before i put in my 2 cents, i'll just throw out the forms of thiamine available to the consumer market:
thiamine - good, old fashioned b1
allithiamine - a naturally occurring thiamine derivative present in garlic, made when thiamine hits allicin, where it gets its name: ALLIcin+THIAMINE = allithiamine
fursultiamine (aka thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide, TTFD) - the synthetic form of allithiamine
sulbutiamine - nootropic allithiamine
benfotiamine - AGE-inhibiting thiamine (fat soluble, but not considered an allithiamine)
now for my $0.02:
- despite the exciting AGE-inhibition property of benfotiamine, it doesn't cross the BBB. incorporating it into the multi would only necessitate the incorporation of another thiamine to compensate for that little flaw it has.
- standard allithiamine could be a possibility as it's dirt cheap to produce. allows for more than 5mg of absorption because it can pass through the intestinal wall a lot easier and allows for way higher blood levels (ref:
http://jb.oxfordjour...t/41/2/273.pdf), and is about twice as potent as regular thiamine when it comes to tissue distribution in the liver, kidney, stomach, and small intestine.
- fursultiamine, although only a synthetic version of allithiamine, seems to have actions independant of its natural form. It can inhibit the activation of omega-6 fatty acids (ref:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/3912571) which could be beneficial to americans as we typically have a way higher than normal o-6 intake in our diets. it also seems to potentiate the cartilage preserving effects of glucosamine and chondroitin (ref:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/3912571)- sulbutiamine would be interesting to put in a multi, however, seeing as it is a DRUG in europe branded under the name Arcalion, it would be a bad idea to put this in the multi.
so, my vote goes to fursultiamine. If it's like it's better-absorbed cousin, then maybe a dose in the ballpark of 15-20mg could be warranted?