What Are The Causes Of Thiamine Deficiency To The Brain?

Vitamin B-1, or thiamine, is one of the eight B vitamins essential to your diet. As part of the B complex, thiamine plays a role in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fat and protein. Individually, thiamine serves a purpose in nourishing specific functions in your brain including cognitive and behavioral processes. Prolonged thiamine deficiency can result from malnutrition, malabsorption, alcoholism or extenuating medical conditions and in severe cases it causes irreparable brain damage.

Thiamine Absorption to the Brain

Normal digestion of food involves the digestive tract breaking down food product into smaller particles. During final breakdown in your small intestine the thiamine nutrient is extracted and absorbed into transporter cells in the lining of the small intestine. The cells carry thiamine into your bloodstream and travel to your brain crossing the blood-brain barrier. Once in your brain, thiamine meets the thiamine transporter molecules, thiamine diphoshate, thiamine triphosphate, or thiamine monophosphate, which are enzymes that convert the newly entering thiamine into a usable chemical. This process cannot effectively occur without continual thiamine ingested in your daily diet.

Alcoholism and Thiamine Deficiency

Thiamine deficiency occurring in developed countries such as the United States, is most commonly the result of alcoholism. Chronic alcohol use increases the risk of inadequate nutrient intake either because alcohol use takes precedence over healthful nutrition practice or because of poor nutrient absorption starting in the gastrointestinal tract. According to a 2004 publication by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the transfer of thiamine from the digestive tract to the brain is inhibited by alcohol causing less thiamine to convert into an active form once it reaches the brain. The cells in the brain either do not recognize the nutrient or other nutrients involved in the thiamine conversion process are deficient.

Kidney Complications and Thiamine Loss

The kidneys filter waste product and extra fluids from your body through urine elimination. Diseased kidneys from various causes including alcoholism, infection or autoimmune disease, impairs the filtering process resulting in waste product accumulation and possible kidney failure. Dialysis treatment serves as an artificial means for helping the kidneys work properly but a consequence of treatment is the increased risk of thiamine loss, notes the Linus Pauling Institute. Thiamine gets inadvertently eliminated from your body during dialysis because the treatment involves maximizing fluid excretion through rapid flushing. Supplementation of thiamine can minimize the risk of deficiency but this should be determined in consultation with your physician.

Malnutrition

Inadequate thiamine intake from your diet can result in deficiency. Refined carbohydrates and grains including white rice or bread and foods made with bleached flour do not generally contain thiamine because it has been excluded from the grain during the milling process. Additionally, foods with anti-thiamine factors, or ATF, can react with thiamine from your diet causing oxidation and de-activation of the thiamine nutrient. Heavy consumption of uncooked fish, tea, red cabbage or red beets and buckwheat plants can interfere with thiamine absorption.

Daily Intake and Sources

Prevent thiamine deficiency with a well-balanced diet containing thiamine-rich foods. The daily recommended intake of thiamine for adults is 1.1 to 1.2 mg. Thiamine-rich foods include beans, brown rice, wheat bread, lean pork, spinach, cantaloupe, dairy and nuts. Avoid or limit heavy consumption of alcohol to minimize your risk of deficiency. Multivitamins with thiamine or single thiamine supplements are available over the counter but consult your physician before adding supplements to your diet.