Vitamin B3 Niacin

Nicotinic Acid, Niacinamide

Food Sources of Vitamin B3 Niacin:

Major food sources include meat, particularly beef, fish, milk,whole grains,almonds, peanuts eggs, legumes, yeast, and sunflower seeds. The liver can synthesize niacin from the amino acid tryptophan, however this is not a dependable source. Populations which have corn as their staple diet often have niacin deficiencies, the tryptophan in corn is not available to the body unless the corn is processed with an alkali.

Functions of Vitamin B3 Niacin:

It is involved in energy production, metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins, it improves circulation, reduces the cholesterol levels in the blood, stimulates gastric and bile secretion, and is also involved in hormone and lipid synthesis, and cell respiration.

 Vitamin B3 deficiency symptoms:

The symptoms of vitamin B3 deficiency include, muscular weakness, generalized fatigue, anorexia, indigestion,  diarrhea, dementia, headaches, hyperpigmentation, insomnia, nausea, pellagra, memory loss, sore painful and fissured tongue, vomiting, schizophrenia,  and redness and scaling of the skin in areas exposed to light.

Loss of Vitamin B3:

Excessive consumption of sugar and starches deplete this vitamin ,other conditions which increase the demand for this vitamin include increased consumption of alcohol, coffee, smoking, pregnancy, growth spurts, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, schizophrenia, leukemia, lymphomas, and fever.

Drugs Interactions with Vitamin B3

There may be an increased risk of liver damage if niacin is taken with alcohol, or with drugs which are toxic to the liver. Niacin with the Statin drugs may cause further reduction of cholesterol, while bile acid sequestrants cholestyramine, and colestipol, may reduce niacin absorption into the body. Antibiotics deplete all of the B complex vitamins.

Vitamin B3 Niacin therapy may increase the risk of bleeding, if taken with anticoagulation drugs such as Warfarin/ Coumadin, and also aspirin.

Niacin may interact with thyroid hormones, contraceptives, and other hormones resulting in a need to adjust the dose. 

Animal studies have demonstrated interactions between niacin and seizure medications like diazepam, carbamazepine, and  sodium valproate, which may increase their anti-seizure action.  If taken with blood pressure lowering drugs, Niacin may cause a greater lowering of blood pressure.

Dosage and Toxicity of Vitamin B3:

The RDA for Vitamin B3 is 12-18 mg, however, it has been suggested that daily allowances of vitamin B3 be based on calorie intake and age. Also those who have a regular intake of alcohol, poor protein intake, those with thyrotoxicosis, Crohn's disease, or people taking anti-cancer drugs would need to adjust their dose accodringly. Massive doses of nicotinic acid given to reduce blood cholesterol and taken for more than a year have produced stomach ulcers, diabetes, jaundice, colitis, severe liver damage, and impotency in males. Nicotinamide in high doses  may cause depression in some people.

Nicotinic acid may produce undesirable side effects which include flushing of the skin, particularly on face and hands, with tingling and itching sensations, taking niacinamide, the synthetic form, the undesirable side effects are avoided.

Caution:

People with diabetes, gout, liver damage, peptic ulcers, heart rhythm disturbances, glaucoma, or who are pregnant should exercise caution supplementing their diet with large doses of Vitamin B3 for long periods.

Niacin can cause a maculopathy that resembles cystoid macular edema. The cysts may be smaller than those in typical cystoid macular edema, it is usually bilateral and affects men more commonly than women. Changes in visual acuity have been reported even in the absence of macular edema.

The visual changes and macular findings usually resolve completely with discontinuation of the drug.

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