Vitamin B1, also called thiamine, is a water-soluble vitamin that's essential to many functions in your body. Thiamine was also the first natural compound classified as a vitamin. You can get vitamin B1 from a wide variety of foods in every major food group, although there are a select few foods that contain the highest amounts of thiamine.
Foods
Carbohydrate-rich foods like rice, oats, wheat and whole-grain cereals contain high amounts of vitamin B1, according to the Mayo Clinic. Also, vitamin B1 is found in beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Meats are rich sources of thiamine, particularly organ meats, the University of Maryland Medical Center adds. Beef, milk and oranges are particularly good sources of vitamin B1, as are spirulina seaweed, cured ham, pork and catfish.
Other Sources
In developed countries, the best food sources of vitamin B1 are usually cereals and baked goods made with white flour or white rice, because the products are fortified with thiamine, the Mayo Clinic explains. Manufacturers fortify these foods with vitamin B1, because thiamine is easily lost during production and baking when it's exposed to heat. Brewer's yeast and other yeasts are considered among the top sources for thiamine as well, the University of Maryland Medical Center adds. Wheat germ, bran and blackstrap molasses also contain high amounts of thiamine.
Function
Vitamin B1 is essential to the proper health of your muscles and nervous system, according to the Mayo Clinic. The vitamin also helps in producing hydrochloric acid, which supports healthy digestion and in metabolizing carbohydrates. Thiamine also helps you to process fats and proteins, helps your brain to function properly, and helps to produce adenosine triphosphate, which is your body's major energy source, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center notes.
Considerations
Because thiamine is a water-soluble vitamin, your body doesn't store much of it for very long. In fact, you can become deficient in vitamin B1 in just two weeks, the Mayo Clinic reports. A condition called beriberi involves a severe, chronic deficiency of vitamin B1 and can lead to sometimes serious problems with your digestive system, heart, nervous system, muscles and brain. You can develop fatigue, depression, abdominal pain and irritability if you become deficient in vitamin B1, the University of Maryland Medical Center warns. Thiamine deficiency can also lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a condition involving nervous-system damage and memory loss. Although vitamin B1 deficiencies are rare in most industrialized countries due to the fortification of cereals and other processed foods, certain people are more susceptible to developing a deficiency. Those suffering from malabsorption syndromes, anorexia, multiple sclerosis, congestive heart failure, Crohn's disease, chronic alcoholism and folate deficiency are at a higher risk for having a thiamine deficiency, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. You are also at a greater risk for a vitamin B1 deficiency if you take loop diuretics or are undergoing chemotherapy, hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.
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