Vitamin B1

Other names Thiamine

Vitamin B1 from the diet or supplements is crucial to brain functioning. Some people supplement vitamin B1 to improve brain functioning, but is supplementation effective for cognitive enhancement? Read on to find out what the science says.

This nootropic has no healthy human placebo-controlled studies that meet our inclusion criteria. Negative side effects can occur if used carelessly, so make sure you’re aware of the risks of Vitamin B1.

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Benefits

Read about the effects of Vitamin B1 in relation to the amount of evidence we've found

Why do people use vitamin B1?

People who self-experiment with vitamin B1 often state they use it to improve their:

Energy
Memory
Focus
Mood
Sociality
Learning

There is a lack of solid scientific evidence for the effectiveness of vitamin B1 for any of these purposes, especially in healthy humans.

Can vitamin B1 supplements improve energy levels for healthy people?

Vitamin B1 supplementation may improve reaction time and subjective energy levels in healthy people, but more research is needed before it can be known with certainty whether it is effective or not.

Two months of daily supplementation of 50mg vitamin B1, which is a very high dose, in 120 healthy young adults resulted in improved subjective ratings of "clearheaded", "composed", and "energetic". [1] The authors of the study concluded the following:

"The taking of thiamine had no influence on memory but reaction times were faster following supplementation. These influences took place in subjects whose thiamine status, according to the traditional criterion, was adequate." [2]

High-dose Vitamin B1 supplementation improved fatigue after stroke in three people, but these findings are not easily transferable to healthy humans and are not that useful in our quest to find an answer to whether energy level improvements in healthy people.

Can vitamin B1 supplements improve cognitive performance for healthy people?

It is not known whether vitamin B1 is an effective cognitive enhancer for diseased people or healthy humans. The optimal dose for cognitive enhancement in healthy people is unknown, and doses used in studies vary by several orders of magnitude which makes informed self-experimentation very hard.

A super-high mega-dose of vitamin B1 (3-8g/day) resulted in mild beneficial effects in people with Alzheimer's. [3]

In 2001, the authors of a Cochrane review (an especially reputable sort of systematic review) concluded that there was not enough evidence on the potential benefits of vitamin B1 for cognition in Alzheimer's disease. [4]

Vitamin B1 deficiency can definitely lead to severe cognitive impairment. [5]

Vitamin B1 deficiency can impair cognitive performance, but whether supplementation of vitamin B1 in healthy people who are not deficient can improve cognition is not known.

Risks

The legality and side effects of Vitamin B1

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Vitamin B1

Which foods are rich in vitamin B1?

The top 10 foods highest in vitamin B1 are [9]:

Flax seeds (1.6mg vitamin B1/100g flax seeds)
Lean pork chops (0.7mg/100g)
Salmon (0.3mg/100g)
Mussels (0.3mg/100g)
Green peas (0.3mg/100g)
Navy beans (0.2mg/100g)
Tofu (0.2mg/100g)
Brown rice (0.2mg/100g)
Acorn Squash (0.2mg/100g)
Asparagus (0.2mg/100g)

What is sulbutiamine?

Sulbutiamine is a synthetic man-made vitamin B1 derivative that may be more effective for improving mood and energy levels.

How much vitamin B1 do you need each day?

The Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamins is a good source for understanding how much your body likely needs per day.

What time of day should you take vitamin B1?

There is no data on what the optimal time of day for use of vitamin B1 is. There is no evidence that vitamin B1 impairs sleep if taken before bed-time.

Is vitamin B1 neuroprotective?

It is likely that the neuroprotective effects of vitamin B1 depend on what the factor that is damaging neurons in the brain is. For example, lack of oxygen or dangerously high glutamate levels in the brain can lead to increased neuronal death. Vitamin B1 is likely to protect neurons from different forms of neurochemical toxicity, but not from other forms.

Neuroprotective effects are especially likely when vitamin B1 is taken by a person who is deficient in vitamin B1. [12]

What are the effects of vitamin B1 deficiency on the brain?

"Thiamine deficiency leads to the development of impaired energy metabolism due to mitochondrial dysfunction in focal regions of the brain resulting in cerebral vulnerability. The consequences of this include oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, inflammatory responses, decreased neurogenesis, blood-brain barrier disruption, lactic acidosis and a reduction in astrocyte functional integrity involving a loss of glutamate transporters and other astrocyte-specific proteins which together contribute in a major way to the resulting neurodegeneration." [13]

Do you need to take vitamin B1 supplements with food?

No, absorption of vitamin B1 is good with or without food. [6]

Can I go for long periods without consuming vitamin B1?

Vitamin B1 can only be stored in the body for a short time, which means you need to consume it regularly in your diet.

Studies

Studies conducted on the effects of Vitamin B1 in healthy humans

Last updated Saturday, June 10, 2023