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 [log in to unmask]