Testimonial For Niacin - It Just Works

[ddjd]

Per the title, this is just my personal successful experience with using niacin that I wanted to share. Usually I don't care to make posts like this, but seeing as there are just too many members here running around aimlessly playing with foods, food timings, avoiding nutritious foods like animal products because they require more acid production(which is a good thing because they are packed with protein and micronutrients and other goodies), dealing with countless GI issues including but not limited to indigestion, GERD, bloating, etc... It felt needed. There's one thing to read all the science that many veterans(credit especially to @charlie for digilently posting lots of research and topics on niacin this last month) have posted and how its supposed to work, its another thing to hear from a "commoner" like myself. This is me telling you it works, and it works well.

I made this post to the many here looking for answers where there are none. Go back to the basics.

I have been taking niacin(nicotinic acid) for not even 2 weeks, from doses of 250mg-1000mg with meals 2-3x a day. The reason I avoided taking it for all meals or took less is because if I had to be somewhere I don't want to look red, obviously. But even with that, it improved my digestion, especially acid production. Over time I have less of a flush reaction so its easier to deal with now and I can get away with more and be out in public.

As for improvements:

• Bloating minimized regardless of what I ate. I generally had bloating issues with more fibrous foods and eggs in particular, this has since been remedied significantly. Especially the fact that I wanted to consume more eggs for choline which caused me trouble. I can now eat many eggs throughout the day without issues that I had before.
• Excessive urge to belch to virtually no belching at all(besides drinking carbonated things obviously).
• I had some degree of indigestion with certain plants and eggs(see my first point) which is now significantly reduced.
• I don't have GERD except on rare occasions for unknown reasons, havent had any since starting niacin.
• All foods, animals and plants, now digest smoother. In other words, increased stomach acid from niacin has resulted in smoother digestion, stronger stomach, etc.
• Whole digestive process has clearly without a doubt improved.
• General positive mood improvements

As for nicotinic acid vs niacinamide(which is the common recommendation), I did use niacinamide before awhile ago, and I did see improvements with digestion but it was causing weight gain and there was strong drops in blood sugar and I didnt feel that great on it which is why I stopped. Niacin has not fluctuated my weight at all and I'd argue it was more effective then niacinamide at improving stomach acid but in the end it doesn't matter. If you are afraid of niacin, try niacinamide first and if its not working great, use niacin.

Reminder that it can take weeks, even months to see improvement and to fix a niacin deficiency. I got a bit lucky as I have supplemented high doses of B1, P5P, and zinc in the past which also are needed for stomach acid which probably helped my digestion improve quicker but without niacin there was virtually no improvement. Increased stomach acid also generally means an improvement in thyroid function, seeing as thyroid and stomach acid production are related niacin is likely improving thyroid function directly or indirectly.

For niacin, I started with 250mg per meal and slowly increased the dose to 750mg-1000mg/meal to minimize strong flush. I started seeing significant digestive improvement after a few days and has been improving ever since. I plan on sticking to niacin for months or for as long as it takes to get back the iron stomach and lightning fast digestion I had when I was a kid which I am confident niacin plays a big part in. The dose recommended for digestion is usually 500mg per meal but they can sometimes be higher if needed.

I will probably update this thread eventually as I see further improvement but the original purpose was to get it out there for those with GI issues of any kind to start taking niacin and stick to it. Give it time. Even if it doesnt improve as fast as you would like, stick to it. It can take up to months but it will work.

3.5 years on, any updates on your views on niacin??
i do notice a lot of niacin benefits which i cant get from niacinamide. niacinamide increases bloating whereas regular niacin makes my digestion amazing.
but is there really a risk of diabetes from regular niacin?

 

[Digital Samurai]

I'll share another experience.

I've had prediabetes blood sugar levels (150+) as read by my continual blood glucose monitor. Been taking niacin for a few days and it immediately corrected itself, according to the continual blood glucose monitor data. Now it stays level all day and doesn't spike up. (90-120)

Not only that but i would get crazy adrenaline symptoms whenever my blood sugar levels would rise up (or fall too low). This happened every single day for over 2+ years. I would get sweaty hand and feel super stressed for no reason. I couldn't figure it out as i wasn't aware i had pre-diabetes.

As you can imagine my sleep has been ***t for the past 2+ years.
The day i started taking niacin, the adrenaline symptoms went away, instantly. No more stress and sweaty hands. Not only that but I slept 6 hours solid, which is a miracle.

I've literally tried everything to correct these symptoms for YEARS (stressed, adrenaline, insomnia, sweaty hands) and nothing else has worked.

