On Thu, 20 Jul 2000, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:

> >Niacin and lipoic acid are also essential for the pyruvate
> >dehydrogenase complex to work.
>
> Yes, not only thiamin. Thiamin is just one of the 3 major components
> you mention. But thiamin is the one which is dietary absulute essential and
> often missing because very sensible (Niacin is a vitamin but can be made of
> tryptophan).
> About lipoic acid I'd like to learn more. Somehow it seems to belong to
> the Vitamin B-Complex, but i've hardy ever seen it in a supplementation.

It's widely available in the U.S., usually advertised as the
"universal antioxidant," and with a long list of other virtues.

I tried creating a "thiamin quotient" for the Anchell foods, and
for some other foods, for comparison.  The formula I used was:

        [(1/(carbs - fiber)) X thiamin] X 100
Anchell Foods (100g)

Food            Carbs/Fiber     Thiamin         T-Ratio

Blueberries     14.13/2.7       .048            .419

Raspberries     11.576.8        .030            .629

Watermelon      7.18/.5         .080            1.20

Grapes          17.15/1.0       .092            .569

Potato          21.56/1.5       .105            .458

Sweet Potato    24.27/3.0       .073            .313

Rice (white)    24.73/.4        .250            1.03


Rice (brown)    22.96/1.8       .096            .454

Banana          23.43/2.4       .045            .214

Grapefruit      8.08/1.1        .036            .516

Pear            15.11/2.4       .020            .157

Other Foods (100g)

Turnip          4.9/2           .027            .931

Eggplant        6.64/2.5        .076            1.84

Apple           15.25/2.7       .017            .135

Pineapple       12.39/1.2       .092            .891

Peanuts         21.5/8.0        .438            3.24

Walnuts         13.71/6.7       .341            4.86

Spinach         3.5/2.7         .078            9.75

Parsnips        19.53/4.0       .083            .534


The main result of this is that there is nothing special about
the Anchell foods.  Many of the non-Anchell foods have a much
higher thiamin quotient, with walnuts, peanuts, and spinach being
the big winners.  Indeed, most of the non-Anchell foods have a
higher score than most of the Anchell foods.

Conclusion: Either there is in fact nothing special about the
Anchell foods or, if there is, it has to do with something other
than niacin.

Todd Moody
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