Niacin ( Vitamin B3 )

Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is an important nutrient. In fact, every part of your body needs it to function properly.

As a supplement, niacin can help reduce cholesterol, relieve arthritis, and increase brain function, among other benefits.

However, it can also cause serious side effects if large doses are taken.

What is niacin?

Niacin is one of the eight B vitamins and is also called vitamin B3.

There are two main chemical forms of niacin:

• nicotinic acid
• niacinamide (sometimes called nicotinamide)

Both forms are found in foods and supplements.

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.

Niacin is water soluble, so your body doesn't store it. This also means that your body can excrete excess amounts of the vitamin through urine if they are not needed.

Your body gets niacin through food, but it also produces small amounts from the amino acid tryptophan, which can be found in protein sources like turkey and other animal foods.

How does niacin work?

As with all B vitamins, niacin helps convert food into energy by aiding enzymes.

Specifically, niacin is an important component of NAD and NADP, two coenzymes involved in cellular metabolism.

It also plays a role in cell signaling and DNA production and repair, as well as acting as an antioxidant.

Niacin Deficiency

These are some of the symptoms of niacin deficiency:

• rash or discoloration
• bright red tongue
• vomiting
• constipation or diarrhea
• depression
• fatigue
• headache
• memory loss
• loss of appetite

That said, deficiency is very rare in most Western countries. People who are malnourished, which can result from HIV/AIDS, anorexia nervosa, liver failure, alcohol abuse or other medical problems, or poverty, are most at risk.

Severe niacin deficiency, or pellagra, occurs mostly in developing countries where diets are not as varied. It can be treated with niacinamide supplementation.

Health Benefits of Niacin

Improves blood fat levels

Niacin can help improve blood fat levels:

• increase HDL (good) cholesterol
• reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol
• reducing triglyceride levels

This may translate into a decreased risk of heart disease, although several studies have found no link between niacin supplementation and a decreased risk of heart disease or death.

It also takes high doses of niacin, typically 1,500 mg or more, to achieve improvements in blood fat levels, which increases the risk of experiencing unpleasant or potentially harmful side effects.

For these reasons, niacin is not a primary treatment for high cholesterol. It is primarily used to help improve blood fat levels in people who cannot tolerate statins.

May reduce blood pressure

One role of niacin is to release prostaglandins, or chemicals that help blood vessels widen, improving blood flow and reducing blood pressure. For this reason, niacin may play a role in preventing or treating high blood pressure.

In an observational study of more than 12,000 adults, researchers found that each 1 mg increase in daily niacin intake was associated with a 2 el decrease in the risk of hypertension, with the lowest overall risk of hypertension observed with a daily niacin intake of 14.3 to 16.7 mg per day .

A high-quality study also found that single doses of 100 mg and 500 mg of niacin slightly reduced right ventricular systolic pressure.

May help treat type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which your body attacks and destroys the cells that create insulin in your pancreas.

There is research to suggest that niacin may help protect those cells and perhaps even reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes in children who are more likely to develop the condition.

However, for people with type 2 diabetes, niacin's role is more complicated.

On the one hand, it can help reduce the high cholesterol levels often seen in people with type 2 diabetes. On the other, it has the potential to raise blood sugar levels. As a result, even people with diabetes who take niacin to treat high cholesterol need to monitor their blood sugar closely .

Fortunately, a more recent review of studies found that niacin had no significant adverse effects on blood sugar management in people with type 2 diabetes.

Increases Brain Function

Your brain needs niacin, as part of the coenzymes NAD and NADP, to get energy and function properly.

In fact, brain fog and even psychiatric symptoms are associated with niacin deficiency.

Some types of schizophrenia can be treated with niacin, as it helps repair brain cell damage caused by a niacin deficiency.

Preliminary research shows that it may also help keep the brain healthy in cases of Alzheimer's disease. However, the results are mixed.

Improves skin health

Niacin helps protect skin cells from sun damage, whether it's used orally or applied as a lotion.

It may also help prevent some types of skin cancer. A high-quality study of more than 300 people at high risk for skin cancer found that taking 500 mg of nicotinamide twice a day reduced rates of non-melanoma skin cancer compared to a control.