Thiamin Vitamin B1

Thiamin, vitamin B1 is another key nutrient for brain health. In this newsletter I will briefly review the role of thiamine in the brain and some food sources for this important vitamin.

I have stated earlier that mitochondrial health is critical to brain health. Without mitochondria making ATP molecules from the food we eat, the brain cells do not have the energy to so their work. They can’t make myelin, they make few neurotransmitters and are unable to repair damage done to the myelin sheath.

Thiamin is involved in supporting mitochondrial function in the brain. Without thiamin mitochondria have more difficulty generating ATP molecules or energy from sugar and carbohydrates. Thiamin is also an important co-factor to help the brain cells make myelin to insulate the nerve.


Ensuring plenty of thiamin in one’s diet is important for anyone with MS. Thiamin is secreted by the kidneys and is generally not stored in the body. It is important to have a steady supply in your diet. Good food sources include sunflower seeds, mushrooms, yeast, asparagus, black beans, cabbage and kale.

How much thiamin can one take safely? Because the body can easily get red of the excess thiamin an upper limit for safe amount of thiamin has not been established.
Physicians have used thiamin to treat alcoholic-related brain damage. Excessive alcohol use can cause severe thiamin deficiency. As a result they develop brain damage causing problems with memory, coordination, balance and problems with heart failure. The typical dose of thiamine given to alcoholics is 100mg per day. Thus it is likely that 100 mg of thiamin each day would generally be safe.

Physicians in the past have advocated high dose thiamin for people with degenerative brain conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. Dr. Frederich R. Klenner and the Canadian physician, Dr. H.T. Mount, both reported success using nutritional approaches to treat MS based upon liver extract which is a potent source of B vitamins. They believed that high dose thiamin, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacinamide (vitamin B3) were beneficial for those suffering from poor brain health.

Unfortunately, few who eat the western diet consume adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, including the B vitamins. While taking extra thiamin may be very helpful, improving the micronutrient content of your diet overall is a better solution. Eat more mushrooms, nutritional yeast, vegetables and fruit with a goal of consuming at least 9 cups a day is a better solution. That way you get more of the many essential vitamins and minerals that are necessary for a healthy brain and a healthy body.

Radio interview podcast

This link will take you the Iowa Public radio station which has an MP3 file of interview with Ben Kieffer on "The Exchange" December 8th, 2008.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuni/.jukebox?action=featured

Scroll down to find the pod cast for December 8.

MIcronutrients and Improved Function in MS

Progressive multiple sclerosis and micronutrients – is raw food superior to cooked food?


I am often asked whether raw food is superior to cooked food for micronutrient availability for patients with MS. The basic guide I provide is that food taken directly from the plant is the very best for you. If you cook food, the lower temper in steaming or a very low (180 degree) roast is the next best. The other key item is to eat any fluid or juice from the cooking (which is where all the water soluble nutrients have gone.


Micronutrients are critical for brain health. Unfortunately the average western diet is deficient in most vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids which have recommended daily allowances. The reason for this is the reliance on cheap sources of calories in grains which have most often had the germ and husk of the grain removed.
Very few vegetables are consumed. The animals are increasingly raised in high density farm factories with minimal exposure to green grass or sunshine. The consequence is that the meat has minimal omega 3 fatty acid, vitamin and mineral content.

Are nutrients lost with cooking? That depends on high the cooking temperature and how long. Immediately fresh and still raw when you eat the food means that cooking has not leached any of the micronutrients out of it. But some of the micronutrients may not be available to you because our bodies can’t digest all of the cell walls in plants. If you cook below the boiling point and drink all the juice – the food is generally more digestible and you have not lost much of the micronutrients. However – some of the compounds that are very helpful to us will gradually be lost with prolonged cooking. Cooking above the boiling point of water, particularly frying tends to oxidize many of the compounds in food. When that occurs many of the anti-oxidants in food have become oxidized – and therefore their anti-oxidant benefit to us is gone.

Bottom line – Raw retains the nutrients in the food. Cooking gently makes the nutrients more available because the food has been partially digested by cooking. Frying oxidizes many of the helpful compounds. Prolonged high temperatures cooking likewise can breakdown micronutrients. My advice is to increase your micronutrients through more vegetables and fruits. Eat them raw or cooked according to your personal preference. But if you cook, always drink the juice. Never throw it away.

Media Events

Radio interview December 8th 2008
10 a.m. with Ben Keiffer
910 AM


We will be talking about the use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and nutrition in the setting of MS.

Vitamin D and MS disease activity

In this blog I will comment on the role of vitamin D in multiple sclerosis. Multiple studies have demonstrated an association of low vitamin D levels and increased risk of multiple sclerosis diagnosis and greater severity of symptoms.

We also have more and more evidence that vitamin D is important to health immune function. Furthermore there is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. People spend less time outdoors. When they do go outside people apply sun screen to protect them from the sun to decrease the risk of skin cancer. The problem is that sun screen also blocks the skin's ability to make vitamin D. That explains why we have an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in our children, young adults and those over sixty-five. Thus far every group that has been measured has had an alarming rate of vitamin D deficiency.

If someone has MS or has a family member with MS it is likely that they would benefit by taking supplemental vitamin D. What dose should they take? The recommended daily allowance for vitamin D has been set for only 400 international units (IU). That was when scientists had believed vitamin D's only role was related to bone health. The dose of 400IU was the dose of vitamin D which prevented spontaneous bone fractures.   However vitamin D affects more than bones. The brain is filled with Vitamin D receptors and vitamin D is important to normal immune function.

