Vitamins Protect Children from Heavy Metals: Thiamine

Thiamine, or vitamin B1, is used by the body to neutralize and/or excrete toxic heavy metals that inevitably find their way into food, water, and air. Proof of this function is provided in a study published by Derrick Lonsdale (a link to his paper is found in the references to the entry on thiamine at Wikipedia).

Unfortunately, the vitamin B1 in almost every multivitamin and B-complex vitamin is either thiamine mononitrate or thiamine hydrochloride. The body’s ability to absorb these two forms of thiamine is limited to about 2 mg per dose (see David Bender, “The Nutritional Biochemistry of the Vitamins”, an authoritative text on vitamins). Any thiamine mononitrate or hydrochloride in excess of about 2 mg exits the body into the toilet entrained with the solids (no wonder side effects from thiamine supplements are unknown!). There is another class of thiamine molecules called allithiamines. The ability of the body to absorb allithiamines is unlimited. A 150 mg capsule of an allithiamine delivers almost the entire 150 mgs into the bloodstream. I recommend that multivitamin manufacturers consider formulating their multivitamins with a mixture of thiamine mononitrate/hydrochloride and allithiamines.

Lonsdale studied the effect of allithiamine supplements on a group of autistic children. If I understood the paper correctly (see the reference in the Wikipedia entry on thiamine), the results were fantastic. Several children were transformed from severely autistic to non-autistic after 60 days of treatment. The children were screened for heavy metals before, during, and after the treatment. A surprising result from the study was a linkage between arsenic and autism. Lonsdale seemed at a loss to explain a source of arsenic that could be associated with the observed dramatic rise in autism in recent years. I can help. The average U.S. coal contains 24 ppm arsenic (just search “arsenic in coal” on google for a USGC fact sheet). If just 10% of this arsenic escapes into the atmosphere as arsine and other arsenic containing gasses, this provides a source of more than 2000 tons/year of arsenic, year after year after year. The vaporized arsenic rains down out of the sky, contaminating air, food, and water.

Affordable technology exists to cut heavy metals emissions from coal fired electric power plants by a factor of one hundred. I do not believe that scientists or the public clearly understand the connection between rising rates of children requiring special education services and heavy metals emissions from coal-fired power plants. If/when the connection is clearly established, I’m confident the problem will be swiftly resolved. In the meantime, I recommend that all parents provide their children with vitamin C, niacin, and multivitamin supplements. I also recommend that parents of children receiving special education services follow the example of Lonsdale and treat their children with 150 mg allithiamine supplements (the most readily available supplement goes by the name benfotiamine) for 60 days.