Neurological, Psychiatric, and Biochemical Aspects of Thiamine Deficiency in Children and Adults.
Shibani Dhir, Maya Tarasenko, [...], and Cecilia Giulivi.
2019.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Despite the availability of dietary thiamine in wealthy countries, thiamine deficiency represents an important and usually overlooked issue. In developed countries, the predominant use of industrial food processing often depletes thiamine content along with other vitamins and nutrients. An increased consumption of processed food in the form of simple carbohydrates, not supplemented with adequate levels of thiamine, has been named “high calorie malnutrition” (7, 8). Thus, despite the caloric density, the diet is often of poor nutrition quality and does not meet recommended dietary guidelines for micronutrient intake, making this an at-risk population for micronutrient malnutrition (8). For instance, at least 29% of obese subjects that will undergo bariatric surgery have been reported as thiamine deficient (9). This condition highlights the fine balance between adequate caloric intake and balanced nutritional diet. As thiamine is a key factor in the metabolism of glucose, an increased carbohydrate intake will proportionally increase thiamine’s dietary demand (a minimum of 0.33 mg per 1,000 kcal) (1). Thus, rather than focusing on thiamine’s RDA, it is critical to match its intake with carbohydrate consumption as well as total caloric intake.