There is increasing evidence the recommended daily allowance is much too low. If one was outside during the summer long enough so that their skin was slightly pink, but not enough to have even a mild sun burn, 20,000 IU of vitamin D would have been made in the skin. Researchers have recently given MS patients higher doses of vitamin D and then examined the patients for evidence of toxicity and of decreased MS disease activity. Their conclusion was that doses of 10,000 IU each day were well tolerated. Furthermore patients who had been given 10,000 IU experienced less disease activity as measured by the ability to tasks of daily living and the molecular markers of MS related inflammation. 

Based on those study findings taking 10,000 IU per day of vitamin D is likely safe and likely beneficial. Using tanning beds to maintain a tan without burning is an alternative strategy to maintaining adequate vitamin D levels.  Having your personal physician check your calcium level would confirm that the high dose of vitamin D is not causing problems for you. Ensuring that you have sufficient vitamin D is an important strategy to minimize disease activity if one has or is at risk of having MS.

Media Events

Radio interview
November 25th at 10 a.m.
I will be interviewed by Ben Keiffer on Iowa Public Radio 910 AM.
Television show
Week of November 24th
During the week of November 24th the lecture Up from the Chair - How did it happen? will air on cable access TV in Iowa City, Iowa. The 2 hour show will be broadcast multiple times through that week and the following week. Check with the cable access for specific times.

Connections Between Food, Mitochondria and Chronic Disease

In this post I will review the connection between micronutrients, mitochondria and multiple sclerosis. The link between the food you eat, the micronutrient content of that food, and multiple sclerosis is reviewed. The specific micronutrients needed for optimal mitochondrial health is reviewed and general diet recommendations are provided.

The brain and spinal cord depend entirely on mitochondria to the make the molecules of adenosine tri-phosphate or ATP which are used to drive everything that our brain cells must do to function. The chemical plant which makes ATP molecules is the mitochondria. Two important cofactors are needed to make ATP. These are B vitamins and coenzyme Q10. And like all manufacturing processes there is some left over trash at the end which is free radicals. And like any other factory, when the trash is not removed the chemical plant eventually blows up. The defense against free radicals is antioxidants. When the mitochondria are short on the B vitamins and coenzyme Q less ATP is made and more trash is made per ATP molecule generated. When less antioxidants are around free radicals are not neutralized and instead begin to damage the brain cell.

There is a growing medical literature which indicates that mitochondria are not healthy in multiple sclerosis and are contributing to the damage which is occurring, particularly in progressive MS. Eating to ensure one’s mitochondria have plenty of micronutrients is something under the individual’s control and is not going to conflict your current treatment.

It is important for cells to have a ready supply of intracellular anti-oxidants. It is the colored vegetables and fruits that have the most anti-oxidants.

Our Health= Micronutrients consumed – empty calories consumed.

Which one of those most closely describes your diet, or your children’s diet?

Chronic Disease= Few micronutrients (vegetables + fruits)- empty calories (French fries, potatoes, white bread, candy, soda, pastries etc.)

Optimal mental and physical healthy= Many fruits + vegetables, some fish, occasional organ meats – no empty calories.

The more micronutrients in your diet – the minerals like iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium, vitamins both known and not yet discovered, and the antioxidants to help your cells get rid of the trash- the more easily it is for the cell to do all the things the DNA wants it to do.

I am in internal medicine- occasionally I give an antibiotic that cures someone of their infection. Mostly I give medicines that control symptoms- such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood sugar control, or lowering cholesterol. If someone wants to have optimal health- then they must provide their cells with as many micronutrients as possible.

Genes turn on and off according to our diets. That means if we eat diets poor in micronutrients- genes turn on which accelerate the degeneration of our bodies- worsening of diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity for example. If we eat diets rich in micronutrients – genes turn on that often lead to regression of disease.

Bottom line= optimal health requires optimal nutrition.

Physicians mostly can only control symptoms. For your mitochondria, your cells and your body’s to work most effectively – eat more micronutrients.

Diet recommendations: Each day maximize your micronutrients-

9 cups of vegetables and fruits 3 cups should be dark green or from the cabbage family,3 cups should be deeply colored, for example red, orange, or blue, and 3 cups of your choice but do not include potatoes or corn in the 9 cups.

Organ meats once a week or wheat germ daily for coenzyme Q

Fish or seafood three times a week

When you eat –

Have 3 cups of vegetables and fruit first, then your protein source, then whatever else it is that you want to eat. Remember –unless your are doing physical activity – your body was designed to maintain itself without any grains/ starchy potatoes. If you are physically active – then additional carbohydrates make sense. If you have any chronic disease – any calorie you eat that is not packed with micronutrients is a calorie that took you farther away from your goal of optimal health.

Activity – difficult to sustain if it is not part of your daily life. People who are most successful are those who have incorporated more walking, physicality into the their routines either before or during work hours. Moving (walking or jogging) one’s body 3 miles a day is optimal.

Sustaining the effort – people who lose weight and keep eating 9 or more cups of vegetables and fruit, and walked or jogged 20 miles in a week are the most successful at maintaining weight loss.

Supplements – Food is the best. Do not think can supplements replace the micronutrients from 9 cups of vegetables and fruits. If you cannot eat fish however –take fish oil or flax oil. If you cannot eat organ meats once a week or wheat germ daily, take coenzyme Q10 supplements. If you have chronic disease – improving the health and nutrition for your mitochondria is an excellent place to start.

Terry Wahls, MD