Benfotiamine, a derivative of the B vitamin, thiamine (B-1), has been used in europe and other countries to protect against diabetes complications is now available in the US without a prescription. (see order info at end of article)

Researchers have shown in animal studies that benfotiamine blocks the biological pathways responsible by which high blood sugar causes serious diabetic complications.
These biochemical pathways in diabetics injures blood vessels making diabetes the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and non- traumatic amputation of legs in the U.S.
Benfotiamine has been available for decades in Europe. It is prescribed there for treating diabetic neuropathy, sciatica and other painful nerve conditions.

High glucose levels are responsible for increased mitochondrial free radical production and other complications. One of the body's proteins, an enzyme called transketolase, is critical in the metabolism of sugars. But to do its job, transketolase, like many enzymes, requires a co-factor. In this case, it needs assistance from thiamine. Unfortunately, thiamine is water soluble, which makes it less available to the interior of the cell.

Benofotiamine is fat-soluble and more bioavailable and physiologically active than thiamin.

Benfotiamine raises the blood level of thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP), the biologically active co-enzyme of thiamin, and stimulates transkotelase, essential for maintenance of normal glucose metabolism. Benfotiamine helps maintain healthy cells in the presence of blood glucose. It controls the formation of the damaging Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs)
In people with diabetes, all cells are bathed in blood that contains elevated levels of glucose. Most cells still manage to keep their internal glucose at normal levels. But certain cells - particularly endothelial cells that line arteries and the capillaries of the retina and kidney - are unable to regulate glucose and instead develop high internal levels of the sugar, which they can't completely metabolize. As a result, glucose-derived "intermediate" metabolic products accumulate inside these cells, where they activate pathways of cellular damage that can eventually lead to blindness and other complications.

Michael Brownlee, M.D., a Professor of Medicine and Pathology and Co-Director of the Diabetes Research Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, along with colleagues in Europe and Asia, hoped that by stimulating the action of transketolase, they might be able to reduce the risk factors that stimulate at least three pathways that cause diabetic complications.

Researchers found that diabetic rats treated with benfotiamine did not develop the same pathologic changes in their retinas (the light-sensitive membranes at the backs of the eyes) as did the untreated diabetic rats. In fact, the blood vessels in the retinas of treated rats showed no signs of progression to diabetic retinopathy after nine months, and their retinas were virtually indistinguishable from the retinas of nondiabetic rats. The study was reported in a 2003 issue of Nature Medicine.

Benfotiamine protects delicate tissues from damage which is associated with the numerous complications of diabetes and high blood sugar.

Laboratory research confirms the importance of benfotiamine for those who have diabetic neuropathy, kidney disease, cardiac impairment, endothelial dysfunction, vascular disease and retinopathy. Benfotiamine is proven to support and protect these sensitive tissues at a high risk for damage.

Recently, a human trial confirmed the benefits of orally supplementing benfotiamine at 1,050 mg daily. Diabetes Care. 2006 Sep;29(9):2064-71. However, lower doses seems to be effective as well. We recommend 250 mg taken twice daily. Therapeutic doses of 500 mg twice daily can also be taken.

Eur J Pharmacol. 2006 Jan 13;530(1-2):48-53. Departamento de Farmacobiologia, Centro de Investigation y de Estudios Avanzados-Coapa, Calzada de los Tenorios 235, Colonia Granjas Coapa, DF, Mexico.

AGEs have been implicated in the development and progression of numerous disorders in diabetes. These include:

• cardiovascular disease
• retinopathy (affecting vision)
• kidney disease
• peripheral vascular disease (affecting blood vessels of the extremities)
• peripheral neuropathy (nerve pain and numbness)

Benfotiamine:

• Protects cells in the presence of high blood sugar.
• Reduces tissue AGEs
• May be helpful in diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney disease and other conditions due to high blood sugar levels and AGE damage.
  

Benfotiamine Supreme

This therapeutic dosage is exclusive from Natural Healing Network - not available in stores.

250 mg Benfotiamine per capsule plus 100 mg vitamin B-1 (thiamine HCl) we use veggie caps!
Just $19.99 per bottle
buy 6 for only $15.99 ea.
buy 10 for $12.99 ea.

To order call 1-800-492-1849