Want to learn more about vitamin B1 thyroid benefits?
Thiamine (vitamin B1) is a water soluble vitamin. The most notable vitamin B1 thyroid benefits are supporting the proper functioning of the nervous system and brain. It’s also involved in converting the carbohydrates you eat into energy.
That’s why thiamine deficiency can leave you feeling tired, make you lose your appetite, and cause muscle fatigue.
The government recommends that all adult men should take 1mg of thiamine a day, while women should take 0.8mg per day. You should be able to get most of the thiamine you need from your diet. Food sources of thiamine include:
- legumes
- yeast
- eggs
- oranges (and orange juice)
- wholegrain foods
- nuts and seeds
- red meat (especially liver)
- fish
- fortified foods (such as breakfast cereals, egg noodles and bread)
Thiamine could help regulate their sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, protect against heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease.
The exact vitamin B1 thyroid benefits aren’t very well known. In particular, the fatigue associated with hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is when your thyroid is underactive and doesn’t produce enough of its hormones. The most common signs of hypothyroidism are tiredness, weight gain and feeling depressed. It’s usually caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland. It can also be caused as a result of other diseases such as cancer.
What is thyroid fatigue?
Hypothyroidism is a thyroid condition caused by the body’s metabolism slowing down. This means that your body isn’t able to convert your food into energy fast enough to keep up with demand.
Are there any thiamine thyroid benefits?
One of the most notable vitamin B1 thyroid benefits is its ability to help with treating hypothyroidism when combined with conventional thyroid medications. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a common cause of hypothyroidism.
Researchers found that many patients with this condition reported still feeling fatigued when taking hormone replacements. When they also gave these patients thiamine supplements, their levels of fatigue decreased.
This is probably to do with thiamine’s role in metabolism. Both thiamine and the thyroid are needed for the body’s metabolism to convert food into energy. Making sure we have enough of both of them is important to reducing tiredness and maintaining energy levels.
How thiamine benefits the thyroid in this instance may be obvious. But you’ll be surprised to learn that there are other potential vitamin B1 thyroid benefits.
Here are 4 hidden vitamin B1 thyroid benefits you should know about.
1. Thiamine and Oestrogen Dominance
Oestrogen dominance has two effects on your thyroid. First, it blocks the conversion of T4 into thyroid hormone T3, which decreases the overall amount of T3 in your blood. In this case, while there’s nothing wrong with the thyroid itself, you will still experience hypothyroidism.
Second, too much oestrogen can block the absorption of some thyroid hormones, which in turn will lead to hypothyroidism.
Thiamine deficiency is linked to high levels of oestrogen and is involved in modulating oestrogen uptake.
Ensuring that you have enough thiamine can help you avoid oestrogen dominance and its effect on your thyroid. Other B vitamins, especially B12, are also important for thyroid function. Eating a well-balanced diet will help you ensure that you’re getting all the B vitamins you need. This in turn will help ensure you’re enjoying these vitamin B1 thyroid benefits to the fullest.
2. Thiamine and the Immune System
Hypothyroidism is often caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland and damaging it. The most common disease that causes this is Hashimoto’s disease. Hashimoto’s disease is often hereditary, but it can occur in people with other autoimmune disorders like diabetes or vitiligo.
Being deficient in thiamine has been found to exacerbate autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Having enough thiamine in your diet may help your immune system to stay in peak condition. It can also reduce the chance of your immune system triggering hypothyroidism. It can also help to regulate immune responses during acute illnesses such as TB. By hitting your daily B1 intake, you can enjoy all the vitamin B1 thyroid benefits and keep your thyroid gland in full health.
3. Thiamine and Blood Sugar Regulation
Hypothyroidism can cause a drop in insulin levels, which can lead to a spike in your blood sugar levels. This is because of the role that thyroid hormones have in converting carbohydrates into energy.
In contrast, thiamine has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels. This is also because of the role that thiamine has on carbohydrate conversion and for the optimal functioning of the pancreas.
When you have diabetes, very high blood sugar levels can lead to serious complications.
One of the vitamin B1 thyroid benefits can be its ability to reduce blood sugar levels when taken together with insulin. This in turn could counteract the effect of hypothyroidism on your blood sugar.
4. Thiamine and Ammonia
Surprisingly, since the liver is thought to not be related to hormone function, the thyroid and the liver are closely interlinked. Thyroid dysfunction can cause hyperammonemia, a condition that prevents the liver from converting ammonia into urea. This means that excess ammonia can’t be removed from the body.
Hyperammonemia (an excess of ammonia in the brain) can cause changes in your mental health and tiredness. It can be fatal as it causes brain damage.
Thiamine deficiency can also cause an excess of ammonia. It reduces activity in the liver, which could result in the liver converting less ammonia into urea. This could lead to excess ammonia in the brain.
Ensuring you have enough thiamine can help support your liver and protect your body from excess ammonia caused by thyroid dysfunction.
Conclusion
Thiamine and thyroid health are closely linked. Thiamine is important in preventing the fatigue caused by hypothyroidism when it’s caused by Hashimoto’s disease. Some other vitamin B1 thyroid benefits include helping to prevent oestrogen dominance, supporting the immune system and regulating blood sugar.
You should be able to get enough thiamine in your diet but you can also take thiamine supplements for thyroid problems. It’s important to ensure that you get enough of all B vitamins for optimal balance in the body. This is because B vitamins work together to support various bodily functions.
Always seek medical advice from your GP before taking a food supplement. Your GP is also the best person to advise you on the vitamin B1 thyroid benefits you might gain by taking thiamine supplements for thyroid problems.
