Niacin vs. Niacinamide

I'd like to explain the difference between the 2 different forms of B3 .

We have niacin and we have niacinamide .

The two big differences are this .

Niacin will give you the flush .

Okay .

That flushing response , the vasodilation response , but niacinamide won't .

So it's a non flush effect of b 3 .

Other important distinction is with niacin , you get all the lipid benefits .

Okay ?

So you have all these great benefits with , lowering cholesterol , lowering LDL , increasing HDL , decreasing inflammation inside the artery , whereas niacinamide does not have those benefits .

So if you're trying to lower your cholesterol , niacin is the one you wanna use .

Now both of these vitamins chemically work in a similar way , especially in turning food into energy .

Now niacin is really effective for fatty liver , not just the fatty liver , but a liver that's inflamed , a liver that is developing scar tissue like in cirrhosis .

And so niacin is a really good to remove fat from your liver .

Now what's interesting about this b 3 , both niacin and niacinamide is the amount of research that is done on this compound .

I mean , it's like it's mind blowing .

And to me , I'm just curious , like , why would they do all this research on something that's like a a vitamin ?

It's so cheap when that competes for certain drugs .

I mean , they found niacin to be a standalone effective remedy for managing your cholesterol .

And doctors used to use , Niacin before statins came on stage .

But if you dig a little bit further , you're gonna see , quite a few articles and internet links to the dangers of niacin .

So I wanna talk about that .

You know , it's a lot of discouragement from using niacin because it could be dangerous to your liver , can create liver toxicity .

And if you actually read some of these articles , you would never take niacin .

Well , if you dig a little further , you're gonna find out that it's rare .

It's usually involved with a certain percent of the population , like 20% of the population that is taking very high doses over a long period of time and time release niacin , it's actually not as common as you may think .

I mean , when you think about even watching a commercial , a drug commercial in the US , I mean , may cause projectile vomiting , suicide .

It might put you in coma and you might die .

I mean , think about the side effects from medication , and then you compare that to some rare side effect from a vitamin .

It just does not compare .

I mean , do you know any medication that doesn't produce side effects very commonly ?

Now there is one article I wanna bring up just right now , related to niacin increasing your liver enzymes , right , which again is rare .

But one doctor had an interesting , commentary on that that point .

Because when you start to increase niacin and you start to increase this cofactor of making energy , not just in your liver , but in all the organs .

Apparently , there's gonna be more demand for liver enzymes to make that happen .

So one potential possible reason for an increase in liver enzymes is just that you're converting more energy and giving more energy to the rest of the body .

So now that I got that out of the way , let's talk about some other benefits .

Niacin , apparently , it has been effective for schizophrenia .

Now there is some data related to certain genetic variations or problems which can put someone at risk for having schizophrenia .

And apparently , this gene , which is n a p r t 1 , is the enzyme for making niacin .

Interesting coincidence .

So if any of you know anyone with schizophrenia , definitely have them watch this video .

And there's also another , condition that I wanna bring up called drug induced dyskinesia , which is a condition where you're having these involuntary abnormal movements of your body .

And there's some great research on adding niacin and manganese for that condition .

So if you have dyskinesia , you may wanna use those two things .

Now let's shift over to niacinamide , talk a little bit more about that .

What other conditions has this been shown to be effective in ?

Well , number 1 , acne , dermatitis , the rosacea , and even psoriasis , both taking in capsule form as well as in a cream .

There's a lot of things that it can help you with that I'm not gonna get into , but basically it'll lower your histamines .

It will reduce , certain immune inflammatory factors .

It'll help decrease the flaking or the plaques on your skin .

And for acne , it can actually help decrease sebum , which is the oil in the sebaceous gland , which is inflamed .

Niacinamide is also been effective for arthritis .

It's used a lot with certain , facial creams for preventing aging and hyperpigmentation .

Niacinamide is also good for the person who has a temper .

You can give it to your kids that have have a temper tantrum , and it'll just chill them out .

It's good for anxiety .

Okay .

And so is b 1 , but b 3 is also good .

As I was reading the side effect from Niacin , you know , I was just thinking , what if you became deficient in b 3 ?

What would be the side effects of that ?

Right ?

People don't talk about that .

That's called pellagra .

That is a serious condition where you have diarrhea , you have depression , you could die , you can get dementia and develop a really serious skin disorder .

But you can develop a b three deficiency by drinking a lot of alcohol , by consuming a lot of refined foods , especially corn .

Apparently corn tends to bind up tryptophan , which is amino acid that turns into niacinib .

And so the early Indians when they used to , use maize or corn in their food , they had a technique .

They would soak it in lime , and that would alkalize this corn meal , and that would free up the niacin that was necessary to prevent pellagra .

But , of course , nowadays , we don't do that .

Right ?

We just grind up the corn , and we just eat it in corn chips and all sorts of foods .

But if you're living on a diet just of corn , chances are you probably are gonna develop , pellagra .

In summary , niacin gives you the flesh .

Niacinamide won't give you the flesh .

Niacin is really good for cholesterol , all aspects of cholesterol .

Your lipids in a fatty liver , it's good for all that .

It's also good for schizophrenia , dyskinesia .

And then niacinamide is really good for , everything related to the skin and inflammation and arthritis and anxiety .

Now since we touched on these lipids and cholesterol , I did an exclusive video on the relationship between taking niacin and what it can do for your cholesterol in more detail .

You should check that out .

I put it up right here .