I then went back to Ray's article on glycemia and found this quote:

"There is evidence that diabetics are chronically deficient in niacin" - Ray Peat.

Oh... well that explains a lot. Wish I would have discovered this sooner. A lot of fear in this thread about it causing diabetes posting Dr. Leaf articles, but Ray thinks the opposite.

Furthermore, I believe everybody is dosing niacin wrong, and here's why.

Here's my view of the optimal niacin dosing schedule:
- 100mg per hour, every hour, up until ~1.2G is reached

Why?
- Niacin takes 30-60 min to hit peak levels
- Niacin half life in blood is 60 min
- Diminishing returns after 1.5G per day^ (chart above)
- Also we learned from vitamin C study that it does it's magic when the blood level is high for a SUSTAINED amount of time, i'd imagine most water soluble vitamins are like this (my opinion). Once the blood levels fall off quick and it's no longer in your blood to do magic. Even IV falls off quick. Frequent oral dosing is the holy grail imho. See below Vitamin C chart:

So for these reasons I think most everybody is doing it wrong. Who know's the I could be wrong. Just my uneducated opinion.

Also guess what?

No niacin flush at this dose.

cc: @redsun

 

[Spartan300]

Are you doing anything to minimise the flush?

100mg gives me very uncomfortable flushing. Niacinamide just seems to make me irritable even when we'll fed....

 

[Digital Samurai]

Are you doing anything to minimise the flush?

100mg gives me very uncomfortable flushing. Niacinamide just seems to make me irritable even when we'll fed....

Interesting. Not consciously no. Sometimes i take it with food, other times i dont. Haven't flushed yet.
I wonder why i'm not flushing on 100mg, but you are?
Maybe eat with with a bit of fruit or yogurt or something?

 

[A.R]

Are you doing anything to minimise the flush?

100mg gives me very uncomfortable flushing. Niacinamide just seems to make me irritable even when we'll fed....

Do you take any other drugs/supplements?

How is your general health?

I’ve personally found when my liver is in bad shape, supplements are hard to tolerate.

 

[Ben.]

Interesting. Not consciously no. Sometimes i take it with food, other times i dont. Haven't flushed yet.
I wonder why i'm not flushing on 100mg, but you are?
Maybe eat with with a bit of fruit or yogurt or something?

Have you done a off-cycle period yet? Ideally we want these protocolls to have lasting benefits so we can go without a lifetime of pills and powders. Wonder if your issues come flying right back when you stop.

 

[Spartan300]

It's been a while since I tried niacin and I've been trying to improve my health for years now using all of the usual recommendations.

Yesterday I added niacin back in at 50mg with meals and no flush yet. I'll continue and up the dose in a few days.

Something seems to have changed. I've tested prediabetic a couple of times which is why I'm giving it another go

 

[Spartan300]

I spoke too soon..... bad enough flushing at 50mg to make me think this experiment will be a short one

Do you take any other drugs/supplements?

How is your general health?

I’ve personally found when my

Less than I have in the past but no problems with them usually other than not always delivering what I hope from them.

General health has improved more since some stresses removed than anything any particular supplement has done

 

[Superhumaness]

By the way that is an excellent link, that should have been mandatorily attached to the original post, even at the risk of putting the kibosh on the niacin party, especially given people are clearly jumping on these horse doses in hordes.

“The ability of niacin (as nicotinic acid) to reduce heart disease risk comes with a price — a 34% increased risk of developing diabetes”

“Liver toxicity occurs from niacin depleting methyl donors”

Hey Oceanspray,
I just started taking Niacin and haven't heard that it lowers thyroid hormone and increases propensity to develop diabetes. Can you please tell me where to find this information?

 

[moa]

Hey Oceanspray,
I just started taking Niacin and haven't heard that it lowers thyroid hormone and increases propensity to develop diabetes. Can you please tell me where to find this information?

i try to take niacinamide only with TMG, to protect the choline and avoid liver damage.

when homocysteine is very high, the body uses choline, covers it to TMG.

I don't think low methylation is causing the liver problems, but the depletion of choline.

 

[peatmoss]

Just a personal experience. For years i have had issues with waking up after 4 hours of sleep. A while back I discovered that if I take niacin and get a good flush I'm able to get back to sleep. I don't do it every day, just when it gets to the point where I really want more than 4 hours. Last night I only got 3 hours so I took some niacin, had a flush and went back to sleep and woke up after having a nocturnal emission. This has happened no less than 3 times since I discovered that niacin helps with going back to sleep. I'm sure it has to do with practicing abstinence and not masturbating.

