Every system in our body is supported by nutrients we get from our environment, whether it be from food, supplements, or even the sun.
From our food, we take all sorts of vitamins and minerals, protein, fiber, sugars, and fats.
If you’re studying to get a holistic nutrition certification in Canada, you’ll learn about all the important nutrients your body needs, and how to use them to keep your clients healthy.
One group of these nutrients is the B complex.
Each vitamin in the B complex performs its own unique function in your body.
Today, we’re going to look at the first in this series, vitamin B1.
It’s also known as thiamine.
But what is thiamine?
Why is it so essential to our health?
And how do you get it?
Let’s take a closer look.
What Is Vitamin B1?
Vitamin B1 is a water soluble vitamin you can find in some foods.
Vitamins can be either water soluble, or fat soluble.
This difference determines how each vitamin behaves in your body.
Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the fatty tissue in your body.
On the other hand, water soluble vitamins are flushed out in your urine.
All the B complex vitamins are water soluble, and so is vitamin C.
Because it’s harder for your body to store water soluble vitamins, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough every day.
What Does Vitamin B1 Do For You?
Thiamine helps with several important needs, not the least of which is supporting cellular function throughout your body.
Healthy and properly functioning cells are integral to your overall health.
If something isn’t working properly at a cellular level, it can eventually cause larger issues.
Vitamin B1 also helps your body metabolize carbohydrates.
It has some specific benefits, as well.
Let’s talk about them.
1. It Can Help With Menstrual Pain
There is evidence that thiamine can help ease the pain you feel during menstruation.
In particular, thiamine can help reduce both the frequency and intensity of menstrual cramps.
2. It Can Help You Lose Weight
Because thiamine helps your body more efficiently convert carbs into energy, lower levels of the vitamin can lead to a less efficient metabolism.
If your metabolism is working more slowly, it can be harder to lose weight.
Increasing your vitamin B1 intake can help to speed up your metabolism, which can work as part of a natural solution for how to lose weight and keep it off.
3. It Can Help With Metabolic Disorders
Thiamine can help optimize your metabolism.
As a result, it can help manage your metabolic disorder if you have one.
At the same time, too little thiamine can cause metabolic disorders.
There is evidence that thiamine deficiency can lead to altered glucose metabolism in people with diabetes.
RELATED: Using Holistic Nutrition For Type 2 Diabetes
Improving thiamine levels can help correct this.
It can also help to prevent vascular complications in people with diabetes.
4. It Can Help Reduce Cataracts
A cataract is a cloudy area on the lens of your eye.
It’s caused by the breakdown of proteins and fibres in your eye.
Sufficient thiamine levels can help prevent them from forming.
5. It Can Help You Sleep
Our sleep cycle is controlled by a hormone called melatonin, which does double duty as an antioxidant as well.
Your body uses vitamin B1 to create melatonin.
Supplementing with vitamin B1 can produce better sleep patterns at night, and also improved wakefulness during the day.
What Is The Best Source Of Vitamin B1?
If you’re looking to get more vitamin B1 in your diet, include more of the following foods:
- Pork
- Poultry
- Lentils
- Dried beans
- Rice
- Nutritional yeast
- Peas
- Peanuts
- Yogurt
Many whole grain products – such as bread and cereal – are fortified with vitamin B1 as well.
What Happens If You Have Low Vitamin B1?
If you have vitamin B1 deficiency, it can cause a number of different symptoms.
These include:
- Irritability
- Chronic fatigue
- Vision difficulties
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
Extreme vitamin B1 deficiency can lead to a disorder called beriberi, which can potentially be dangerous.
Beriberi can cause tingling in your arms and legs, confusion, muscle weakness, paralysis, and even heart failure.
Beriberi used to be much more common, but today, it’s almost entirely eradicated thanks to proper nutrition.
What Causes Vitamin B1 Deficiency?
Because thiamine containing foods are pretty easily accessible in industrialized countries, most people are not at risk of a vitamin B1 deficiency.
However, there are some groups that are at an increased risk, including:
- People with eating disorders
- Senior citizens
- Alcoholics
- People living with HIV or AIDS
- People on kidney dialysis
- People with digestive disorders
Certain medications can also increase risk of vitamin B1 deficiency.
Can You Overdose On Vitamin B1?
Because vitamin B1 is water soluble, it’s very difficult to overdose on it through diet alone.
If you get too much of it, your body will flush out the excess in your urine.
If you take too much through supplementing, you might feel drowsy, but that’s about it.
Become A Student At Edison Institute of Nutrition Today
Vitamins and nutrients work so silently in our bodies, day after day, that it’s easy to forget how essential they are to proper health.
Your body relies on the vitamins we get from food and supplements to grow, digest our food, and even sleep.
Vitamin B1, or thiamine, is so important to so many normal functions, and it’s just one of many of the nutrients we need every single day.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how proper nutrition can help stave off diseases, consider studying at Edison Institute of Nutrition.
Contact us to take your first step toward a new career in holistic nutrition.
