Did you know that vitamin B-1 has two other widely used names? Thiamine is a name used in the US and Aneurin is the popular name in Europe. Thiamin (without the e) is also used to refer to B-1.
Vitamin B-1 is important to your body’s health. You probably have heard of beriberi before. It can have pretty severe effects on your nervous system, heart, brain, cellular health and energy levels to name a few problem areas affected by a deficiency of B-1.
Interestingly enough, a person with beriberi that has reached the point of barely being able to move, will often respond to a B-1 injection in just a few hours to the point that they will be able to get up and walk again. Beriberi is truly a deficiency disease.
Thiamine is important to the energy production system of every cell in your body. ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate is the energy currency that powers your body. There are a few pathways that your cell uses to make ATP, the major one being Kreb’s cycle. Without sufficient quantities of B-1, your body is restricted in being able to produce the all necessary ATP.
Fortunately, especially in North America, you can get Thiamine from your diet....