Vitamin B3.
What is it, where can I find it and what can it do?
I first heard of Vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid many years ago when it could be used as an inner cleansing. I promptly forgot about this simply because I didn’t believe I needed “an inner cleansing.”
I was not so long ago after reading Doctor Andrew W. Saul’s excellent compendium on nutrition “Doctor Yourself” (under which he runs an excellently informative website) I read a little about B3 when I went onto reading a much more detailed account of its uses both historically and currently in the book titled “Niacin: The Real Story” by Abram Hoffer, M.D., PhD, Andrew W. Saul PhD and Harold D. Forster PhD, a book I can thoroughly recommend to anyone who wishes to understand this amazing vitamin more in great detail.
I have read it at least twice due to an ongoing battle with depressive states and most especially an inability to sleep deeply throughout the night.
Which Foods Deliver the Most Vitamin B3?
It is what is known as a water-soluble vitamin, this means that your body will excrete any B3/niacin from your body that isn’t being used. This also means it is difficult to overdose on this vitamin simply because your body will get rid of the excess very soon after taking it. We, for the most part, take in vitamin B3 via our food from the likes of:
(For meat and fish eaters)
1. Ground beef– also provides vitamin B12, selenium, iron and zinc in addition to protein.
2. Pork– especially the lean cuts provide a good source of B3
3. Liver – this meat has massive amounts of Vitamin B3 and a relatively small portion of under 100 grams can deliver near to the RDA to a healthy adult easily.
4. Chicken breast – interestingly the amount delivered is almost as high as liver but only in the breast of a chicken. The thigh, for instance, is only about half the amount.
5. Turkey– is another good source of niacin and is mostly found in the breast. Together with this vitamin is has a lot of tryptophan which is also converted to niacin within the body and adds to the calming effect as well as providing better sleep for the eater.
6. Salmon– is another fish, preferably wild-salmon but also farmed salmon but doesn’t quite pack the same punch as the wild sort, is an excellent source of this wonderful vitamin. It is also a provider of Omega-3 fatty acids which can act as against inflammation
7. Tuna– is high in B3 and is a great way for people who are pescatarians to dose up on this vitamin as well as this very nutritious food. The only disadvantage with tuna is that is often contaminated with mercury which of course is extremely detrimental to health but according to specialists, eating this food once a week is fine.
8. Anchovies– tiny fish which are usually sold by the can/tin are also filled with niacin and selenium as well. Both being great to for good health.
(For vegetarians, vegans and others who enjoy plant-based oriented diets)
9. Avocado- one of which can provide up to 25% vitamin B3 RDA and also rich in healthy fats, minerals and other vitamins. According to scientists, it has twice as much potassium as a banana.
10. Peanuts– the wonderful ground-nut, many of us know in peanut butter. This fantastic, energy food is great for protein intake as well as vitamin B6, vitamin E, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium and is additionally really in the way of healthy fats and although it has a “ton” of calories, weight gain is something you don’t need to worry about, all within reason, of course! It’s apparently good against the risks of diabetes 2.
11. Brown rice– is filled with this vitamin, yet due to the roughage aspect, which is great for your gut (intestinal tract) as it makes it work (peristalsis), it makes it more difficult for the body to absorb. It is, however, better for weight loss and has numerous other minerals and vitamins.
12. Whole wheat– much like brown rice, it is not easily absorbed but again the roughage aspect is a big gain for the body. It does need to be whole wheat as opposed to refined white flour though. It can be in bread or pasta, but this is a matter of taste and for some, takes a little getting used to, but it is worth it!
13. Potatoes– this humble vegetable is not to be looked down upon but can be used in many creative ways to make it more attractive to the palate than the usual servings of fried, boiled or mashed. A great source of the B3 and because it is often eaten in greater quantities than many other vegetables, then all I can say, tuck in and get them down.
14. Mushrooms– another delicious way to take in the wonderful B3 vitamin. If they have been grown using artificial light, there is the additional aspect and ingredient of vitamin D another important vitamin of which I will be writing an overview in the near future.
15. Green peas– are an excellent source of no only the vitamin I am writing about here, they are also rich in many nutrients and can, according to some sources, reduce your risk to cancer, lower cholesterol, benefit the increase of healthy bacteria in your gut.
An excellent diet is the best way to absorb most of our vitamins and minerals but our speedy and often hectic lifestyle often disallows us to get the correct amount of any vitamin and mineral and one wonders why there has been such an increase in allergies, diseases and general ill-health despite what many consider to be perhaps the best time humanity has ever lived. I speak as a man who lives in a northern European country and I am, I know, extremely privileged but therein lies the problem. Is it laziness at simply picking up some fast food on the way home because I am too tired to make my own? Yes, in part, when the pizza or pasta dish beckons and I simply have to warm up in the oven or microwave, perhaps wondering many years later why I might have this or that allergy, sickness or whatever which came unannounced only to shock me into action or not.
I am a great believer in researching one’s challenges, be they physical or mental and have found that this area of nutrition can be a great help.
