing that young women with normal thiamine levels can benefit from megadose supplements.

I was disappointed that the authors did not cite the pioneering research of Derrick Lonsdale, M.D., and Raymond J. Shamberger, Ph.D., formerly of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Lonsdale and Shamberger identified 20 patients with neuroticlike symptoms. Eight had biochemical evidence of thiamine deficiency; 12 did not. However, all improved substantially after an open trial of thiamine supplements plus a diet that restricted refined sugar.⁴

Most nutrition-oriented physicians in the United States would argue that improving one's overall diet is as important as supplementing with thiamine—and with good reason. Biochemically, the more calories consumed, especially carbohydrates, the more thiamine is required for the Krebs cycle to process the food into energy.

Other research emphasizes the importance of vitamin B1:

• In one double-blind Israeli study, researchers gave intravenous thiamine or placebo for one week to 30 patients who were being treated for congestive heart failure. Echocardiography showed greater contraction power and increased urine excretion in the thiamine group.⁵
• A New Zealand study found that 15 percent of a large group of randomly selected older people had thiamine deficiency as measured by the transketolase test. Their subjective quality of life scores and blood pressure improved after taking thiamine. Extra thiamine had no effect on those with normal transketolase.⁶
• A 1957 study found that thiamine deficiency was associated with increased hypochondriasis, depression and hysteria scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test (MMPI).⁷

The bottom line is that vitamin supplements, such as thiamine, are beginning to prove their value—even for people whose nutritional status is considered normal. This way of thinking is a departure from the traditional disease-focused medical model, which assumes nutritional shortfalls aren't relevant until they become severe enough to cause illness. The traditional model assumes adding more nutrients adds nothing to the body's chemistry or function. From this perspective, the level of thiamine intake that's good enough for one should be good for all.

But the holistic model is pushing doctors, nutritionists and patients to rethink this approach to health. More people than ever are considering the relevance of biochemical individuality and enzyme enhancement with nutritional cofactors.

It is easy to see the progress made. Who would have thought even 10 years ago that physicians would be recommending greater than RDA doses of folic acid to pregnant women or that the government would be adding folic acid to our food supply? This is surely a tribute to how far we've come.

Richard N. Podell, M.D., is director of the Podell Medical Center in New Providence, N.J.

References

1. Benton D. Thiamine supplementation improves mood and cognitive functioning. Psychopharmacology 1997;129:66-71.

2. Benton D, et al. Vitamin supplementation for one year improves mood. Europsychobiology 1995;32:98-105.

3. Benton D, et al. The impact of long-term vitamin supplementation on cognitive function. Psychopharmacology 1995;117:298-305.

4. Lonsdale D, Shamberger R. Red cell transketolase as an indicator of nutritional deficiency. Am J Clin Nutr 1980;33:205-11.

5. Shimon I, et al. Improved left ventricular function after thiamine supplementation in patients with congestive heart failure receiving long-term furosemide therapy. Am J Med 1995;98:485.

6. Wilkinson T, et al. The response to treatment of subclinical thiamine deficiency in the elderly. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:925-8.

7. Brozek J. Psychological effects of thiamine restriction and deprivation in normal young men. Am J Clin Nutr 1957;5:109-18.

Thiamine Vitamin B1 For Growth, Energy and Caloric Intake

Lose Weight With Thiamine

Many men and women who are trying to lose weight turn to Vitamin B1 supplements. This vitamin is known to increase energy levels and speed up metabolism. It helps the body turn carbohydrates into energy. Vitamin B1 is also necessary for cells, the heart, and the brain to function properly. Vitamin B1 is also known as Thiamine or Thiamin. There are 8 distinct types of vitamins in the B category, explaining why each has a number after it. If your body is lacking Vitamin B1, you may feel fatigue and shaky. The recommended daily allowance for men is 1.5 milligrams. For women, 1.1 milligrams. ¹

Thaimine is it Water Soluble and Fat Soluble ?

Nutritionists categorize vitamins by the materials that a vitamin will dissolve in. There are two categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins, which include the B-complex group and vitamin C, travel through the bloodstream. Whatever water-soluble vitamins are not used by the body are eliminated in urine, which means you need a continuous supply of them in your food. Vitamin B1 is a water-soluble vitamin. ²

Thiamine in Plants and Animals

Thiamine is found in both plants and animals and plays a crucial role in certain metabolic reactions, particularly, as mentioned, the conversion of carbohydrates (starches) into energy. For example, thiamine is essential during exercise, when energy expenditure is high. ³

The researchers knew that thiamine was normally found in roots, so they put thiamine in the culture medium and found that root growth did occur. Vitamin B1 is manufactured in 0lant leaves and sent to the roots, but if roots are cut off and placed in a petri plate, vitamin B1 stimulates growth of the roots when it saturates the culture medium. ⁴

Thiamine at the Cellular Level

Various B-complex vitamins assist in cellular energy production, by forming adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cells' energy source. Vitamin B1 is essential for every cell, and processes carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Vitamin B2, which can serve as an antioxidant, is essential for activating folic acid and vitamin B6, and for processing fats and amino acids. Vitamin B3 assists in transforming carbohydrates into fats, and also processes alcohol. One specific form, niacin, is responsible for cholesterol regulation. Besides its role in energy production, vitamin B5 is required for forming lipids (fats), steroids and neurotransmitters. One B5 by-product, pantethine, may help lower cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels. Biotin is essential for fat and carbohydrate metabolism, supporting cell and nerve tissue growth and development. ⁵

