Benfotiamine is a potent allithiamine, a group of thiamine (vitamin B1) derivatives. Compared with thiamine, benfotiamine has a highly specific structure which offers benefits for our health. For example, studies show that it passes through cell membranes more easily, remaining longer in the body, and thus presenting excellent bioavailability. Benfotiamine is therefore often considered a bioavailable and absorbable form of vitamin B1.

What is the Role of Vitamin B1?

While awareness of benfotiamine is relatively low, thiamine is part of the well-known complex of B vitamins. Indeed, there is not just one vitamin B but a complex of several molecules which act together to help the body function properly. Thiamine, or vitamin B1, interacts in particular with vitamins B2, B3, B5, and B9. Their combined action contributes to a number of the body’s metabolic reactions, including:

• The Krebs cycle in which carbohydrates are converted into energy;
• Maintaining nervous system function;
• Muscle function;
• The breakdown of alcohol.

Vitamin B1 is also a precursor of thiamine pyrophosphate or TPP, a coenzyme essential for the activity of certain decarboxylase enzymes.

What are the Benefits Associated with Benfotiamine?

As well as preventing or correcting vitamin B1 deficiency, supplementing with benfotiamine also offers significant therapeutic potential. In fact, a lack of thiamine can be observed in several diseases which is why it is now used in a preventive or therapeutic capacity, in, amongst others:

• Supporting withdrawal from alcohol dependency to prevent deficiency caused by chronic alcoholism;
• The treatment of metabolic disorders;
• The care of certain neurodegenerative diseases;
• The prevention of fatigue, stress, and loss of appetite;
• The treatment of chronic diarrhea.

Why take Benfotiamine?

Given the importance of vitamin B1 to our health, our dietary supplement Benfotiamine has been specifically formulated to prevent the risk of deficiency. Inadequate intake or poor absorption of the vitamin can lead to deficiency and subsequent health problems. A lack of vitamin B1 is particularly common in alcoholics, people suffering from chronic intestinal diseases or acute infections, those taking diuretics or those who eat a lot of carbohydrates. In the absence of sufficient B1, deficiency can manifest in loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue. In more serious cases, thiamine deficiency can trigger diseases such as beriberi. This is characterized by neurological impairment with reduced mental capacity, mobility problems, disturbed balance, and even psychosis. Supplementing with benfotiamine can thus prove vital in preventing deficiency in vitamin B1.

Thiamine cannot be produced or stored by the body, so as with all vitamins, it must be obtained from an external source. The recommended daily amount, estimated to be around 1.5 g for adults, therefore has to be met through the diet. Foods rich in vitamin B1 include brewer’s yeast, nuts, wholegrains, and offal but while these are excellent sources, thiamine is a water-soluble, heat-sensitive vitamin which is easily destroyed during preparation and cooking. Hence, the development of thiamine supplements which protect the vitamin and provide an optimal intake. Delivered in capsule form, these supplements preserve the vitamin’s quality until it is absorbed by the body.

Our benfotiamine supplement has been developed to provide an optimal level of vitamin B1. Each capsule contains 80 mg of benfotiamine, providing 55 mg of elemental thiamine, with a suggested dose of 2 to 4 capsules a day to be taken with meals. This dose can, however, be adjusted in line with your needs and the advice of your therapist.

In addition to vitamin B1, you may also be interested in benefiting from the effects of other B complex vitamins such as vitamin B3, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.