Vitamin B3 is nicotinic acid, also known as niacin, which was discovered as early as 1867. Its effectiveness in the physiology of living things was not known until nearly a century later in 1934.
Mode of action of vitamin B3
In nature, there are numerous suppliers of vitamin B3. For example, game or fish, but also mushrooms, peanuts, or apricots.
Vitamin B3 is of particular importance for the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins, as it is an important building block of various coenzymes. Vitamin B3 is found in every living cell, although it is primarily stored in the liver.
In addition to its role in the various metabolic processes, vitamin B3 is also involved in the regeneration of muscles, nerves, skin and even DNA. There it is certainly an advantage that vitamin B3 is less sensitive to the effects of atmospheric oxygen, light and heat compared to many other vitamins of the B group.
Importance
The amount of vitamin B3 that must be ingested per day for this purpose depends on the energy requirements of the individual and can therefore vary. On average, an adult needs 6.6 mg of vitamin B3 to generate the approximately 1000 kcal of required energy used by the various organs, cells and tissues.
Consequently, a man needs about 15-20 milligrams and a woman about 13-15 milligrams of vitamin B3 per day. These amounts should be adhered to as much as possible, since both a deficiency of vitamin B3 and an oversupply of vitamin B3 can have its consequences. However, a deficiency of vitamin B3 occurs only rather rarely, since the important vitamin B3 can also be obtained from tryptophan. Nevertheless, a low-protein diet, for example, can initially lead to problems in the absorption of vitamin B3.
The effects can then be seen, for example, in loss of appetite, concentration problems, but also depression, diarrhea or skin changes can be a deficiency symptom of vitamin B3.
If too much vitamin B3 is ingested, which on average is the case from 1.5 to 3 g vitamin B3, then it can lead to a strong expansion of the vessels and as a result to a drastic drop in blood pressure.
Independent of this are also dizzy spells or an increased level of uric acid in the blood. However, if one pays attention to the amount, then vitamin B3 can also be used in medicine for the treatment of increased fat content of the blood.
Especially if the treatment purely with statins does not achieve sufficient results. Nevertheless, care must also be taken here to ensure that the various manifestations of overdose are not caused by the additional intake of vitamin B3 via food.
Occurrence in food
In nature, there are numerous foods that have the vitamin B3. These natural suppliers include in particular other living creatures such as game, fish or poultry as food for humans.
Of course, the various animal products such as eggs or dairy products also possess a partial amount of the daily requirement of vitamin B3. Independently of this, however, some plant products also provide vitamin B3: mushrooms, peanuts, brewer’s yeast, dates, wheat bran, apricots or various legumes.
However, the amount of vitamin B3 contained in a balanced diet is not a cause for concern, so a possible overdose should not occur without additional intake of vitamin B3. Nevertheless, taking appropriate medications or supplements may naturally increase the likelihood if the physician’s instructions or package insert are not followed.