We are all different, well not that different, because we are all human beings but our chemical make up is always unique and therein lies the crux of the matter. Most doctors know how to treat illness with pharmaceuticals, I have, however, an aversion to this for some reason. I prefer to put natural products into my body simply because I am (or was!) a normal, natural human being and believe that by going the natural way one can achieve a good result, assuming the sickness has not grown so much as to overload the system and get it to “eat” itself. Then, perhaps more aggressive entities might have to be used to slow the growth down.
We are lucky to have access to the world wide web and within this veritable “Library of Alexandria”, we can access pretty much anything that pertains to, well, pretty much anything and especially health issues. One has to be careful because many are there to sell their products, which is not bad but one has to be observant and on one’s guard.
The Taking of Vitamin B3
Although the above mentioned excellent books often talk about 3000 mg (micrograms) per day, or 1000 mg three times a day, I found that taking one 500 mg at night shortly before going to sleep was more than adequate for a night of deep sleep, which was wonderful.
I do not take it all the time because, with me, I seem to enter a state of such relaxedness and slowed-downness that I become a little “zombielike”. It is a nice feeling but when I noticed that I almost forgot to lock my trusted bicycle up or more recently signed a new mobile phone contract being sold by a man who was less than integrous, I realised that my intuition was not where it might have been and could it have had something to do with my state of absolute relaxedness? Maybe, maybe not. This happened during the Corona lock-down when I was having a lovely time with my wife and little boy at home for the most part, so my guard was down. This is my own personal take on things, for many who suffer from lack of sleep or are nervous and worried about things in life the taking of the correct amount of vitamin B3 can be of enormous help.
Flushing Effect
One of the things that have amused me when reading some of the Amazon ratings from some people is that they evidently did little research before taking B3 and they did not know about the so-called flushing effect.
Flushing, as it is known, is when shortly after taking niacin in large doses will usually make your skin go bright red. It will look as if you have been in the sun too long if you are light-skinned and whatever your skin colour, your skin might also feel tingly and itchy. The latter can be quite uncomfortable and even more so if you deign to scratch, something I strongly recommend you do not do!!
The flushing lasts up to half an hour especially if you have taken B3 on an empty stomach when the effect can be very strong. I personally take it shortly before going to bed and the likelihood of flushing, while I am sleeping, is very strong and, anyway, after a week or two of regular use you will find that the flushing effect dies out and you will not feel anything at all.
Some find the flushing pleasurable and don’t worry about it at all. I don’t mind it.
The flushing is not dangerous and is normal. Apparently, the less you flush the more your body needs it and you might experiment (preferably under the care of a healthcare practitioner) with higher doses.
For long term use, it is recommended that your liver values are checked from time to time to check that they are okay.
According to some sources, you should not take vitamin B3 if you have liver problems or diseases, stomach ulcers or stomach bleeding. Apparently you can reduce the flushing if you take some aspirin beforehand.
Niacin for Depression
It is also possible to address depression and was one of the reasons I originally looked into it for myself. I was a little challenged by the flushing effect due intensive itching but once I got past that I was okay. I am putting a very short but very good video where doctor Andrew Saul speaks about vitamin B3 and depression, he also says something about vitamin C too. I wrote about my experience with vitamin C in my other article. Enjoy.
Niacin for Mental Illness
Doctor Abram Hoffer used massive doses of Vitamin B3 with his schizophrenic patients successfully.
He also used it for children suffering from both ADD and ADHD again, successfully and as vitamins are not addictive, then if this was rolled out for all the children, it could alleviate many of the symptoms and help many concerned parents.
Sadly this doesn’t get talked about in the mainstream press or elsewhere.
Different Types of B3
The straightforward niacin causes flushing, which I addressed above but it is apparently the best of the B3s. There are however further B3s in the form of niacinamide (also known as nicotinamide) which for the most part seldom causes flushing but, if it does it can be unpleasant and can cause nausea if taken for a prolonged period of time.
There is also the more expensive Inositol Hexaniacinate which causes almost no flushing (also called inositol Hexanicoinate). This is a very gentle B3 and can be used according to Dr Hoffer amazingly well for the very sensitive.
Summary
I hope I have made you a little curious as to the hows and whens of this vitamin. If you suffer from a lack of deep sleep, I recommend it highly, if you are worried and stressed about life at the moment, I can recommend it too.
Just a last note in that when we suffer from an immense lack of vitamin B3 something horrible happens. There is a disease called pellagra which not only looks disgusting but is. It affects the skin of the sufferer and affected 30,000 people during the 1930s in the USA. One can find photos online and they are quite disturbing. All because this “little” vitamin was missing from their diet. Similar to my words on scurvy and vitamin C, we rarely see these sicknesses today but many say we are all suffering from underuse of these nutrients and I am a firm believer in increasing them.
I currently take a high dose vitamin B complex with not less than 50 mg amongst all the others Bs.
Try it out, it costs little and you will almost certainly be rewarded with deeper and more satisfying sleep. When I take it, I sleep very deeply indeed.
Thanks for reading 🙂