Because thiamin plays a part in the reactions that supply the body with energy, "stress formula" supplements often tout it as a cure for stress and fatigue. Although thiamin does not provide energy itself, it helps turn the food you eat into energy. If you're marginally low in thiamin, a supplement will help squeeze more energy out of your food. But deficiencies aren't common if you eat a varied diet of whole foods. ⁶

Thiamine works with the other B vitamins to change protein, carbohydrate, and fat to energy. It is especially vital for changing carbohydrates to energy. It is a key factor in the healthy functioning of all the body's cells, especially the nerves. ⁷

Thiamin is utilized by the liver, brain, and other tissues to synthesize thiamin diphosphate (TDP), the active form of thiamin. TDP is critical for the metabolism of carbohydrates into energy (ATP) by serving as a coenzyme for the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate. Thiamin by Jarrow Formulas is manuafactured according to the highest pharmaceutical standards and uses only the best quality raw ingredients. Click here for more information. ⁸

Vitamin B1 is a water soluble vitamin that readily enters and exits the body daily so it must be taken internally on a daily basis. Vitamin B1 is a crystalline, yellow-white, water-soluble compound that is heat and alkali reactive when placed in solution. Thiamin helps maintain a normal metabolism and helps burn carbohydrates. Vitamin B1 is found in most whole grains. ¹⁰

Thiamin Prevents Disease such as BeriBeri

In its most common form, the disease was characterized by muscular weakness , energy deprivation, and inactivity. Sailing voyages were a common backdrop for the appearance of beriberi, and the addition of whole grains to ships rations was discovered to prevent its occurrence. By 1926, researchers discovered that the preventive substance in whole grains that could also remedy the energy deprivation in the ships' crews was vitamin B1. ⁹

Since vitamin B1 works in concert with other members of the B complex, a multivitamin supplement that contains all of the B vitamins is usually recommended, unless a specific B1 deficiency is being treated. Because vitamin B1 is water-soluble, the body excretes excess amounts of the nutrient, so there is little danger of overdose. ¹¹

Most cells in the body depend on sugar as an energy source. When oxygen is used to help convert sugar into usable energy, the process of energy generation is called aerobic energy production. This process cannot take place without adequate supplies of vitamin B1, since B1 is part of an enzyme system (called the pyruvate dehydrogenase system) that enables oxygen-based processing of sugar. ¹²

Vitamin B1 and its deficiency leading Depression Vitamin B1 is essential for nerve stimulation and for metabolism of carbohydrates to give brain energy as well as body energy. Deficiency symptoms include mood disorders, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, night terror etc. ¹³

Because vitamin B1 is so important in energy production, and because food energy is usually measured in terms of calories, vitamin B1 is often prescribed in relationship to caloric intake. For example, recommendations sometime suggest intake of 0.5 milligrams of B1 for every 1,000 calories consumed. ¹⁴

Thiamine and the Nervous System

Vitamin B1 also plays a key role in support of the nervous system, where it permits healthy development of the fat-like coverings which surround most nerves (called myelin sheaths). In the absence of vitamin B1, these coverings can degenerate or become damaged. Pain, prickly sensations, and nerve deadening are nerve-related symptoms that can result from vitamin B1 deficiency. ¹⁵

Vitamin B1 is needed to process carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Every cell of the body requires vitamin B1 to form the fuel the body runs on - ATP. Nerve cells require vitamin B1 in order to function normally. Vitamin B1 (thiamine) assists in blood formation, carbohydrate metabolism, and the production of hydrochloric acid, which is important for proper digestion. Vitamin B1 (thiamine) also enhances circulation and optimizes cognitive activity and brain function. Vitamin B1 (thiamine) has a positive effect on energy, growth, normal appetite, and learning capacity, and is needed for muscle tone of the intestines, stomach, and heart. Vitamin B1 acts as an antioxidant, protecting the body from generative effects of aging, alcohol consumption, and smoking. May improve glucose tolerance and retard arterial blockages, especially in diabetics. ¹⁶

Foods Containing Thiamin Vitamin B1

Thiamin is available in nutritional supplements in the form of thiamin hydrochloride and thiamin nitrate. These are also the forms used for food fortification. Thiamin pyrophosphate or cocarboxylase may also be available in some products. Vitamin B1 is the first part which is separated from the rest of the complex. Thiamine helps prevent beriberi. Although this vitamin can now be synthetically prepared, it can be found in Liver, port, yeast, nuts, and some grains. An average adult requires 2 to 3 grams of vitamin B1. Breads, flour and cereals are now enriched with thiamine so there is no longer a worry of deficient Vitamin B1 intake, which would cause beriberi. The highest concentrations of vitamin B1 are found in muscle, heart, liver, kidneys, and brain. ¹⁷

Taking any one of the B complex vitamins for a long period of time can result in an imbalance of other important B vitamins. For this reason, it is generally important to take a B complex vitamin with any single B vitamin. ¹⁸

Thiamine works with the other B vitamins to change protein, carbohydrate, and fat to energy. It is especially vital for changing carbohydrates to energy. It is a key factor in the healthy functioning of all the body's cells, especially the nerves. Vitamin B1 helps the body cells convert carbohydrates into energy. It is also essential for the functioning of the heart, muscles, and nervous system. As a coenzyme, thiamin plays a key role in energy production, conversion of glucose to fat. Every cell of the body requires vitamin B1 to form the fuel the body runs on - ATP. Nerve cells require vitamin B1 in order to function normally. ¹⁹

Vitamin B1 should not be taken at the same time as the antibiotic tetracycline because it interferes with the absorption and effectiveness of this medication. Vitamin B1 either alone or in combination with other B vitamins should be taken at different times from tetracycline. ²⁰

References