Thiamine Alarms: 19 Subtle Signs Your Body Needs Vitamin B1

7. Weight Loss

Thiamine deficiency patients may exhibit weight loss as a symptomatic manifestation of their condition. Carbohydrates are a form of dietary nutrient the body utilizes to produce energy the cells are able to utilize. Weight loss may occur in a thiamine deficiency because the brain's mechanism of mediating low energy states in affected individuals called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) becomes impaired. AMPK in the hypothalamus acts to restore the balance of energy in the body through increasing the production of glucose, stimulating feeding behavior, and stopping thermogenesis to slow the output of energy. However, a thiamine deficiency inhibits the action of AMPK in the hypothalamus, which cripples the mechanism the body uses to keep a balance between energy expenditure and energy intake. Without this balance, the patient will not have an appetite triggered by the AMPK mechanism, and the expenditure of energy at rest will not decrease. This negative energy balance burns away any calories and extra fat around the body during energy-making processes, resulting in obvious weight loss and anorexia in some cases.

8. Compromised Reflexes

Compromised reflexes may be a symptom manifestation of thiamine deficiency. Because thiamine is critical for the metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins, a lack of it means these metabolic processes do not occur as much. As a side effect of this malfunction, the products of carbohydrate synthesis called pyruvic acid and lactic acid accumulate in the tissues and cause the progressive degeneration of nerve cells. The long nerves in the legs are typically affected first, and the long nerves of the arms follow. Because the nerves play a large role in the reflexes, damage to these nerves can result in a loss or reduction of the reflexive functions. Additionally, the wasting of muscle that occurs in individuals who have a thiamine deficiency due to inadequate energy production can contribute to the compromise of reflexes. The reason for this is because the muscle is the tissue that produces movement of the limb in a reflex. Both the muscular and neural components of the reflexes must be functional in order to produce a reflex movement in response to stimuli.