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# Thiamine - vitamin B1 helps pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes mellitus
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/thiamine_diabetes_mellitus_1115130847/
- Published: 2013-11-15T21:46:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:55:41.000Z
- Description: In 12 people with hyperglycemia, six weeks of 300 mg thiamine daily lowered 2-hour plasma glucose from baseline and prevented the rises in fasting glucose and insulin seen on placebo. The authors say high-dose thiamine may slow progression toward diabetes.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Diabetes, Avoiding Illness, #vivvo-import

Friday Nov 15, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking a high dose of thiamine or vitamin B1 as a dietary supplement improves glucose tolerance in people with high blood sugar or hyperglycemia such as people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetics, according to a new study in European Journal of Nutrition.

Fariba Alaei Shahmiri from School of Public Health, Curtin University in Perth, WA, Australia and colleagues conducted the study and found people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes taking a high dose of thiamine for six weeks significantly improved glucose intolerance.

Enrolled in the study were 12 hyperglycemic people with 10 having impaired glucose tolerance and 2 newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. For the study, all participants received placebo for six weeks and three capsules of 100 mg thiamine per day for another six weeks. Before and after the supplementation, 2-h serum glucose and other metabolic parameters were measured.

The researchers found thiamine supplementation significantly decreased 2-h plasma glucose, compared to baseline while placebo did not cause any significant change.

Additionally, participants when taking placebo experienced a significant increase in fasting plasma glucose and insulin, and HOMA-IR compared with baseline but did not when they took the thiamine supplement.

No change in 2-h serum insulin and renal function biomarker were observed within or between arms.

The researchers concluded “Supplementation with high-dose thiamine may prevent deterioration in fasting glucose and insulin, and improve glucose tolerance in patients with hyperglycemia. High-dose thiamine supplementation may prevent or slow the progression of hyperglycemia toward diabetes mellitus in individuals with impaired glucose regulation.”

Thiamine is also known as vitamin B1\. Thiamine deficiency can cause metabolic coma and death. Malnutrition is one cause for thiamine deficiency which associated with chronic disease such as alcoholism, gastrointestinal disease, HIV-AIDS and vomiting. And thiamine can cause syndromes like beriberi, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and optic neuropathy. This vitamin can also be used to treat memory loss in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and alcoholic brain disease.

Thiamine is available as a dietary supplement on the Internet and local health stores. (David Liu, PHD)