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| niacin | |||||||||||||||||||
| Also known as: Vitamin B3; Nicotinic Acid | |||||||||||||||||||
What is it? |
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Without this VITAMIN,
an important member of the B-COMPLEX
(sometimes called vitamin B3), the body cannot utilize CARBOHYDRATES,
FATS and PROTEINS
to provide energy. Thus the amount of niacin the body needs depends on
the number of calories consumed. But that's not niacin's only role. It
also helps ensure the health and vitality of the skin, digestive tract
and nerves. In the early 1900s, when impoverished Southerners subsisted
on highly refined corn breads, asylums were full of patients whose
dementia was traced to pellagra, a debilitating niacin-deficiency
disease. Niacin supplements effected miracle cures and led, ultimately,
to the enrichment of cornmeal down South much the way the federal
Enrichment Act of 1942 required food processors to restore the IRON,
THIAMIN
RIBOFLAVIN
and niacin lost in the milling of wheat.
In recent years, niacin has been used to treat those with high blood CHOLESTEROL
and it can dramatically bring these levels down. But not without side
effects, some of them serious. Researchers at two major medical colleges
(Virginia and Pennsylvania) studied two dozen people for nine months,
gradually upping their niacin dosage from 250 milligrams a day to 3,000
(for healthy adults, the RDA
for niacin is 15 to 20 milligrams a day). They learned that although
instant-release niacin tablets caused flushing, fatigue and/or skin
discoloration, the time-release capsules led to upset stomachs, fatigue
and impaired liver function (elsewhere there've been reports of jaundice
and liver failure). Given niacin's potentially dangerous side effects,
many physicians and nutritionists agree that this B vitamin should no
longer be sold over the counter, especially in doses as high as 3,000
milligrams (10 to 20 milligrams are the usual strength). Taken
indiscriminately, megadoses can be deadly. A less toxic form of niacin
is niacinamide (also called nicotinamide) in which the oxygen-hydrogen
(OH) or acid component is replaced by two molecules of hydrogen and one
of nitrogen. Niacinamide does not cause the violent "hot flashes" that
nicotinic acid does. And it doesn't lower blood cholesterol levels,
either.
Deficiency Symptoms Digestive upsets, insomnia, headaches, irritability and, frequently, a sore, swollen, purple-red tongue. More desperate niacin shortfall leads to pellagra: skin and gastrointestinal lesions, inflamed mucous membranes, diarrhea, dementia and death. Now that most cereals, flours, pastas and cornmeals are enriched, full-blown pellagra is history. At least in the United States. Good Sources Enriched cereals, meals and flours (plus anything made from them), whole grains, legumes, meat and organ meats, poultry, fish and peanut butter. Besides food sources, the body can obtain niacin by making it from TRYPTOPHAN, an ESSENTIAL AMINO ACID. Nutritionists figure that 60 milligrams of tryptophan equal 1 milligram of niacin. Thus, to calculate the body's niacin requirements, both sources of niacin must be considered. The sum of the two is called the niacin equivalent (NE), and for RDAs today, it is the unit of measurement used. Precautions Being water soluble, niacin can leach out in cooking water and be lost unless that water is recycled. Fortunately, niacin isn't destroyed by heat or light like some of the other B vitamins. Standard Process™ Supplements Albaplex®, Cataplex® B, B6 Niacinamide, Betacol®, Cardio-Plus®, Cholaplex®, Circuplex®, Diaplex®, Drenamin®, Emphaplex®, Cataplex® G, Gastrex®, Cataplex® GTF, Iplex®, Livaplex®, Min-Chex®, Myo-Plus®, Neuroplex®, Niacinamide B6, Orchex®, Ostarplex®, Rumaplex®, Senaplex®, Vasculin®, Berry StandardBar®, Natural Peanut Butter StandardBar® |
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