Thiamin (or thiamine), also known as vitamin B-1, is a water-soluble vitamin that tissues in the body need to function properly. It was the first B vitamin that scientists discovered, so they appropriately named it vitamin B-1. Similar to other B vitamins, thiamine helps the body convert food into energy. It also plays a role in energy metabolism and, as a result, development, growth, and cell function. 

How Much Thiamin Do You Need Every Day?

According to registered dietitians, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of thiamin is different for men and women. Men who are ages 19 and older should consume 1.2 milligrams (mg) of thiamin per day. Women in that same age bracket should aim for 1.1 mg of thiamin per day; however, lactating or pregnant women need slightly more at 1.4 mg per day. 

There are select populations at greater risk of thiamin deficiency than others. For example, people with HIV or AIDS, elderly people, diabetics, and people who chronically consume alcohol have a higher risk. Long-term thiamin deficiency can increase the risk of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which can be life-threatening. People undergoing dialysis for kidneys or taking loop diuretics are also at risk of thiamin deficiency. 

Fortunately, thiamin deficiency is fairly uncommon in most of the developed world. It’s quite rare in adults, but it can happen. Should you need to increase thiamin levels, focus on the following foods. 

Sunflower Seeds

A mere one ounce of roasted sunflower seeds supplies the body with 35% of the RDA of thiamine. Sunflower seeds also provide niacin, healthy fats, and vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant. When you choose sunflower seeds, opt for the unsalted varieties to keep sodium intake down.

Black Beans

There are numerous reasons to keep black beans as a staple in your pantry. For starters, they are rich in plant-based protein, magnesium, iron, and fiber. Additionally, one cup of cooked black beans offers 35% of the RDA of thiamin, so don’t avoid these versatile, nutritional powerhouses. 

Flax Seeds

The mighty fiber superstars are here! Flax seeds are some of the richest sources of fiber and plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, and one ounce provides 39% of the RDA of thiamin. When purchasing flax seeds, it’s best to buy ground flax seeds, because it’s easier for the body to digest them compared to whole flax seeds. You can add ground flax seeds to muffin recipes, oatmeal, energy bites, or smoothies. 

Navy Beans

The average American only consumes 15 grams of fiber per day or less, which is below the RDA. Adult men should consume 38 grams of fiber and adult women should consume 25 grams per day. One cup of cooked navy beans offers 19 grams of fiber, but it also brings 36% of the RDA of thiamin to the table. 

Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is primarily available during the fall and winter months and it’s rich in a variety of antioxidants. It has a vibrant color and sweet flavor that pairs well with assertive spices. In addition to the antioxidants and impressive fiber content, it also contains a lot of thiamin, with one cup offering 29% of the RDA.

Asparagus

Looking to increase thiamin intake while simultaneously beating belly bloat? Look no further than asparagus spears. One cup of cooked asparagus will get you 24% of the RDA of thiamin and a hefty amount of asparagine, which is what colors asparagus green. Asparagine also acts as a natural diuretic, which may potentially reduce water retention. 

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We have a food problem in the United States. From frozen dinners and fried foods to processed snacks and condiments, Americans over-consume salt. It’s something that doctors warn adults about on a regular basis, but seldom do Americans take steps to reduce their sodium intake. New salt guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aim to crack down on salt intake. 

By putting out these guidelines, the hope is that food manufacturers and restaurants reduce the amount of sodium in their foods over the next 2.5 years. Although the guidelines are voluntary, reducing the amount of sodium by 12% in commercially processed, packaged, and prepared foods is the goal. The reason for these guidelines is because sodium is a main staple in the Standard American Diet. In fact, over 70% of the total sodium intake for the average American comes from added sodium during food manufacturing. 

Sodium In The United States

According to health surveys and medical research, the approximate daily consumption of sodium in America is about 3,400 milligrams (mg). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the years 2020-2025 says that the recommended daily allowance of sodium should be 2,300 mg for people aged 14 and up. The American Heart Association (AHA) applauded this decision, as excess sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. 

