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5 health benefits of niacin
- Improves blood fat levels. ...
- May reduce blood pressure. ...
- May help treat type 1 diabetes. ...
- Boosts brain function. ...
- Improves skin health.
What are some pros and cons of taking niacin?
What Are the Pros and Cons of Taking 500 mg of Niacin?
- Niacin Recommendations and Dietary Sources. Niacin is present in a number of foods, including eggs, lean meats, nuts, poultry, dairy products, enriched breads and cereals, legumes and fish.
- High Doses to Lower Cholesterol. ...
- Niacin Flush and B-Complex Imbalances. ...
- Risk of Liver Damage. ...
What foods have a high source of niacin?
Therefore, here is a list of top 20 foods high in niacin:
- Rice Bran – 34mg/100g (170%DV)
- Shiitake Mushrooms – 14,1mg/100g (71%DV)
- Peanuts, dry-roasted, without salt – 13,5mg/100g (68%DV)
- Spirulina – 12,8mg/100g (64%DV)
- Sunflower Seeds, dry roasted – 7mg/100g (35%DV)
- Millet, raw – 4,7mg/100g (24%DV)
- Barley, pearled, raw – 4,6mg/100g (23%DV)
- Sesame Seeds, whole, dried – 4,5mg/100g (23%DV)
What is the best niacin to take to lower cholesterol?
There are three main forms of niacin that are available over-the-counter as a supplement:
- Nicotinic acid
- Nicotinamide
- Inositol hexanicotinate ( flush-free niacin)
What are the effects of taking niacin?
- Increase HDL (good) cholesterol. It prevents the breakdown of apolipoprotein A1, which is used to make HDL (good) cholesterol. ...
- Reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol. Niacin speeds the breakdown of apolipoprotein B in LDL (bad) cholesterol, causing less to be released by the liver. ...
- Lower triglycerides. ...
Can niacin damage your liver?
Niacin can cause mild-to-moderate serum aminotransferase elevations and high doses and certain formulations of niacin have been linked to clinically apparent, acute liver injury which can be severe as well as fatal.
What is the most common side effect of niacin?
A common side effect of niacin is a flushing reaction. This might cause burning, itching, and redness of the face, arms, and chest, as well as headaches.
Can niacin raise blood pressure?
Nicotinic acid (niacin) is a well-established treatment for dyslipidaemia – an important cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor. However, niacin may also reduce blood pressure (BP), which is another important CVD risk factor.
Is a niacin flush good for you?
Niacin flush is harmless. However, high doses of niacin can cause other, more dangerous side effects, although these are rare (20). The most harmful of these is liver damage. High doses of niacin may also cause stomach cramping, so don't take them if you have a stomach ulcer or active bleeding ( 9 , 21 , 22, 23 , 24 ).
Who should not take niacin?
People with a history of liver disease, kidney disease, or stomach ulcers should not take niacin supplements. Those with diabetes or gallbladder disease should do so only under the close supervision of their doctors. Stop taking niacin or niacinamide at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.
Does niacin help with Covid?
Recent evidence indicates that targeting IL-6 could help control the inflammatory storm in patients with COVID-19 [16]. Moreover, niacin reduces neutrophil infiltration and exhibits an anti-inflammatory effect in patients with ventilator-induced lung injury.
Does niacin remove plaque from arteries?
-- A prescription version of niacin beat out a blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug in slowing the buildup of plaque in artery walls, researchers report. The study pitted extended-release niacin, sold as Niaspan, which works by boosting levels of HDL "good" cholesterol, against ezetimibe.
Is 500mg of niacin too much?
Adults and children older than 16 years of age—At first, 500 milligrams (mg) per day, taken at bedtime. After 4 weeks, your doctor will increase your dose to 1000 mg per day, taken at bedtime. However, the dose is usually not more than 2000 mg per day.
Can niacin help hair growth?
Niacin serves another purpose: assisting in healthy hair growth. It improves blood circulation, and therefore brings oxygen to the hair follicles, resulting in hair development. 2 It's often recommended to those who have alopecia, with the goal of fuller, thicker hair.
When should I take niacin morning or night?
In general, the immediate-release form of niacin should be taken after your evening meal and the extended-release form should be taken at bedtime after a low-fat snack. Taking it in the morning or on an empty stomach might cause you to experience more side effects such as flushing and stomach upset.
Can I take niacin every day?
