Benfotiamine

Benfotiamine is an allithiamine, a naturally-occurring lipophilic form of thiamin (vitamin B1)

Main Applications as reported by literature:

Anti-Aging
AGE Inhibitor
Brain Support
Thiamin Deficiency

Supplementation with Benfotiamine is frequently indicated when the symptoms of deficiency occur, deficiency is increasingly attributed to loss of B1 through modern food processing methods.

Clinically, thiamine helps to maintain normal function of the nervous system, muscles, and heart, and is necessary for normal growth and development. Common sources of thiamine are kidney, liver, brewer's yeast, flour, beans, pork, salmon, soybeans, and wheat germ. Symptoms of thiamine deficiency are loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and mental problems. Severe deficiency leads to beriberi, pain in the arms and legs, heart enlargement and fluid accumulation. Benfotiamine helps relieves the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy and may reduce the risk of diabetic complications.

Benfotiamine's superior ability to penetrate cell membranes increases its bioavailability over conventional thiamin supplements, thiamin pyrophosphate, and other allithiamines.

Additional Professional Information

Benfotiamine is a powerful "late-phase" inhibitor of Advanced Glycation Endproduct (AGE) formation, acting through several mechanisms to reduce the irreversible nonenzymatic modification of the structure and function of bodily proteins by sugars, resulting in documented maintenance of the structure and function of retinal, nervous, glomerulal, and other tissues.

The thiazole moiety is responsible for the coenzyme's activity in pyruvate metabolism where it acts to perform a nonoxidative decarboxylation.

Thiamin is important to the enzymatic release of energy from carbohydrates. It is water soluble and is not stored in the body. The integrity of the Nervous System is also maintained by Thiamin, as it is vital for the production of the Neurotransmitter Acetylcholine.In its co-enzyme form of Thiamin Pyrophosphate, it is crucial in several metabolic functions including the removal of Carbon Dioxide, and the Decarboxylation of Alpha-Keto Acids. Thiamin works synergistically with other members of the B Complex particularly Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2) and Niacin.