Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin essential for human health.
Our body does not store niacin so we must consume it every day.
Niacin is used by our body to convert food into energy and contributes to many bodily functions, including:
Niacin is a major component of NAD which is a coenzyme involved in DNA repair.
Niacin has been used since the 1950s to treat high cholesterol and can lower “bad” LDL cholesterol (1).
Niacin is involved in neuronal development and deficiencies have been linked to increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases (2).
Recommended Daily Allowance for a 44-year-old male moderately active, weighting 70 kg and 175 cm tall is 16 mg and the Tolerable Upper Intake is 35 mg (3).
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In most scientific databases, niacin is expressed in mg of niacin equivalent (NE) which includes that which can be formed from tryptophan and calculated with the convention: mg niacin equivalent = mg tryptophan / 60 + mg preformed niacin.
If a tryptophan value is not available, it is imputed to be 1.1 % of total protein (4).
Niacin deficiency may cause the following:
According to the FNB (Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine), there is no evidence of adverse effects from the consumption of naturally occurring niacin in foods.
However, high intakes of synthetic niacin from supplements or fortified foods have been link to the following adverse effects (5) :