People use prescription niacin (Niacor, Niaspan) to help control their cholesterol. The recommended daily amount of niacin for adult males is 16 milligrams (mg) a day and for adult women who aren't pregnant, 14 mg a day.
What is niacin 500mg good for?
Niacin is used with a proper diet and exercise program to help lower "bad" cholesterol and fats (LDL, triglycerides) and raise "good" cholesterol (HDL) in the blood. It is generally used after non-drug treatments have not been fully successful at lowering cholesterol.
What is the role of niacin in the body?
The key role of niacin in your body is to synthesize the coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), which are involved in over 400 biochemical reactions in your body — mainly related to obtaining energy from the food you eat ( 1 ).
What is niacin used for?
Niacin helps protect skin cells from sun damage, whether it’s used orally or applied as a lotion ( 17 ).
Why does the brain need niacin?
Your brain needs niacin — as a part of the coenzymes NAD and NADP — to get energy and function properly.
What is the B3 vitamin?
Niacin is one of the eight B vitamins, and it’s also called vitamin B3. There are two main chemical forms and each has different effects on your body. Both forms are found in foods as well as supplements. Nicotinic acid: As a supplement, nicotinic acid is a form of niacin used to reduce cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease ( 1.
How does niacin help with energy?
As with all B vitamins, niacin helps convert food into energy by aiding enzymes.
What is the best way to get niacin?
Niacin is one of eight B vitamins that are important for every part of your body. Luckily, you can get all the niacin you need through your diet. Foods that provide niacin include meat, fish and nuts. However, supplemental forms are sometimes recommended to treat certain medical conditions, including high cholesterol.
What foods contain niacin?
Many foods contain niacin, especially meat, nuts, and legumes. Some foods are also fortified with extra B vitamins.
What is the benefit of niacin?
Niacin Health Benefits. Niacin (or nicotinic acid as it’s referred to in medical circles) was the third B vitamin to be discovered (hence the name B3). It wasn’t until about 1943, though, that a couple of doctors reported that niacin worked wonders in relieving the pain and stiffness associated with arthritis. Niacin has a unique characteristic.
Does a saline solution help with blood pressure?
It can also be used for acne, to help reduce blood pressure, to improve circulation to the legs and feet in diabetics and the elderly; and to help stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
Does niacinamide help arthritis?
Several researchers have reported excellent results with using niacinamide for arthritis. While niacin opens up the blood vessels near the surface and causes a flushing sensation, niacinamide only opens up the deep blood vessels like those surrounding the joints.
Does niacin cause redness?
Niacin causes the blood vessels to dilate or open up near the skin, which results in a hot, tingling sensation accompanied by a red flushing of the skin. Generally, by starting with low amounts of niacin (50 to 100 mg a day) and gradually increasing the dosage, a person can quickly build up a tolerance and avoid the flush.
Can niacin cause liver damage?
The time-released form of niacin has been shown to be responsible for severe liver damage. In general, avoid using the time-released forms of vitamins altogether. I haven’t found any that work well.
Do B vitamins work together?
Keep in mind that all of the B vitamins actually work in conjunction with each other —which means you can expect better results if you take niacin or niacinamide along with a good multivitamin that contains a broad balance of B vitamins.
Is niacin dangerous?
Niacin has a unique characteristic. If you haven’t experienced it personally, you’ve probably heard about the “flush” that as little as 50 mg of niacin can cause. While not dangerous, it can be uncomfortable, or even alarming, if you aren’t prepared for it.
What is niacin used for?
Niacin is a B vitamin that’s made and used by your body to turn food into energy. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
What foods are rich in niacin?
Foods like bread and cereals are also rich in niacin. Even tryptophan-rich foods like yogurt and eggs can boost niacin levels. Foods such as fish, nuts, dried grains, liver, chicken, lean red meat, whole grains, enriched refined grains, and dried beans are good sources of vitamin B3. [2]
What is Vitamin B3?
Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, is a water-soluble vitamin. It helps to keep your digestive tract, skin and the nervous system healthy. There are many other names and derivations of niacin including nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and nicotinamide riboside. [1]
What is the difference between niacinamide and nicotinic acid?
It mainly comes in 3 forms, which include nicotinic acid, niacinamide, and inositol hexaniacinate as supplement tablets or doses. Nicotinic acid helps to reduce high blood cholesterol levels, whereas niacinamide may be found in nutritional supplements. However, those benefits are just the tip of the iceberg.
