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Top 5 Common Food Sources of Vitamin B1
Looking to get more thiamin in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of vitamin B1 (aka thiamin), per serving. Getting enough vitamin B1 as part of a healthy balanced diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements or multivitamins doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | Vitamin B1 (µg/serving) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yeast Extract Spread | 2964 | 1 tbsp | 4207.5 | 351 |
| 2 | Soybeans, Mature Seeds | 326 | 1/2 cup | 812.8 | 68 |
| 3 | Tigernut | 192 | 1 oz / 28 g | 666.4 | 56 |
| 4 | Pigeon Peas (Red Gram), Mature Seeds | 211 | 1/2 cup | 659.1 | 55 |
| 5 | Pork, Average1 | 287 | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 623.1 | 52 |
Looking to get more thiamin in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of vitamin B1 aka thiamin. Getting enough vitamin B1 as part of a healthy balanced diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements or multivitamins doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
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What Is Vitamin B1 and What Does It Do?
Thiamin (sometimes spelled thiamine, and also called vitamin B1) was the first water-soluble vitamin ever identified. It’s particularly vital in its active form of thiamin pyrophosphate, which serves as a cofactor for a variety of enzymes involved in the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids and carbohydrates. As a B vitamin, it’s involved in energy production via the Krebs cycle—with a specific role in converting pyruvate into acetyl CoA, the energy source for the cycle itself. Thiamin is also needed for producing RNA and DNA (due to assisting in the synthesis of ribose from glucose), as well as for maintaining normal heart and muscle function.
Research shows that high intakes of thiamin could benefit people with type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance, due to preventing further increases in insulin and fasting blood sugar levels; it could also help protect against renal complications. Higher thiamin intake is also associated with a reduced risk of cataracts, while lower thiamin levels are associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (although more controlled trials are needed in humans). And in patients with sepsis or septic shock, thiamin therapy—typically given intravenously—has been shown to protect against progressive organ dysfunction and reduce the risk of mortality. When thiamin intake is chronically low, it can produce a deficiency disease called beriberi, which can affect the cardiovascular system (“wet beriberi”) or nervous system (“dry beriberi”).
Thiamin has a somewhat complicated relationship with cancer. On one hand, fast-growing tumors have high thiamin demands, and can subsequently induce deficiency in cancer patients. However, some concern exists that supplementing with thiamin to protect against deficiency in these cases could further fuel the growth of tumors. More human research is needed to understand the safety of thiamin supplements in the context of cancer.
Learn more about thiamin here.
Vitamin B1 Deficiency
A 2011 study evaluated American’s usual nutrient intake including nutrients that are naturally-occurring in foods, from fortified and enriched foods, and from supplements. The results indicated that 56.3% of American adults usual diet falls short of the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for vitamin B1 intake.
Groups At Risk
Those at higher risk of vitamin B1 deficiency include:
- individuals with diseases that impair intestinal absorption,
- those using diuretics (particularly with medications like furosemide),
- hemodialysis patients,
- individuals undergoing periods of higher metabolic demand (such as during pregnancy, breastfeeding, fever, strenuous exercise, and adolescent growth),
- chronic alcoholics,
- people with anorexia,
- those with certain infections (such as malaria),
- HIV/AIDS patients,
- bariatric surgery patients,
- individuals taking certain medications, such as anticonvulsants (e.g., phenytoin), and chemotherapy agents (e.g., 5-fluorouracil),
- obese individuals, and
- those consuming foods with anti-thiamin factors in large quantities including:
- heat-stable antagonists found in tea, coffee, and betel nuts,
- thiaminases present in raw freshwater fish, shellfish, horsetail, and ferns (deactivated by cooking),
- mycotoxins, and
- thiaminases from wild silkworm consumption.
Learn more here.
Symptoms of Deficiency
Severe thiamin deficiency causes beriberi, a condition that impairs nerve, muscle, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal function. Depending on which body systems the thiamin deficiency affects, beriberi has 4 different subcategories.
- Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, leading to leg swelling, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and congestive heart failure.
- Dry beriberi impacts the nervous system, causing neuropathy, muscle weakness, abnormal reflexes, and in severe cases, Wernicke’s encephalopathy (confusion, eye muscle paralysis) and Korsakoff psychosis (chronic memory loss) – collectively referred to as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
- Gastrointestinal beriberi results in lactic acidosis, causing nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting.
- Infantile beriberi, seen in infants of thiamin-deficient mothers, leads to diarrhea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, weight loss, and hoarseness.
Learn more here.
Problems From Too Much Vitamin B1
Excessive thiamin intake, particularly from high-dose supplements or injectable thiamin, can cause side effects like nausea, throat tightness, rash, itching, sweating, or feeling overly warm. Rarely, large intravenous doses may trigger anaphylactic reactions. These issues are uncommon with typical daily intakes or standard multivitamin doses. As always, be sure to seek medical advice from your healthcare provider if you’re considering supplementing with high doses of this micronutrient.
Learn more here.
How Much Vitamin B1 Do We Need?
The following table summarizes the current recommended amounts of thiamin, based on age, gender, or situation.
| 0 – 6 months | |||||
| 6 months to < 12 months | |||||
| 1 yr – 3 yrs | |||||
| 4 yrs – 8 yrs | |||||
| 9 yrs – 13 yrs | |||||
| 14 yrs – 18 yrs | |||||
| 19 yrs – 50 yrs | |||||
| 51+ yrs | |||||
| Pregnant (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (31 – 50 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (31 – 50 yrs) |
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of Vitamin B1
Rich sources of thiamin include organ meat, pork, seeds, squash, yeasts, fish (especially trout, mackerel, salmon, and tuna), legumes, and whole grains (although processing grains significantly reduces their thiamin content). Some foods are also fortified with thiamin, such as fortified breakfast cereals and breads.
Best Food Sources of Vitamin B1
The following foods are the best sources of thiamin, containing 50% or more of the daily value per serving.
Good Food Sources of Vitamin B1
The following foods are excellent or good sources of thiamin, containing at least 10% (and up to 20%) of the daily value per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
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Expand to see all scientific references for this article.
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