Although it’s beneficial to educate the public about the dangers of consuming too much sodium, it’s not enough to stop people from overindulging. More than 4 out of 10 American adults have high blood pressure, with numbers increasing across minority populations. That’s not because people season their food with table salt. The problem is that the excess salt already exists in the packaged, processed, or restaurant foods people eat. Adding more table salt to the equation only worsens the problem. 

The Guidelines Are Only Voluntary

The FDA is not enforcing food manufacturers or restaurants to lower the amount of sodium they add to food. The dietary guidelines are in place for the knowledge of the general public, but people easily exceed these guidelines, especially in America. For example, the new 2,300 mg of sodium per day guideline is about half of what the average American adult consumes daily. This explains the higher numbers of hypertension throughout the country. Unfortunately, there is no mandate that enforces the amount of sodium added to food. 

The reality is that hundreds of thousands Americans die each year from chronic disease related to poor nutrition. Making food manufacturers and restaurants adhere to the newer sodium guidelines would be the best way to tackle this problem. It may not show positive results right away, but a gradual reduction over time would allow people’s palates to adapt to less sodium. Eating salty foods only makes people crave more salt, so reducing the amount of salt in food could potentially change eating habits. 

The Next Step

Lowering a person’s sodium intake from 3,400 mg per day to 3,000 mg per day is not enough. According to the AHA, reducing an American adult’s sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day could prevent about 450,000 cases of heart disease. Additionally, this could save about $40 billion in healthcare costs over a 20-year period. Most of all, reducing sodium intake can help improve quality of life. Simple math makes it clear: reducing sodium intake can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. If people make the effort to adhere to the new guidelines, their health will benefit in the long run. 

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What are the most common foods that come to mind when you think of protein? Meat, eggs, protein powder (it’s in the name!), seafood, and more are the typical go-to protein sources. If you exclusively rely on these foods for your protein needs, your overall health may suffer. While these food sources contain protein, they may not be high quality or rich with beneficial nutrients. As it turns out, there are many protein sources that people often overlook.

There are many surprising foods that pack a powerful protein punch. Most of these foods are plant-based, which is good news for anyone who follows a vegan or vegetarian diet. Not to mention, these overlooked protein sources are often easier for the body to absorb. When the body can easily process foods, it can absorb the nutrients a lot quicker. For example, your body can absorb the protein from hemp seeds more easily than the protein from red meat. 

How Much Protein Do You Need?

No matter what diet you subscribe to, it’s always best to give your body the healthiest foods. The recommended daily allowance for protein is about seven grams per 20 pounds of body weight. If a person weighs 140 pounds, they would need 50 grams of protein each day. That said, someone who ways 300 pounds may not need to follow that rule, because too much protein can harm the body. People who eat too much protein, especially if it comes from red meat or foods with saturated fats, can increase their risk of kidney stones, colon cancer, and heart disease. Focusing on plant-based protein options may not carry these same risks, though.

Unique Protein Sources

Artichoke Hearts

Originating in the Mediterranean, artichoke hearts exhibit offer four grams of protein per cup. In addition to their protein content, they also offer vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, vitamin B6, magnesium, potassium, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. While fresh artichokes are the best options, it takes several whole artichokes to yield one cup of artichoke hearts. There are many jarred varieties that you can purchase in stores. 

Lentils

Lentils are legendary legumes that come in several varieties. The most common lentils are green or red, and you can treat them both the same when it comes to cooking. Additionally, almost all lentil varieties offer similar nutritional values. They typically contain 115 calories, 8 grams of fiber, and 9 grams of protein per one-half cup of cooked lentils. Add them to a stew, soup, or transform them into a filling side dish.

Seaweed

Surprisingly, seaweed is one of the best plant-based sources of protein, offering up nine grams per cup. While the protein amount varies between seaweed varieties, they generally offer similar amounts. There are many ways way to consume seaweed, including seaweed salads, in poke bowls, in regular salads, or in the form of nori sheets. Keep in mind that you’ll have to eat a lot of nori sheets to get one serving of protein. For all the cooks out there, consider blending nori sheets in dips, pestos, or dressings as a salt substitute. 