What is the benefit of vitamin B3?
8 Amazing Benefits of Vitamin B3 (Niacin) The health benefits of vitamin B3, also known as niacin, include maintaining good blood circulation, healthy robust skin condition, normal functioning of the brain, boosting memory power, aiding the digestive tract to absorb sufficient carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, ...
What is B3 used for?
Vitamin B3 and its various forms are popularly used as therapeutic vitamins to relieve many ailments. It is also used to treat respiratory or vascular disorders, and as an effective dietary supplement for treating pellagra, along with Lovastatin.
Is B3 good for digestive health?
Vitamin B3 is an important nutrient for keeping your digestive health at its best . Photo Credit: Shutterstock. Although it is rare to have a niacin deficiency that requires supplementation, modern society may actually benefit from supplementary forms of niacin to treat various body ailments.
What is niacin used for?
Overview. Niacin is a B vitamin that's made and used by your body to turn food into energy. It helps keep your nervous system, digestive system and skin healthy. Niacin (vitamin B-3) is often part of a daily multivitamin, but most people get enough niacin from the food they eat. Foods rich in niacin include yeast, milk, meat, ...
What foods contain niacin?
Foods rich in niacin include yeast, milk, meat, tortillas and cereal grains. People use prescription niacin (Niacor, Niaspan) to help control their cholesterol. The recommended daily amount of niacin for adult males is 16 milligrams (mg) a day and for adult women who aren't pregnant, 14 mg a day.
Does niacin help with cholesterol?
Prescription niacin is used to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — the "good" cholesterol that helps remove low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol, from your bloodstream.
Does niacin lower blood sugar?
Taking niacin with chromium might lower your blood sugar. If you have diabetes and take niacin and chromium, closely monitor your blood sugar levels. Diabetes drugs. If you have diabetes, niacin can interfere with blood glucose control. You might need to adjust the dose of your diabetes drugs.
Does niacin cause blood pressure?
Taking niacin with them might increase your risk of bleeding. Blood pressure drugs, herbs and supplements. Niacin might have an additive effect when you take blood pressure drugs, herbs or supplements. This could increase your risk of low blood pressure (hypotension).
Can you take niacin while pregnant?
If you're pregnant, don't take prescription niacin for high cholesterol. However, if needed to prevent or treat niacin deficiency, niacin is likely safe to take during pregnancy and in breast-feeding women when used in recommended amounts.
Can niacin cause peptic ulcers?
The supplement has been linked with liver damage, can cause hypotension and might activate a peptic ulcer. Taking niacin also might worsen allergies , gallbladder disease and symptoms of certain thyroid disorders. If you have diabetes, niacin can interfere with blood glucose control.
What Is Niacin?
Also called vitamin B3, this nutrient is water-soluble and found in several common foods like meat, tuna fish, seeds, mushrooms, etc. It is a part of the B-complex vitamins, which also include thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and others.
How Does Niacin Work?
Niacin also prepares and repairs DNA and even works as an antioxidant.
What Are The Symptoms Of Niacin Deficiency?
This deficiency occurs not only when you don’t get enough niacin but also when your body can’t absorb tryptophan, its amino acid precursor.
What Are The Benefits Of Niacin (Vitamin B3)?
Though certain supported benefits of niacin have conflicting evidence, this vitamin does improve skin and brain health, along with improving digestion and arthritis symptoms.
Why is niacin important for the brain?
Niacin is so important to the brain that brain fog and certain other psychiatric symptoms have been associated with its deficiency ( 4 ). Also, research has shown that some forms of schizophrenia can be treated with niacin – as the vitamin helps undo the damage done to the brain ( 5 ).
What is the condition that occurs due to insufficient niacin (or tryptophan) in the?
Remember we spoke of this? Pellagra is a condition that occurs due to insufficient niacin (or tryptophan) in the diet. This disease is most common in those parts of the world where people consume a lot of corn ( 7 ). It affects the skin, the digestive system, and the brain.
How much niacin is safe for adults?
The upper limit of niacin for adults of all ages is 35 milligrams daily.
Why is niacin important in food?
Foods high in niacin are typically rich in a long list of other important nutrients as well, which is why most can fit seamlessly into many forms of traditional medicine for their healing and health-promoting properties.
What Is Niacin?
