Approximate dose-response bands. Individual response varies — these are starting points, not prescriptions.
Well below target. Risk of deficiency symptoms tied to energy metabolism.
Below the recommended daily target. Long-term adequacy not assured.
Daily target met. Standard nutritional support for energy metabolism.
Common for specific health goals. Check the evidence for your situation before sustaining this level.
Past the point where extra intake typically helps. Evidence for further benefit is thin.
You're at 0% of your vitamin b1 (thiamin) target. The biggest single-serving sources to top it off:
Water-soluble B vitamin essential for carbohydrate metabolism, nerve conduction, and ATP production. Body stores are small (~30 mg) and turn over in 9–18 days, so daily intake matters. Refined-grain diets without fortification or chronic alcohol use are the most common deficiency drivers.
Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP, the active form) carries 2-carbon units in oxidative decarboxylation reactions. When thiamine is low, pyruvate cannot enter the TCA cycle, lactate accumulates, and high-glucose tissues (brain, heart) fail first. This is why thiamine deficiency presents as cardiac (wet beriberi) or neurological (dry beriberi, Wernicke).
Rare in fortified-grain populations; common in chronic alcoholism, bariatric surgery patients, severe malnutrition, and refined-rice-dependent populations.
No established UL; water-soluble and excreted readily. Doses up to several hundred mg/day are tolerated.
Standard thiamin HCl is fine for most. Benfotiamine, a fat-soluble derivative, achieves higher tissue concentrations and is sometimes used for diabetic neuropathy. IV thiamine 100–500 mg is the emergency treatment for suspected Wernicke encephalopathy.
Absorbed in proximal small intestine via active transport (low dose) and passive diffusion (high dose). Alcohol blocks both. Raw fish and ferns contain thiaminase that destroys dietary thiamine. Tea and coffee polyphenols modestly reduce absorption.
Adequacy matters; supplementation above adequacy does not extend lifespan or healthspan in non-deficient adults. Routine fortification of grains has largely eliminated population-level deficiency in the developed world.
Carbohydrate metabolism and nerve signaling.
The mechanisms and systems this nutrient feeds. Click any to drill into what runs on it.