Green Peas

Throughout the year, green peas are readily available in their frozen form. One cup of green peas offers up to eight grams of protein. The great thing about green peas is that you can add them to soups, stews, pastas, salads, or fried rice dishes. Keep in mind that these are not snow peas or sugar snap peas; these are green peas.

Spinach

Everyone can benefit from adding more leafy greens to their diet. Leafy greens like spinach, kale, collard greens, or chard are key components to healthy diets, as they offer vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein. One cup of cooked spinach offers about five grams of protein. The best part about leafy greens like spinach is that they are low in calories!

Quinoa

Many people think quinoa is a grain because it’s advertised as an alternative to rice, pasta, and more. Quinoa is actually a seed that contains all the nine essential amino acids that the body needs. The body doesn’t make essential amino acids, so you need to obtain them from food sources. One cup of cooked quinoa contains eight grams of protein and five grams of fiber. 

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Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is an essential nutrient that impacts skeletal structure, immune function, blood pressure, and brain function. Given all these benefits and more, which have been peer reviewed and confirmed by numerous studies, it is sad that about 40 to 80 percent of the American population is deficient in vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that includes vitamins D-1, D-2, and D-3. Roughly 95 percent of most people’s vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight. Nowadays, most people don’t spend enough time in the sun every day. People spend their days inside their homes or offices, failing to get out and absorb sunlight. Limited time in the sun, combined with lack of vitamin D intake through diet, has caused nutritionists to encourage vitamin D supplementation.

What Is Vitamin D?

The body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun. The reason that vitamin D is an essential nutrient is because the human body cannot make it by itself. The body requires sunlight or food to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D differs from other nutrients because it doesn’t behave like other vitamins; rather, it acts like a hormone in the body. Studies show that vitamin D acts as a messenger instead of a participant in metabolism, which affects everything from organ function to weight maintenance.

How Do You Get Enough Vitamin D?

For people between ages 1 to 70, the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D is 600 international units (IU). People over 70 require 800 IU, while infants require 400 IU. It’s not easy to get this much vitamin D from sunlight alone, so supplementation is advised to maintain optimum vitamin D levels. You can take vitamin D-2 (ergocalciferol) or vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol) supplements. Manmade vitamin D is created by irradiating yeast with other molds to yield vitamin D-2, or by irradiating animal oils and cholesterol to yield vitamin D-3. The body prefers vitamin D-3 because that is the type of vitamin D that the body naturally makes when exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D-3 is more active than vitamin D-2, and it’s converted 500 times faster than D-2.

Benefits Of Vitamin D

Boosts Weight Loss

Vitamin D supplements can help you on your weight loss journey. One study found that the combination of calcium and vitamin D supplements helped people lose more weight than those who took a placebo supplement. The extra calcium and vitamin D helped suppress the appetite. Another study found that overweight people who took vitamin D supplements decreased risk markers for heart disease.

Helps Improve Bone Health

If you have low vitamin D levels, your bones cannot efficiently absorb calcium. Vitamin D also interacts with other nutrients in the body, including magnesium, vitamin K, and phosphorus. Research proved that vitamin D is partially responsible for maintaining proper phosphorus levels in the blood. When you have low vitamin D levels, you can experience softer bones (osteomalacia) and increase your risk of developing osteoporosis. People who take 800-1,500 IU per day can improve musculoskeletal health, which reduces the rate of fractures in adults over age 65.

Helps Regulate Hormones

As we mentioned earlier, vitamin D acts like a hormone in the body. Being deficient in vitamin D increases your risk of mood disorders, including anxiety, insomnia, depression, and severe mood swings for women during their menstrual cycles. Vitamin D deficiency also interferes with proper estrogen and testosterone production, which can create imbalances that result in a variety of symptoms.

Helps Fight Heart Disease

Many studies have concluded that proper vitamin D levels help maintain blood pressure levels, while reducing inflammation. Several animal studies found that disrupting vitamin D signals contributes to the development of cardiac hypertrophy, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. Since cardiovascular disease is one of the primary causes of death worldwide, these vitamin D findings are extremely important.

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Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and it is present in a variety of plant-based foods. The magnesium found in foods like leafy greens, legumes, or nuts and seeds is better for you than the magnesium found in cereal or fortified foods. That magnesium is often processed, which ultimately lowers the benefits and health properties of the mineral.

