Strange & Weird Niacin (B3) Deficiency Signs and Symptoms

Now there's some pretty strange , very unique , different symptoms with a B3 Niacin deficiency that you need to know about , because you might have these .

You're dealing with the 4 d's .

Dermatitis , really bad skin reactions , diarrhea , dementia , and the 4th one is death .

Other than that , you're perfectly fine .

But let's go through the subclinical symptoms .

Okay ?

And this might shock you .

And when we're talking about subclinical , we're talking about not a major deficiency .

You're deficient to a certain degree .

Number 1 , you might lose this sense of taste .

And number 2 , you might have a metallic taste in your mouth or rancid taste in your mouth .

That could be a niacin deficiency .

And the good thing about that is just by taking it within a week , that could resolve it depending on how deficient you are .

The next one is a loss of smell .

Normally , we think about Zinc being a deficiency of smell , but it can also be Niacin .

Or you might have a change in your smell .

Things don't smell like they should .

Next one is when you're looking in the mirror , your face is moving a little bit .

Okay ?

That's pretty wild .

It might not necessarily be moving , but it could be changing shapes .

When you read a book , you notice the words and the page tend to move a little bit .

When you're walking on the ground , the ground seems to be a little unstable or could be moving a little bit .

You may also have fatigue or just the feeling like you can't relax .

These are all subclinical niacin deficiencies .

Now the major deficiency is called pellagra .

And just so you know , to correct these deficiencies , you can't just take the normal RDAs , which is , like , 20 milligrams .

You would have to take large amounts , and you can take niacin or niacinamide , which is the non flushed version , but you'd probably need amounts like 6 grams per day .

That's a lot , but that's what it takes to correct some of these deficiencies .

One big reason why we need niacin is for our mitochondria .

It's called NAD .

It helps you extract electrons from foods , which is your energy currency .

B 3 directly is the precursor for this .

And also having a sufficient amounts of niacin .

You can produce more energy from the food that you eat .

You can support something called sirtuins , which is involved in longevity and DNA repair .

I mean , if you think about most diseases , they really originate from the mitochondria .

In all of these degenerative diseases , you're gonna see a great deficiency of this NAD , and especially in diseases that are related to aging .

Okay ?

Because as you age , your NAD gets less and less and less .

Tryptophan can actually turn into niacin .

Tryptophan also converts to serotonin and then melatonin for your sleep .

But b 3 is super important for your skin .

I mean , think about what a deficiency will create .

Severe , scaly , damaged skin .

So it's super beneficial for the skin , for acne , psoriasis .

If you take , the form of b 3 as niacinamide , that can actually help you more with inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis , any of the arthritis .

But the niacin version greatly helps your lipids , cholesterol , LDL , HDL .

It was really , really popular before , we came out with statins .

And of course , now with recent research , we found that no longer has any benefits .

Right ?

Well , if someone told me that niacin doesn't do anything , I would ask them what happens when you become deficient in niacin .

And if we take a look at what foods , are high in , B3 , you're gonna find high levels of B3 in animal meat products , as well as liver , organ meats , but definitely red meat for sure .

At the top of the list , it's in other foods too , but not to the degree that it's in animal foods , but you can also get it from nutritional yeast .

If you're gonna get it from nutritional yeast , I would recommend getting it without the added synthetic vitamins that they normally put in there .

You can also , get it from spirulina as well .

There's a tremendous amount of research on niacin for cholesterol , the heart , and many other conditions .

I was surprised on how much research there is on this topic .

And even for schizophrenia , depression , bipolar , all sorts of mood disorders .

How do we become deficient ?

Processed foods can create a b three deficiency .

Processed corn , processed grains , wheat , cereal , things like that .

The more protein and carbs that you eat , the more the requirement for b three is gonna be because b three is intimately involved in helping you , extract energy out of food .

But , of course , if you're eating the right foods , you'll have your b 3 that's already in these foods versus the refined foods or the ultra processed foods .

Pregnancy , being an alcoholic , COVID 19 can increase the demand for B3 .

Therefore explaining a lot of the symptoms with a lack of smell and taste .

Yes .

It can be a Zinc deficiency , but don't forget about niacin .

And of course , if you're on medications , a lot of medications , boy , your your need for b 3 goes way up as well .

And I think a lot of people , might be concerned with the flushing , of the Niacin .

Well , you can use the non flush version , unless you have a specific problem with , cholesterol and you wanna lower the cholesterol , you need the flushing version , but you can just start off very small and then gradually over time , increase it to the point where your body will adapt to the flushing .

I personally don't mind the flushing .

It's not dangerous , but sometimes people think they're allergic to it .

They're not .

People take niacin also for a fatty liver .

And , overall , there are certain things that increase the demand for niacin , like I've talked about , or it could just be you have a deficiency in your , diet .

Now since we are on the topic of nutrients , if you have not seen my video on zinc , it's a real popular one , very interesting .

You should check that one out as well .

I put that up right here .