B3 Niacin

Marus

Hi,
I bought something from a pharmacy and received a multi-vitamin supplement for free.
I checked each nutrient and I found that vitamin B3 (Niacin) exceeds the upper limit of 35 mg/day. They say that one capsule contains 42 mg of B3, in form of "niacinamide". And they say you can take 3 capsules per day ! I do not understant this... It is not too much ? It is safe to take one capsule per day ? Or should I break it in two ?

OldHobo

I'm following this thread to see what folks knowledgeable on the subject have to say. Looking into it a bit from my own point of view:

From WebMD:
How much niacin should you take?
Since niacin can be used in different ways, talk to your health care provider about the best dosage for you.

Everyone needs a certain amount of niacin -- from food or supplements -- for the body to function normally. This amount is called the dietary reference intake (DRI), a term that is replacing the older and more familiar RDA (recommended daily allowance). For niacin, the DRIs vary with age and other factors and are given in milligrams of niacin equivalents:

Children: between 2-16 milligrams daily, depending on age
Men: 16 milligrams daily
Women: 14 milligrams daily
Women (pregnant): 18 milligrams daily
Women (breastfeeding): 17 milligrams daily
Maximum daily intake for adults of all ages: 35 milligrams daily

My own multivitamin and mineral supplement supplies 20 mg per day. That plus what I'm getting from food has averaged 36.9 mg per day over the last 8 weeks, 183% of DRI, and 105% of "maximum".

Karen_Cronometer

The tolerable upper intake level (UL) is defined as the maximum daily intake levels at which no risk of adverse health effects is expected for almost all individuals in the general population when the nutrient is consumed over long periods of time.

Going above this level means you may experience adverse effects.

If you are interested, you can learn more about the science behind setting the ULs here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK222879/

Marus

Hi, Karen !
I know that, but I don't understand how, a supplement manufacutrer, can recommend a dose of Niacin (B3) of 120mg/day (3 capsules) while the maximum safe dose is 35mg/day.

Karen_Cronometer

Not all types of niacin have the same risks, but the UL applies to all supplemental forms of niacin to be safe. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements does a good job of explaining the health risks from supplemental Niacin here: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Niacin-HealthProfessional/

With more references about the difference between nicotinic acid and nicotinamide.

I hope that helps!

OldHobo

Thanks Karen.
If I ever lose those last ten or fifteen pounds I'll ditch the vitamin supplement altogether. In the meantime, I'm assuming that as long as the supplement quantity is below the UL, exceeding the UL dose with normal food is not considered harmful.

Safe assumption?

Karen_Cronometer

Yes - niacin from foods that might push you over the UL technically do not increase your risk of niacin flush.

andreuoverhead

Am I the only one who thinks that vitamins are mostly a scam? I mean, we get them from food, and there’s no point in taking them in an artificial way.
If you feel you lack something, then it’s better to try to take some medicinal plants that are full of vitamins. Your body would take everything it needs and let the rest go. I recommend you to get chamomile, valerian root, burdock oil, and other essential remedies from aptekastore.com. It works better than anything you can get from big pharma that wants you sick all the time. They just want you to buy more and more drugs.

rdan

I don't think vitamins are mostly a scam; that seems to disregard their utility.

I'm on the fence about supplements. Apparently, some things are more accessible to your body via a multi-vitamin (B12?). It's hard getting straight answers, because you have to wade through all the marketing spam and SEO to find it, and even then, reading through papers, you'll find contrasting information. (Just look at eggs/cholesterol.)

On thing I don't seem to ever get remotely enough of, is Iodine. Of course, reading on that, there seems to be a fair bit of disagreement of just how important it is that you get the DV...