Vitamin B1

(After-meal blood sugar)

Unfortunately as humans age blood sugar tends to rise: people don’t have to be diabetics to suffer from health consequences of high blood sugar. Moreover, after a meal, one’s blood sugar (whether a person is diabetic or NOT) spikes and the result is the production of byproducts called “advanced glycation end products” (AGEs), that damage cells, tissues and organs. They also trigger inflammation and oxidation, generating a viscious cycle.

What is glycation exactly? As a reference, the browning that takes place when foods are cooked at high temperatures is the result of sugar-related molecular change: the same happens inside our bodies every day due to chemical reactions when a sugar and an amino acid (protein) reacts together. Put simply, the structure of normal proteins becomes warped.

So, first hint: this is why you should never combine carbs with proteins when eating. They require two completely different digestive process, chemical reactions that shouldn’t be combined. Otherwise you just mess it all up (and then complain feeling lazy and heavy). The byproducts of this chemical reaction are called AGEs and they damage the body’s DNA, deactivate enzymes, induce apoptosis (programmed cell death), inflammation, oxidative stress, nerve-cell damage, high cholesterol, reduce vascular health, therefore increasing aging itself: blocking them directly leads to an extension of human life expectancy.

With advancing age even normal blood sugar levels trigger AGEs.

Having said all the above, the question is: what are our defenses? One is vitamin B1, also called Thiamine. It prevents glycation molecules from becoming fully formed in the first place. It would sound like the perfect solution but there’s a problem: it’s water soluble. It has difficulties penetrating the lipid molecules of cell membranes. We could increase the intake of it but wouldn’t do any good, because it’d get excreted in the urine. The real solution is: Benfothiamine, a FAT-soluble derivative of thiamine (vit. B1), that boosts thiamine levels (from 20% to 40% higher), inhibiting the AGEs. It has an extremely safe record and slows all the chronic disease and aging effects of glycation both in nondiabetics and diabetics.

Just two words on other benefits:

reverses the pathways and memory loss of Alzheimer’s

defense against sugar-induced vision loss

protects against cardiovascular damage

inhibits sugar-related kidney disease

reduce neuronal dysfunction

My second hint is: stay away from pure sugar. Controlling much more what you eat during a meal is enough to prevent above damages (unless in elderly age or with high blood sugar levels already), without supplementing. Walk for half an hour after each meal (it’s enough only if the meal is balanced, as said).

Remember the three poisons: tobacco, alcohol, sugar. EQUALLY harmful.

….Always humble,

Angiolino