A key vitamin found in Marmite and Quorn could hold the clue to recovery following a heart attack, experts have said.
A derivative of vitamin B1 could speed up healing of tissue and increase the chance of survival following heart damage, a new study suggests.
Separate research also found the substance – called benfotiamine – can slow down the progression to heart failure in diabetics, which is a complication of the illness.
Developing a supplement containing benfotiamine could cut the number of diabetics developing heart failure, researchers said.
Vitamin B1 is also known as thiamin and is found in most types of food.
Good sources include Marmite, Quorn, pork, vegetables, milk, cheese, peas, fresh and dried fruit, eggs, wholegrain breads and some fortified breakfast cereals.
Both pieces of research into the vitamin were carried out by a team from the University of Bristol.
They gave benfotiamine in a synthetic form to mice, some of which had diabetes and some of which did not.
The study found that benfotiamine improved survival and healing after heart attacks in both types of mice.
Writing in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, they said treatment “markedly improved the survival of both non-diabetic (80%) and diabetic mice (50%)” compared with mice given no treatment.
The Press Association