Niacin Benefits – Sources, Dosages and Special Considerations

Niacin benefits show up in many ways, from helping your body function properly to treating heath conditions. It has a strong track record for helping prevent heart attacks by improving blood lipid levels when taken in high doses.

Make sure your getting niacin’s benefits by knowing its food sources and the proper supplement dosages.

Niacin Sources and Dosages

Your body can make niacin from the common amino acid tryptophan. You can also get it from many foods such as meats (particularly turkey), fish, legumes, seeds, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and milk.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 20 mg. Dr. Strand recommends supplementing your diet with taking 30 to 75 mg daily.

When used as a drug for the treatment of health conditions, much higher dosages of 1,000 to 4,500 mg are required. These higher doses are not without risk though. They can cause liver inflammation making medical supervision essential.

Special Considerations

Common niacin side effects are skin flushing and headache. You can reduce these symptoms by gradually increasing the dose over several weeks or dividing the dose into 2 or 3 smaller doses during the day. Taking an aspirin along with niacin helps decrease these symptoms too.

Some doctors use slow-release niacin to help, but this form appears to be more likely to cause liver inflammation according to . They also report, “The inositol hexaniacinate form may cause less flushing than plain niacin.”

When using niacin at high doses to treat a health condition, use pharmaceutical grade niacin under medical supervision. This allows for proper dosage prescription and monitoring preventing the rare complication of liver damage.

Niacin benefits show up in many ways, from helping your body function properly to treating heath conditions. It has a strong track record for the prevention of heart attacks by improving blood lipid levels.

Look for the recommended dosage (at least 20 mg) of niacin for nutritional supplementation and for health conditions ask you health provider how niacin benefits might help you!

See the earlier article, Niacin Benefits Help Reduce the Risk of Heart Attack and More-10 Essential Benefits for more on Niacin benefits.