B vitamins have many benefits in the body. They are great for hair, skin and nails, energy, cell division and growth, metabolism and a slew of other things we know about and I'm sure some that we don't. B vitamins work together in a group, and while you may be recommended to take only one for a certain issue (eg. vegetarians need more B12) you should start by taking a B complex that contains all of them, and take the separate one in higher doses. B vitamin supplements can be purchased at all health food stores.
But today I want to talk about vitamin B1 or Thiamin. In the body Thiamin has a direct correlation to energy. it helps the body metabolism by breaking down fats and carbs. However as essential as it is, the recommended dose is only about 1.5 mg daily, an amount that we can get easily from food.
But taking B1 in larger doses may have more benefits. Some nutritionists suggest taking 100mg daily this summer to keep away mosquitoes. Those pesky pests are apparently repelled by the sent that B1 leaves on your skin when you sweat it out. All B vitamins are water soluble, which means that they are used up as needed by the body and the extras are excreted from the body via sweat and urine (that's the part of your multivitamin that makes your pee bright yellow). The chemical compounds of Thiamin in your sweat have a swell that humans can't smell, but really irritates female mosquitoes, causing them to just stay away. It is recommended that you start taking 100mg of B1 (on top of a B complex or multivitamin) two weeks before a known outing where there will be mosquitoes, but since we have them even in the city, just talking it all summer would be best. You can not overdose on B vitamins, whatever your body doesn't need it just excretes (which is the whole point here) and you might even have shinier hair and more energy too!
Namaste
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