Consuming magnesium-rich foods is beneficial because the body needs it for many of its functions. Magnesium helps to build strong bones, strengthen the immune system, combat stress hormones, and help maintain a steady heart rhythm. A magnesium deficiency can lead to an increased risk of anxiety, osteoporosis, or muscle spasms, among other conditions.

To help you get a healthy dose of magnesium every day, we have compiled a list of great magnesium-rich foods.

Spinach

This is probably the most common leafy green that gets mentioned when people talk about magnesium. A single cup of spinach contains almost half of the recommended daily amount (RDA). Additionally, the other nutrients in spinach work to help your body absorb magnesium more efficiently.

Almonds

If you need a healthy snack to give you energy, almonds should be your go-to. One ounce of almonds contains 80 mg of magnesium, which is roughly 20% of the RDA for adults. It is best to consume raw almonds to get the most benefits.

Pumpkin Seeds

Containing 184 mg of magnesium per ¼ cup, raw pumpkin seeds need to be in your life if you need to boost magnesium levels. If you are stressed and craving something crunchy, eat some pumpkin seeds. They will fill you up and combat stress hormones at the same time.

Quinoa

This may surprise you, but quinoa is a great source of magnesium. One cup of cooked quinoa contains 118 mg of magnesium. It is best to season your quinoa well because it has a bland taste when it isn’t seasoned.

Avocados

Avocados are great sources of different vitamins and minerals. They contain potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and magnesium, of course. An medium avocado contains about 15% of the RDA of magnesium. Consuming avocados should just become routine because they are beneficial for the heart and brain.

Other Notable Mentions

• Bananas
• Brazil nuts
• Pine nuts
• Cashews
• Sesame seeds
• Black beans
• Kale
• Raisins
• Brown rice
• Peanuts

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Copper. It has a multitude of benefits. We wear it; we cook with it; we decorate with it; and we work with it. But, one of the most important uses of copper is as a dietary supplement. We can’t live without it. Our bodies require a certain amount of copper, on a regular basis, to function properly. Copper, in the proper amount, is necessary to allow your body to use iron.

You can find copper in natural foods, such as nuts, seeds, beans, chickpeas. Recent surveys, however, indicate that our normal diet is provides only about half of the recommended dietary allowance of copper each day. That recommendation is 0.4 to 1mg/day for 1-3 year olds, 1 to 1.5 mg/day for 4 to 6 year olds, 1 to 2 mg/day for 7 to 10 year olds, 1.5 to 2.5 mg/day for adult males, and 1.5 to 3 mg/day for adult females.

Because copper has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, it was used for many, many years as a healing agent; to treat wounds. It was also used to treat those who were afflicted with skin diseases. We still, to this day, use copper as a remedy to treat skin disorders, wounds and burns.

Today, copper is quickly becoming a vital treatment in a number of common health issues. Anemia, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and strokes, to name a few. There are some illnesses that may also deplete the copper level in the body, therefore, requiring it to be replenished. Such conditions, like intestinal disease, which leads to diarrhea; kidney and pancreas disease; and untreated high levels of stress. There are those who swear by the copper bracelets for alleviating pain.

It has long been observed that copper has a definite impact on the immune system. It’s been documented that people who were subjected to the same diseases, but worked with copper, didn’t contract the illness at the same rate as those who didn’t work with the copper. And, since the immune system is what keeps us healthy and helps us fight off disease and infection, keeping it strong is the best plan for optimum health.

All copper supplements are not the same. When selecting a copper product, it’s important to choose one that’s all natural and absorbable. One that won’t allow copper toxicity to occur. One that’s derived from natural ingredients such as horsetail, chickweed, echinacea, sarsaparilla, red clover tops and carbon. Select products that are 100% plant derived and safe, from a company that guarantees them.

Suzanne VanDeGrift Alternative Health Researcher and Writer. Suzanne researches various alternative health issues and writes articles on specific issues.

Dherbs Solutions:

• Full Body Cleanse
• Multi-Vitamins and Minerals
• Multivitamin Tea
• B-Vitamin Complex

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