Have you ever walked into a health food store with rows and rows of little bottles, many of them seemingly boasting the same ingredients, and not known how to proceed with a purchase? Shopping for health products can be really confusing for a number of reasons. One common trip up is the labeling of products. Some are titled by well-known brands while others by a key ingredient. And just like you probably go by multiple titles or nicknames, vitamins and supplements have various names as well. One such dual named vitamin is niacin, also known as vitamin B3. People are loving niacin right now for it’s recently popular skin care benefits but that’s not the only reason there’s a buzz around the ingredient. And as with any vitamin or supplement, we want to understand all the potential risks and benefits of putting it in our bodies. We’ve compiled a list of both pros and Cons of Niacin for incorporating niacin into your health routine, so by the end of this article you’ll be able to make an informed decision about whether the vitamin is right for you.
But first, let’s take a closer look at what niacin is and what are pros and Cons of Niacin.
All About Niacin
Niacin takes multiple forms and names including nicotinic acid and nicotinamide most commonly in food and supplements and niacinamide most commonly in skin care. Its big offering is turning the food you eat into energy for your body. Niacin and its counterparts is naturally found in a vast array of common foods, including:
- Most meats (salmon, chicken, pork, beef, turkey, tuna, and more)
- Many starches (white and brown rice, potatoes, bulgur)
- Bananas
- Nuts/seeds (peanuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, etc.)
- Legumes (garbanzo beans, edamame, lentils, etc.)
Because niacin, or vitamin B3, is naturally occurring in many dietary stables, having a niacin deficiency is uncommon, but there are added benefits of consuming additional niacin aside from the naturally occurring amounts in your food. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons for ingesting some extra vitamin B3.
Pros of Niacin
There are many niacin benefits since it’s a vitamin offering lots of positive aid to the body. Here are just some of its main benefits.
- Niacinamide for Skin
The counterpart of niacin, niacinamide, is loved in the beauty community for the way it helps with discoloration, helps restore the skin barrier, and reduces the appearance of blemishes and redness.
- Niacin for Blood Pressure
Because niacin is known to aid in improving blood flow throughout the body due to its release of prostaglandins, it may also help maintain healthy blood pressure levels. Prostaglandins expand blood vessels so more blood can travel through, decreasing blood pressure, which is why niacin is believed to support normal levels.
- Niacin for Cholesterol
There are good and bad types of cholesterol and niacin is believed to help maintain healthy cholesterol by increasing the cholesterol you want in your body (called high density lipoprotein) and reducing the type you don’t (the low density lipoprotein).
- Niacin for Digestion
The vitamin breaks down the food you eat into energy, so it makes sense that having an increase of niacin in the body would also aid in digestion. The faster and more efficiently food is broken down in the body, the easier it is on your digestion system.
- Niacinamide for Joints
Just as the vitamin’s release of prostaglandins expands the blood vessels in a way that may aid in healthy blood pressure, it also expands the deep veins around the joints which improves muscle and joint functions.
Cons of Niacin
Niacin is clearly a beneficial vitamin with many positive uses in the body, but are there any dangerous side effects of taking it? As with anything–even those ingredients considered healthy–too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing.
- Dangers of Consuming a Surplus of Niacin
Taking too high a dose of niacin for an ongoing amount of time may lead to complications caused by a toxic amount of niacin in the system. Side effects of what is essentially a long-term overdose include itchy skin rashes, low blood pressure, nausea and other stomach irritations, fatigue, and even potentially liver inflammation. Many of these side effects are counterproductive to the exact benefits of the vitamin, so dosage is important.
Consuming toxically high levels of niacin is a rare occurrence that can easily be prevented by ensuring you take the correct dosage for your body. We’ll address below how you can take the vitamin and how much of it you should ingest.
- You May Experience Flushing- Cons of Niacin
There is another potential side effect associated with the intake of niacin that may occur even with smaller doses (starting around 50 milligrams) but it’s not to be confused with a sign of an overdose of the vitamin. A flushing effect may impact you; it often includes a sense of warmth and redness, and potentially some itchiness as well. There are some methods you can use to avoid experiencing the flushing when taking niacin, including working up to larger doses gradually.
Always check with your doctor about how much niacin you should intake; you may not even be affected by the flushing if your dose is less than 50 mg. Let’s take a look at how much niacin you can expect to take.
How to Take Niacin
Niacin can be taken as a vitamin tablet or supplement. In order to avoid niacin toxicity, it’s important to ensure you follow health practitioner recommended guidelines for consumption so your body contains appropriate levels of niacin that will provide health benefits rather than such high amounts that actually hinder your health.
Adult recommended doses are 16 milligrams per day for males and 14 milligrams per day for women. These guidelines vary for pregnant women and children, in which case it would be wise to check in with your doctor. Before adding any significant intake of a vitamin or supplement to your routine, it’s a good idea to double check with your medical advisor.
Takeaway
You might not have known about niacin before, but now that you’re aware of its many benefits, you may want to consider adding a daily dose of niacin to your routine as an ingestible vitamin or supplement! Since it’s naturally occurring in foods, also consider eating more niacin-rich foods like the ones listed above.