Vitamin B3, also called niacin vitamin and niacinamide, is an important lipid-altering, water-soluble vitamin that can be found in many common foods, including certain types of meats and organ meats, tuna fish, seeds, mushrooms and more.
How to know if you have niacin deficiency?
Diagnosis is usually clinical, and dietary supplementation with high doses of niacin is generally successful is resolving symptoms. When a niacin deficiency is seen, the following are some of the most common signs and symptoms: Pellagra — characterized by skin inflammation, hallucinations, digestive distress.
What is the best vitamin for acne?
Some people use niacin or niacinamide for improving skin health and treating conditions like acne and inflammation. In fact, vitamin B3 in the form of niacinamide is prescribed as a natural skin care treatment to help clear acne when applied to the skin topically, and other people choose to take niacin or B vitamin complex supplements to reduce symptoms. ( 9)
Why does pellagra cause low B3 levels?
People with pellagra usually have very low levels of niacin and other B vitamins, which is caused by either a low intake of niacin or other underlying factors , such as issues with protein metabolism or amino acid absorption. When vitamin B3 levels are not restored, those with pellagra can die within just a few years as a result of the deficiency.
What is niacinamide used for?
Niacin or niacinamide is also used for treating and preventing schizophrenia and hallucinations. ( 13) Plus, some studies and case reports have found therapeutic effects of niacin for depression, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders as well. ( 14, 15) 6. Promotes Joint Health.
How to get more B3?
The best way to get more vitamin B3 in your daily diet is by upping your intake of nutrient-rich foods with niacin and being sure to include a few servings per day to help meet your needs. Protein foods like meat, fish and poultry are all excellent sources of niacin , as are other nutrient-rich options like brown rice, sunflower seeds, sweet potatoes and more.
Benefits
Cuisine
- Niacin may be found in meat, turkey, tuna fish, eggs, poultry products, curds, brewers yeasts, peanuts, legumes, potatoes, cheese, brown rice, oats, barley, wheat flakes and milk. Foods like bread and cereals are also rich in niacin. Even tryptophan-rich foods like yogurt and eggs can boost niacin levels. Foods such as fish, nuts, dried grains, liver, chicken, lean red meat, whole gra…
Medical uses
- Vitamin B3 and its various forms are popularly used as therapeutic vitamins to relieve many ailments. It is also used to treat respiratory or vascular disorders, and as an effective dietary supplement for treating pellagra, along with Lovastatin. It mainly comes in 3 types or forms, which include nicotinic acid, niacinamide, and Inositol hexaniacinate as supplement tablets or d…
Pharmacology
- As a member of B-complex vitamins, niacin aids in the normal functioning of the human digestive system, promoting a healthy appetite, properly functioning nerves, and a glowing skin.
Risks
- People with weak muscles, digestive problems, skin irritation or pellagra may have a severe vitamin B3 deficiency. These people need to administer an increased dosage of vitamin B3 supplements into their diet.
Safety
- Intake of large quantities of niacin, which would be 1100 or more milligrams in a day, has been proven to considerably reduce the levels of bad LDL cholesterol and raise the good HDL cholesterol, which prevents the thickening of artery walls and conditions like atherosclerosis.
Mechanism
- Niacin is a water-soluble vitamin that can travel through the human bloodstream and the body has the option to discharge an excess of such vitamins through the process of urination. Therefore, such vitamins may be administered to human beings through both food and liquid, since our body does need a constant supply.
Function
- Vitamin B3 performs the important function of converting proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into energy.
Treatment
- Even mental derangement and associated conditions may be cured with the administration of niacin supplements or medicinal drugs. Although it is rare to have a niacin deficiency that requires supplementation, modern society may actually benefit from supplementary forms of niacin to treat various body ailments. All three forms of niacin have different effects on human body. Niac…
Uses
- Niacin is known to treat diabetes and high blood sugar levels. Most diabetic patients are able to effectively control HBA1C levels with the help of niacin.
Prevention
- Ideally, women should have at least 15-18mg per day. It is extremely beneficial for women who are on various types of medication. Even those who occasionally use sleeping pills may develop a vitamin B3 deficiency. Men should consume 15-19 mg every day, whereas children should have a 9-13mg dosage of vitamin B3 each day.
Interactions
- Word of Caution: Niacin may have a drug effect when taken in very high dosages, and as always, it is best to consult a doctor or medical professional before taking any supplements or changing your diet in any considerable way.