High-dose thiamine (vitamin B-1) supplementation (100 mg/day) may be h
elpful in preventing or accelerating recovery from exercise-induced fa
tigue. Sixteen volunteer male athletes volunteer 8 with a blood thiami
ne level of 40 ng/ml or more (normal thiamine group) and 8 with levels
below that level (low thiamine group) were selected as subjects. They
exercised on a bicycle ergometer and the effects of thiamine suppleme
ntation were compared with placebo. Blood thiamine level markedly incr
eased following supplementation of thiamine for 3 days before exercise
. Exercise-induced changes in hemodynamic parameters and cardiopulmona
ry function indicated the onset of fatigue. Thiamine supplementation s
ignificantly suppressed the increase in blood glucose in the normal th
iamine group and significantly decreased the number of complaints shor
tly after exercise in the subjective fatigue assessment of 30 items.