Benefits of adding vitamin B1-rich foods to your kid's diet

Many children suffer from low energy levels nowadays. Now this may be a result of their busy schedules or their poor diets. But it is important to ensure that your child gets adequate nutrition amidst all the business of the modern world. Vitamin B1 is one of those crucial nutrients. Vitamin B1 or thiamine is an important water-soluble vitamin that is not produced by the human body, and is stored in very small quantities by the liver.

This makes it an essential nutrient for your kid’s health because it plays a big role in their physiological well-being. Thiamine helps metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and converts them into energy at a cellular level. Being a B vitamin, it also aids in smooth brain and nervous system functioning.

Popular Topics

What is Vitamin D deficiency? Spotting early signs of Vitamin D deficiency

Reviewed By Divya Gandhi, Dietitian

Article | 4 mins

How to help your child retain strength throughout the day

Reviewed By Apurva Surve, Sports Nutritionist

Article | 4 mins

Understanding Bournvita: Relationship with Milk & Sugar Content Explained

Reviewed By Kaushiki Gangully,

Article | 3 mins

Understanding How Vitamin D Leads to Strength

Reviewed By Kejal Shah, Nutrition Expert

Article | 4 mins

Vitamin B1 also plays an important role in various metabolic reactions. Foods rich in vitamin B include fatty fish, like salmon, fortified cereals like brown rice, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and certain dairy products. It is also found in some quantities in lean meat and its organs. Therefore, vitamin B1 is abundantly found in healthy, whole foods and makes a compelling case for being added to your child’s diet.

But what are the benefits of adding vitamin B1-rich foods to your kid’s diet? Read on to find out.

Benefits Of Adding Vitamin B1-Rich Foods To Your Kid’s Diet

Adding Vitamin B to your child’s diet,

1. Helps Prevent Heart Failure

Hearts need a constant supply of energy to pump blood to the different organs of the body. Not getting enough thiamine can lead to congestion in the heart and cause heart failure. Heart failures caused by thiamine deficiency are called ‘wet’ or cardiac beriberi. Sufficient inclusion of vitamin B1-rich foods helps maintain heart health and clean fat from blood vessels.

2. Lowers Risk Of Brain Disease

The human brain needs thiamine for energy. Vitamin B1 deficiency can lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a disease like Alzheimer’s in terms of symptoms. People with an alcohol abuse history, celiac disease, and gastric bypass surgery are at a higher risk of developing vitamin B1 deficiency and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Therefore, it is wise to incorporate more vitamin B1-rich foods into your kid’s diet to slow and prevent both brain diseases.

3. Improves Eye Health

Individuals who consume diets rich in vitamin B1 are at a lower risk of cataracts, which are cloudy spots on your natural lenses. These spots cause eyesight problems like double or blurred vision, which can eventually lead to blindness if untreated. Therefore, incorporate more foods rich in vitamin B to improve your child’s eyesight and health.

4. Boosts Immune System

B-complex vitamins have always been your child’s immunity’s best friend. They help minimize inflammations induced by stress and help the body cope well. Healthy levels of vitamin B1 ensure that your kid’s body is strong enough to fight off any foreign invasion, be they bacteria, viruses, or fungi.

5. Monitors Blood Sugar Levels

Individuals who suffer from diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2, tend to have low thiamine levels. Also, individuals who suffer from diabetes-related symptoms like pain, tingling, and burning sensations have found relief when they are on a diet rich in thiamine or its supplements. Therefore, monitoring and maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is easier if your child’s diet is full of vitamin B1-rich foods.

6. Maintains A Healthy Nervous System.

A kind of beriberi, known as ‘dry’ beriberi, affects your nervous system. Not getting enough thiamine can harm peripheral nerves, sending sudden sensations of heat and chills. Vitamin B1 deficiency can also cause problems with balance and coordination in an individual. Therefore, ensuring your kids' meals and snacks include vitamin B1 is essential.

7. Provides Energy

Vitamin B1’s chief purpose is metabolizing energy from the various food sources consumed by your kid. Lack of adequate thiamine can lead to a lack of attention, a foggy brain, poor memory, cognition, motor skills, fatigue, and weakness. Therefore, it is important to ensure your kid consumes adequate amounts of vitamin B1 daily.

Conclusion

Vitamin B1 is a must-need for your children. In today’s busy world, kids are often as busy as working professionals with their non-stop tuition, classes, and school. To successfully make it through the day and repeat it daily requires a lot of strength and energy, both mental and physical. To ensure your child has enough both, enrich their diets with healthy, whole foods. Try to make all your meals at home, with takeout being a rare monthly occasion. This will help get your kids accustomed to healthy eating as well, while developing an improved taste palette. Just make sure their meals are full of fortified grains, legumes, fish, nuts, and seeds, and your kids are good to go. They will reap the benefits of a vitamin B1-rich diet and set the foundation for a healthy future.