Vitamin B1 and Restless Legs

While writing a blog about carbohydrates, I came across a piece of text about vitamin B1 in a background article. This vitamin appears to play a role in reducing symptoms of RLS.

In the usual list of vitamins and minerals that are relevant for restless legs, vitamin B1 is usually not mentioned. That list usually mainly contains magnesium, iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid.

In this blog I will discuss what vitamin B1 is and in which situation you can benefit from it with restless legs.

What is vitamin B1

Vitamin B1 is another word for thiamine and is a water-soluble vitamin. Water soluble means that it is in the moisture of foods. Your body doesn’t stock it, so you have to get it through your diet every day.

You can find vitamin B1 in animal products such as meat and dairy. It is also found in grain products such as bread, in potatoes and to a limited extent in vegetables and fruit. It is most commonly found in wholemeal bread and pork.

Thiamine is important in your body for converting carbohydrates into energy. It is also essential for the heart, nervous system and brain.

With a normal diet, according to a source such as the Nutrition Center, you will not quickly run into a deficiency. A deficiency mainly occurs in alcoholics, in people who eat very one-sided, who have an intestinal disorder or during pregnancy.

According to other sources, such as orthomolecular medicine, there are a lot more indications for a possible deficiency of thiamine. There are indications for a large number of chronic diseases, but also for circumstances such as stress, smoking, heavy physical work and an increased intake of carbohydrates.

As far as your nervous system is concerned, vitamin B1 is important for the transfer of stimuli between cells, for example in muscles.

Restless legs

As for restless legs, I came across vitamin B1 while reading about the possible negative effects of eating too many carbohydrates.

The relevant article stated that at a certain point your body can no longer process an excess of carbohydrates. The excess is converted into a surplus of lactic acid (or lactate) in your muscles. This feels like restless legs.

Vitamin B1 improves sugar metabolism and helps to process lactic acid. In this way it can help to reduce the complaints of restless legs. The restless legs in this case are a form of secondary RLS. By this I mean that the complaints arise from another disease or a deficiency. The deficiency of vitamin B1 is caused by eating too many carbohydrates, especially refined (or: fast) sugars.

In such a situation, you can consider taking extra vitamin B1. However, it seems more sensible to me to take a close look at and adjust your diet. When in doubt, always seek advice from a doctor, dietitian or other health professional.