Vitamin B3

Other Names: 3-Pyridine Carboxamide, 3-Pyridinecarboxylic Acid, Acide Nicotinique, Acide Pyridine-Carboxylique-3, Amide de l’Acide Nicotinique, Anti-Blacktongue Factor, Antipellagra Factor, B Complex Vitamin, Complexe de Vitamines B, Facteur Anti-Pellagre, Niacin-Niacinamide, Niacin/Niacinamide, Niacina y Niacinamida, Niacinamide, Niacine, Niacine et Niacinamide, Nicamid, Nicosedine, Nicotinamide, Nicotinic Acid, Nicotinic Acid Amide, Nicotylamidum, Pellagra Preventing Factor, Vitamin B3, Vitamin PP, Vitamina B3, Vitamine B3, Vitamine PP.
Niacin and niacinamide are forms of Vitamin B3. Vitamin B3 is found in many foods including yeast, meat, fish, milk, eggs, green vegetables, beans, and cereal grains. Niacin and niacinamide are also found in many vitamin B complex supplements with other B vitamins. Even tryptophan rich foods like yoghurt and eggs may boost niacin levels. Niacinamide can be made from niacin in the body. Niacin is converted to niacinamide when it is taken in amounts greater than what is needed by the body. Niacin and niacinamide are easily dissolved in water and are well-absorbed when taken by mouth.

Special Precautions of Vitamin B3

• While niacin is likely safe for most people, the NIH cautions that niacin may trigger certain side effects (including burning, tingling, itching, and reddening of the skin). In some cases, niacin may also cause headache, stomach upset, dizziness, and gas.
• Additionally, niacin supplements may be harmful to people with certain health conditions (including liver disease, kidney disease, gallbladder disease, and ulcers) and people taking certain medications (including blood pressure drugs, anti-diabetes drugs, and statins).
• Liver Toxic in overdose.

Given these health concerns, it's important to seek medical advice if you're considering the use of niacin supplements.

The benefits of Vitamin B3 are

Vitamin B3 also known as Niacin and niacinamide are required for the proper function of fats and sugars in the body and to maintain healthy cells. At high doses, niacin and niacinamide can have different effects. Niacin might help people with heart disease because of its beneficial effects on clotting. It may also improve levels of a certain type of fat called triglycerides in the blood. Niacinamide has no beneficial effects on fats and should not be used for treating high cholesterol or high fat levels in the blood. People with poor diet, alcoholism, and some types of slow-growing tumors called carcinoid tumors might be at risk for niacin deficiency.

• Niacin is essentially used to lower high cholesterol levels.
• Anti-aging : Recent research shows that the gene known as Sir2 produces a protein that extends cell life and plays a role in metabolism, gene silencing, and cellular life extension. It is now known that niacinamide enhances its activity of silencing the "aging" gene.
• niacin may protect against Alzheimer's Disease.
• Skin : It increases certain compounds found in your body that becomes the outer most layer of protection of the skin. This is good for you if you have problems with either dry or sensitive skin and it also inhibits dark spot formation. For clients who experiences Rosacea, this helps reduce accompanying signs of the condition such as redness. Products that contain Vitamin B3 are mostly found in creams and mostly are preferably applied day and night.
• Digestion: As a family of B-complex vitamins, niacin aids in normal functioning of the human digestive system, promoting healthy appetite, good nerves and a glowing skin.
• Energy: Vitamin B3 performs the important function of converting proteins, carbohydrates and fats into energy.
• Cholesterol: Intake of large quantity of niacin such as 1100 or more milligrams in a day has been proven to considerably reduce the bad cholesterol LDL and raising the good cholesterol HDL for preventing the thickening of artery walls. Only niacin seems to lower cholesterol, not niacinamide.
• Restless sleep : The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine published a 2005 evaluation of alternative sleep aids, including vitamin B3 in the form of niacinamide. Two groups of subjects—those without sleep disorders and those suffering from insomnia—were given escalating doses of niacinamide for 21 days. Both groups responded favorably to B3 supplements with improved sleep.
• Sex: Niacin helps in making sex related hormones for people having sex problems.
• Mental Health: Schizophrenia and bipolar and behavioral disorders, even mental derangement and associated problems may be cured with administration of niacin supplements or medical drugs.
• Diabetes: Niacin is known to treat diabetes and high blood sugar levels. Most of diabetic patients have been able to effectively control HBA1C level with help of niacin. Niacin helped protect against the low levels of HDL cholesterol that typically accompany diabetes.
• Arthritis : niacinamide has been well documented to effectively relieve the pain of arthritis, with no toxicity and only rare side effects.
• Acne
• Infectious Diseases : Niacin can combat antibiotic-resistant staph infections : high doses of B3 increased the ability of immune cells to kill staph bacteria by 1,000 times. The study involved both laboratory animals and human blood.
• Niacin deficiency can cause a condition called pellagra, which causes skin irritation, diarrhea, and dementia. Pellagra was common in the early twentieth century, but is less common now, since foods are now fortified with niacin. Pellagra has been virtually eliminated in western culture.