What is Vitamin B1?, History, Structure of Vitamin B1, Benefits

Vitamin B1

Thiamine, also known as thiamin or vitamin B₁, is a vitamin found in food, and manufactured as a dietary supplement and medication. Food sources of thiamine include whole grains, legumes, and some meats.

History

Thiamine was the first of the water-soluble vitamins to be described, leading to the discovery of more essential nutrients and to the notion of vitamin.

In 1884, Takaki Kanehiro (1849–1920), a surgeon general in the Japanese navy, rejected the previous germ theory for beriberi and hypothesized that the disease was due to insufficiencies in the diet instead.

Structure of Vitamin B1-

Thiamine is an essential nutrient that all tissues of the body need to function properly. Thiamine was the first B vitamin that scientists discovered. This is why its name carries the number 1. Like the other B vitamins, thiamine is water-soluble and helps the body turn food into energy. 

You can find it in:

foods

individual supplements

multivitamins

The body needs thiamine to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is a molecule that transports energy within cells.

Benefits

Vitamin B1, or thiamin, helps prevent complications in the nervous system, brain, muscles, heart, stomach, and intestines. It is also involved in the flow of electrolytes into and out of muscle and nerve cells.

It helps prevent diseases such as beriberi, which involves disorders of the heart, nerves, and digestive system.

Uses in medicine

Patients who may receive thiamin to treat low levels of vitamin B1 include those with peripheral neuritis, which is an inflammation of the nerves outside the brain, or pellagra.