Type 2 diabetics get significant heart and kidney benefits from vitamin B1

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Microalbuminuria.

That’s a one-word tongue twister you’ll never want to hear out of your doctor’s mouth.

Albumin is a blood protein that leaks from the kidneys into the urine when kidney disease is present – a condition known as microalbuminuria. And it’s a marker that doctors look for in diabetics who are at high risk of kidney problems.

That’s why all diabetic patients should talk to their M.D.s about new research from the UK’s University of Warwick.

Address this deficiency now

Research has shown that vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine) plays a key role in diabetic health. In addition to kidney dysfunction, thiamine deficiency has been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular problems.

In this new Warwick study, researchers recruited 40 type 2 diabetics who received 300 mg of vitamin B1 or a placebo daily. Subjects in the thiamine group significantly reduced urinary albumin excretion, while few changes were reported in the placebo group. In fact, in 35 percent of the B1 subjects, urinary albumin excretion returned to normal levels.

Writing in the journal Diabetologia, the Warwick team states that a high dose of supplemental thiamine may provide “improved therapy for early-stage diabetic nephropathy.”

But in an earlier thiamine study, the same team noted that blood plasma concentration of thiamine might typically be about 75 percent lower than normal among diabetics. So while patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes are talking to their doctors about potential kidney and cardiovascular problems linked to B1 deficiency, they also need to devise a strategy to resolve that deficiency.

Add a little garlic

More than four years ago, HSI members read about a unique form of thiamine supplement in an article that appeared in the June 2004 HSI Members Alert.

The author of the article – Kathryn Mays-Wright – notes that thiamine plays a vital role in carbohydrate metabolism, so when the vitamin is deficient, “your cells are literally soaking in a toxic glucose bath. This gives glucose ample opportunity to move in and cause all sorts of problems, from fatigue to neuropathy.”

The typical form of thiamine supplement is water soluble, which is easily eliminated from the body. But Kathryn cites a breakthrough 2003 study that used a fat-soluble form of thiamine supplement.

Kathryn writes: “The factor that made the significant difference in this study is a supplement called benfotiamine, a lipid/fat soluble derivative of vitamin B1 (thiamine). In the presence of allicin, the active principle of garlic, the water-soluble thiamine hydrochloride is transformed into a lipid-soluble compound.

“According to studies, as an oral supplement, benfotiamine is absorbed more rapidly and for longer periods than water-soluble thiamine. And its unique structure enabled it to pass directly through cell membranes, readily crossing the intestinal wall and being taken straight to the cell. As a result, your body absorbs benfotiamine better than thiamine itself and levels of thiamine remain higher for longer. Thiamine absorption from benfotiamine is about five times higher than conventional thiamine supplements.”

You can find more information about benfotiamine at benfotiamine.org, and HSI members can read Kathryn’s full article in the HSI Members Alert archives on our web site at hsionline.com.

The HSI Members Alert provides a convenient way to stay informed about all of the most groundbreaking advances in alternative medicine. Use this link to find out how you can be among the very first to learn about cutting edge cures you’ll rarely hear about in the mainstream media.

Sources:
“Vitamin B1 May Help Diabetic Kidney Health: Study” Stephen Daniells, NutraIngredients-USA, 12/9/08, nutraingredients-usa.com
“Prevent – Even Reverse – Diabetes Damage with the Vitamin ‘Teacher’ Breakthrough” Kathryn Mays-Wright, HSI Members Alert, June 2004, hsionline.com