Spirulina, a type of seaweed, provides six B vitamins, including thiamine. It also contains niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, folate and pyridoxine. If you suffer from a thiamine deficiency, the usual treatment involves taking the vitamin in supplement form. Treating a deficiency with spirulina is possible, but not practical. Talk to your doctor before treating thiamine with spirulina or any other alternative treatment.
Thiamine Deficiency
Unless tests reveal that you have a thiamine deficiency, you probably obtain enough of the vitamin B1 from your diet. Good sources include meat, nuts, beans, yeast and cereal grains. People who may suffer thiamine deficiency include women who develop peripheral neuritis -- inflammation of the nerve outside the brain -- during pregnancy and people with pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease. People who abuse alcohol may develop two medical problems related to thiamine deficiency -- beriberi and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Some 30 to 80 percent of alcoholics suffer from thiamine deficiencies, according to Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health. Doctors may prescribe thiamine shots to people with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
Spirulina
You would need to consume a lot of seaweed -- and a lot of calories -- to treat a thiamine deficiency with spirulina. A tablespoon of dried spirulina contains 0.17 mg of thiamine and 1 cup contains 2.67 mg. A cup of dried spirulina also contains 325 calories. Raw spirulina contains 0.22 mg of thiamine per 100 g -- about 3 ½ oz. -- and provides 26 calories. The usual dose of thiamine supplements to treat a deficiency ranges from 5 mg to 30 mg daily but can run as high a 300 mg daily for severe deficiencies. You would need to consume about 2 to 11 cups of dried spirulina to treat a deficiency and more than 112 cups to treat a severe deficiency. This means adding between 650 and 36,400 calories to your daily diet. If you chose raw spirulina, your caloric intake to treat a deficiency would range from 572 to 35,438 calories.
Dietary Sources
The recommended daily allowance for thiamine ranges from 1.1 mg to 1.5 mg. Dried spirulina could help you meet the RDA. A 1/2 cup serving supplies 1.3 mg. Fortified breakfast cereals can also help you meet your RDA for thiamine, but may prove impractical for treating deficiencies. Two cups of oat cereal, for instance, provide 1.08 mg of niacin. You'd need to eat at least 10 cups to treat a thiamine deficiency. Navy beans provide 0.38 mg of niacin per 100 g and beef tri-tip roast contains 0.64 mg. If you test deficient for thiamine, supplements in amounts prescribed by your physician provide the easiest solution.
Considerations
Thiamine in therapeutic doses may cause skin irritation and, in rare cases, allergic reactions. If you drink coffee or tea, the tannins in these beverages may make it difficult for your body to utilize thiamine. Coffee and tea drinkers in western cultures do not usually suffer from thiamine deficiencies because vitamin C in western diets may counteract the effect of the tannins. If you eat raw fish, you may suffer from thiamine depletion. Cooked fish does not cause such problems as the cooking process destroys chemicals that harm thiamine.
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