Thiamin, or vitamin B1, occurs in many foods, including pork, legumes, nuts and some fruits. Deficiencies of thiamin are rare in developed countries, where refined wheat and rice products are routinely enriched with B vitamins. Unless your nutritional intake is disproportionately high in sugar or alcohol, you are probably not at risk for a thiamin deficiency in the United States, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC.
Functions
Thiamin contributes to healthy nerve and muscle function. This B vitamin participates in a number of metabolic processes, including your body's conversion of carbohydrates into glucose for energy. Along with the other B vitamins, thiamin may help reduce stress by supporting your immune system, the UMMC notes. Thiamin supplements may be used to treat beriberi, a thiamin deficiency disorder that affects the nerves, brain, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Thiamin may also be used to reverse nerve damage in people with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a form of dementia typically caused by malnutrition due to alcohol abuse.
Dietary Sources and Requirements
Pork, beef, peas, lentils, brown rice, brazil nuts, pecans, oranges and cantaloupe are natural sources of thiamin. Milk, eggs, blackstrap molasses and yeast also provide this B vitamin. The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for thiamin is 1.2 mg for men ages 19 and older, and 1.1 mg per day for women ages 19 and older. Pregnant and breast-feeding women of all ages should have 1.4 mg of thiamin daily.
Enriched Foods
The milling process, which strips the bran and germ from whole grains, removes most of the naturally occurring thiamin from wheat and rice. In industrialized countries, the practice of enriching wheat and rice after milling has made thiamin deficiency rare, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. If you eat breads, cereals and pasta made with refined flour, you should easily meet the RDA for thiamin. One cup of enriched white rice has 0.26 mg of thiamin, and one slice of enriched white bread has 0.11 mg of thiamin, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Fortified breakfast cereal offers 0.5 to 2.0 mg of thiamin per cup.
Deficiency
Elderly people who eat a limited diet and people who use alcohol heavily may be at risk for a thiamin deficiency. Because your body quickly excretes any excess of this water-soluble vitamin in your urine, you may exhaust your stores of thiamin within 14 days, the Mayo Clinic notes. A severe thiamin deficiency may cause the cognitive changes, dementia, memory loss and nerve damage that characterize Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. A prolonged, severe thiamin deficiency may also contribute to numbness in the extremities, respiratory difficulties, visual disturbances and heart failure -- the complications of beriberi. If you eat a balanced diet that includes a wide variety of foods from the major food groups, your risk for thiamin deficiency is low, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
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