← All supplements

Benfotiamine

Supplement vitamin B1 form general nutritionenergy
Aka: S-benzoylthiamine, fat-soluble thiamine
Brands seen in Singapore: California Gold Nutrition, Life Extension, Doctor's Best, Nutricost, Vitamatic
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
A fat-soluble B1 derivative — evidence is short-term
Pros & cons
Pros
  • Lipid-soluble form made to beat B1's low absorption
  • Raises intracellular thiamine vs conventional B1
  • No upper limit set for thiamin — excess is excreted
Cons
  • No large-scale or long-term trials published
  • Outside B1 deficiency, routine use is not recommended
  • SG caps supplement vitamin B1 at 100 mg a day
Sources
  1. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Dietary supplements · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The most commonly used forms of thiamin in supplements are thiamin mononitrate and thiamin hydrochloride … Benfotiamine is a synthetic thiamin derivative that is used in some dietary supplements”
  2. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Table 1 Recommended Dietary Allowances · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Males 19-50: 1.2 mg | Females 19-50: 1.1 mg | Males 51+: 1.2 mg | Females 51+: 1.1 mg”
  3. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Sources of Thiamin (Daily Value) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The DV for thiamin is 1.2 mg for adults and children age 4 years and older”
  4. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Health Risks from Excessive Thiamin · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Because of the lack of reports of adverse effects from high thiamin intakes (50 mg/day or more) from food or supplements, the FNB did not establish ULs for thiamin … excessive intakes of thiamin could have adverse effects”
  5. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Thiamin and health (diabetes) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Three studies found that, compared to placebo, 120–900 mg/day benfotiamine with or without other B-vitamins decreased the severity of neuropathy symptoms”
  6. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Groups at Risk (alcohol use disorder) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Up to 80% of people with chronic alcoholism develop thiamin deficiency because ethanol reduces gastrointestinal absorption of thiamin, thiamin stores in the liver, and thiamin phosphorylation”
  7. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Groups at Risk (bariatric surgery) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Bariatric surgery for weight loss is associated with some risks, including severe thiamin deficiency due to malabsorption that can lead to beriberi or Wernicke's encephalopathy”
  8. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Interactions with Medications (furosemide) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Research has linked the use of furosemide to decreases in thiamin concentrations, possibly to deficient levels, as a result of urinary thiamin loss”
  9. NIH ODS — Thiamin (Health Professional), Interactions with Medications (5-fluorouracil) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The published literature includes several cases of beriberi or Wernicke's encephalopathy resulting from treatment with this drug, possibly because the drug might increase thiamin metabolism and block the formation of TDP”
  10. Alpha-Lipoic Acid and Benfotiamine in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Critical Review (Ciubotaru et al., Nutrients 2026), s4.3.1 · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Benfotiamine is a lipid-soluble S-acyl derivative of thiamine (vitamin B1) developed to overcome the limited bioavailability of water-soluble thiamine salts … resulting in higher intracellular thiamine levels compared to conventional supplementation”
  11. Ciubotaru et al., Nutrients 2026, s4.3 (BENDIP trial) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The BENDIP study … was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating benfotiamine 300–600 mg/day over six weeks … limitations must be noted, including its short duration (six weeks), reliance on symptom-based endpoints … and limited sample size”
  12. Ciubotaru et al., Nutrients 2026, Abstract — Conclusions · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “clinical evidence remains limited to short-duration, symptom-based studies, with no large-scale, long-term trials published … Outside of documented thiamine deficiency, its routine use cannot be recommended based on current evidence”
  13. HSA Singapore — Health Supplements Guidelines GL-CHPB-3-001 Rev. 020 (January 2026), clause 4.8 and Table 4 Vitamins Limits · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “HS for use by the general adult population should not contain vitamins and minerals exceeding the stipulated limits stated in Tables 4 and 5. … Vitamin B1 100mg”
  14. iHerb Singapore — 'Benfotiamine' category page, default order, 31 results · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Benfotiamine … 1 - 31 of 31 results … California Gold Nutrition, Benfotiamine, 300 mg … Life Extension … Doctor's Best … Nutricost … Vitamatic”
Report a correction View as JSON

Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.