Vitamin B1 on testosterone, estrogen, DHT and dopamine

Here’s why every Alpha Energy male needs vitamin B1 for high androgens and feeling awesome.

Low vitamin B1 can lead to low energy, low dopamine (low mood), low testosterone and infertility and estrogen dominance.

According to Dr Marrs and Dr Lonsdale, measurable thiamine deficiency has been observed across multiple patient populations with incidence rates ranging from 20% to over 90% depending upon the study (R).

Symptoms of low vitamin B1 include:

• Unrelenting or uncharacteristic fatigue
• Changes in mood with a tendency towards hyper-irritability and mood lability are common
• A sense of mental fuzziness and subtle decrements in memory are often reported
• Loss of appetite
• Sleep disturbances
• Gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort and dysmotility
• Food intolerances and vomiting may develop as the deficiency progresses

I don’t know about you, but I can definitely relate to most of those symptoms as I had most of them a few years ago.

A key benefit of vitamin B1

Vitamin B1 plays an important role in cellular energy production, is neuroprotective and is important for normal neuronal activity.

Vitamin B1 is a cofactor of a very important enzyme called pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). If PDH activity declines, glucose oxidation suffers and this leads to low dopamine, low ATP, exercise intolerance, elevated inflammation and a host of other issues including cancer.

Vitamin B1 is also not just a cofactor of PDH, but can directly stimulate its action (by inhibiting pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (and inhibitor enzyme of PDH)) (R).

Vitamin B1 on Testosterone

Low levels of vitamin B1 can lead to low testosterone.

This is due to:

• Reduced ATP production
• Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and inflammation
• Decreased endogenous antioxidant systems

…all of which are commonly found in chronic degenerative diseases.

At the testicular level, aging is associated with tissue atrophy, decreased steroidogenesis (reduced testosterone production) and spermatogenesis, and sexual behavior disorders (R, R).

Vitamin B1 supplementation in old animals restores energy production (from glucose and fat) and decreases ROS production. This leads to higher testosterone and sexual activity.

Vitamin B1 can help to increase testosterone.

Testicular shrinkage, low testosterone and reduced sexual behavior disorders often happen with age.

Vitamin B1 supplementation in old animals can help to prevent this. pic.twitter.com/HUDjcOnl5T

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 9, 2023

An interesting rat study indicated that a combination of pyruvate (end breakdown product of glucose) and thiamine pyrophosphate (the active form of thiamine) exhibited a strong potentiation of steroidogenesis in intact isolated rat adrenocortical cells in the presence of threshold concentrations of cyclic AMP or other cyclic nucleotides. (R) With enough glucose, vitamin B1 and a cAMP promoter (such as forskolin and caffeine) in the testes can powerfully stimulate steroidogenesis.

Lastly, androstenedione (a weak intermediate steroid hormone) also requires NADPH to be converted to testosterone.

Vitamin B1 on DHT

5-alpha reductase uses NADPH as a cofactor to create DHT.

NADPH is produced in the pentose phosphate pathway (NADPH) which uses vitamin B1 as a cofactor.

3 great ways to boost DHT.
– glucose
– vitamin B1
– thyroid

Glucose:
Any sources that are easy to digest and non-gut irritating to you specifically.

B1:
Supplement 500mg in the morning.

Best food thyroid foods:
– carbs
– organ meat
– shellfish
– dairy pic.twitter.com/lzjt68h67H

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 8, 2023

Vitamin B1 on Dopamine, mood and brain function

Dopamine and noradrenaline

Vitamin B1 has been shown to increase dopamine and noradrenaline levels, which are involved in mood, motivation, drive, movement, learning and memory.

Injecting vitamin B1 into the striatum area of the brain in rats dramatically increases dopamine levels (R). Also, supplementing TTFD (a derivative of thiamine with higher bioavailability and solubility) has been shown to increase dopamine release (R).

This effect is likely by enhancing glucose oxidation and ATP production. ATP itself promotes dopamine and noradrenaline release in the brain (R, R). Thus basically, low ATP leads to low dopamine and poor mood.

Low vitamin B1 has also been shown to enhance dopamine breakdown in parts of the brain responsible for sensory processing and intellectual functions (R).

Lastly, thiamine is neuroprotective to dopaminergic neurons and is very helpful against Parkinson’s disease.

Serotonin

A deficiency in thiamine decreases serotonin uptake (R). Too much serotonin contributes to apathy and anhedonia and complacency, not something that we want.

Also, low B1 increases the expression of the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A (R), which is overexpressed in depression.

Feeling good

Apart from increasing ATP, dopamine and noradrenaline, vitamin B1 can increase endorphin secretion. This promotes relaxation and optimizes sleep quality (R).

50mg of thiamine improves mood, attention and faster decision times (R).

100mg+ of thiamine has a significant effect on memory recall and is very useful when studying or before a test…

600mg/day of B1 in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, led to partial or complete regression of the fatigue and related disorders within a few hours (R). Thiamine also prevents bad symptoms of hypermetabolism, such as the rapid action of the heart, nervousness and digestive disturbances, during thyroid treatment (R).

Vitamin B1 promotes dopamine synthesis and low vitamin B1 promotes serotonin synthesis and inhibits serotonin breakdown.

Magnesium boosts ATP production and activates B1.

Aspirin boosts dopamine production. pic.twitter.com/i9zHsMKPC6

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 8, 2023

Vitamin B1 on Estrogen

The complete inactivation of estradiol in the liver is dependent on vitamin B1 and B2.

Without adequate amounts of either one of these vitamins, full inactivation cannot occur, and re-administration of vitamin B1 or B2 enables the liver to fully deactivate estradiol (R).

Summary

Not a lot of food is high in vitamin B1 and refined foods such as wheat products and sugar contain no vitamin B1. To make matters worse, these high-glucose foods without vitamin B1 will deplete your current B1 stores.

When you take vitamin B1, take it with food, since protein and folate assist in its absorption. Also, magnesium is an important cofactor in converting thiamine to its active form, thiamine pyrophosphate. Hence, a magnesium deficiency can mimic a thiamine deficiency.

Lastly, manganese has been shown to increase vitamin B1 levels in the body (R). Mussels, maple syrup, pineapples and many grains are rich in manganese.

For most people, regular thiamine HCL should work just fine. If you hardly feel it, then just increase the dose. As mentioned above, 600mg helped against hypothyroid-induced fatigue. Some people need 1-2g daily just to feel normal.

Fat-soluble thiamine supplements, such as Allithiamine, benfotiamine, Sulbutiamine and prosultiamine (found in Energin) are also worth experimenting with to see which one you benefit from the most.

• Thiamine HCL (I usually take 200-300mg first thing in the day with my TestoShake)
• Benfotiamine
• Sulbutiamine
• Allithiamine (start with 100-150mg daily)