 

[PeatBull]

I started taking a 1/4 of teaspoon like antihistamine for my hay fever, and looks like its working. At least i can sleep properly. Even beter than asprin. What the dosage should be. It gives me a couple of minutes of like burning rush on my head and shoulders tho...

 

[Frankdee20]

It's been a while since I tried niacin and I've been trying to improve my health for years now using all of the usual recommendations.

Yesterday I added niacin back in at 50mg with meals and no flush yet. I'll continue and up the dose in a few days.

Something seems to have changed. I've tested prediabetic a couple of times which is why I'm giving it another go

Niacin taken with meals doesn’t cause flushing for me, only away from meals

 

[facesavant]

Im with you man, can't live without the Bs

I just want to chime in here, I love and appreciate this conversation.

 

[Texon]

Would you say then a loss of B3 is one of the biggest reasons people can instantly go hypothyroid after something major like you just listed seemingly overnight or something else like a major car wreck, etc.

So is "stress tolerance" nothing more than a big store of B3 and "stress intolerance" nothing more than a lack of B3?? Seems too simple/good to be true.

Check out anything you can find by Dr Abram Hoffer MD

 

[Texon]

I started taking a 1/4 of teaspoon like antihistamine for my hay fever, and looks like its working. At least i can sleep properly. Even beter than asprin. What the dosage should be. It gives me a couple of minutes of like burning rush on my head and shoulders tho...

Really surprised you don't get heartburn from taking niacin powder like that.

 

[InChristAlone]

I'll share another experience.

I've had prediabetes blood sugar levels (150+) as read by my continual blood glucose monitor. Been taking niacin for a few days and it immediately corrected itself, according to the continual blood glucose monitor data. Now it stays level all day and doesn't spike up. (90-120)

Not only that but i would get crazy adrenaline symptoms whenever my blood sugar levels would rise up (or fall too low). This happened every single day for over 2+ years. I would get sweaty hand and feel super stressed for no reason. I couldn't figure it out as i wasn't aware i had pre-diabetes.

As you can imagine my sleep has been ***t for the past 2+ years.
The day i started taking niacin, the adrenaline symptoms went away, instantly. No more stress and sweaty hands. Not only that but I slept 6 hours solid, which is a miracle.

I've literally tried everything to correct these symptoms for YEARS (stressed, adrenaline, insomnia, sweaty hands) and nothing else has worked.

I then went back to Ray's article on glycemia and found this quote:

"There is evidence that diabetics are chronically deficient in niacin" - Ray Peat.

Oh... well that explains a lot. Wish I would have discovered this sooner. A lot of fear in this thread about it causing diabetes posting Dr. Leaf articles, but Ray thinks the opposite.

Furthermore, I believe everybody is dosing niacin wrong, and here's why.
View attachment 48100

Here's my view of the optimal niacin dosing schedule:
- 100mg per hour, every hour, up until ~1.2G is reached

Why?
- Niacin takes 30-60 min to hit peak levels
- Niacin half life in blood is 60 min
- Diminishing returns after 1.5G per day^ (chart above)
- Also we learned from vitamin C study that it does it's magic when the blood level is high for a SUSTAINED amount of time, i'd imagine most water soluble vitamins are like this (my opinion). Once the blood levels fall off quick and it's no longer in your blood to do magic. Even IV falls off quick. Frequent oral dosing is the holy grail imho. See below Vitamin C chart:

View attachment 48101

So for these reasons I think most everybody is doing it wrong. Who know's the I could be wrong. Just my uneducated opinion.

Also guess what?

No niacin flush at this dose.

cc: @redsun

Wow this is amazing!

 

[charlie]

Wow this is amazing!

Incredible, thank you for bumping this. I have been doing this the last week or so, instead of taking 3 big doses a day, I have been taking a bunch of small doses and am liking it so far.

 

[Kocky777]

I'll share another experience.

I've had prediabetes blood sugar levels (150+) as read by my continual blood glucose monitor. Been taking niacin for a few days and it immediately corrected itself, according to the continual blood glucose monitor data. Now it stays level all day and doesn't spike up. (90-120)

Not only that but i would get crazy adrenaline symptoms whenever my blood sugar levels would rise up (or fall too low). This happened every single day for over 2+ years. I would get sweaty hand and feel super stressed for no reason. I couldn't figure it out as i wasn't aware i had pre-diabetes.

As you can imagine my sleep has been ***t for the past 2+ years.
The day i started taking niacin, the adrenaline symptoms went away, instantly. No more stress and sweaty hands. Not only that but I slept 6 hours solid, which is a miracle.

I've literally tried everything to correct these symptoms for YEARS (stressed, adrenaline, insomnia, sweaty hands) and nothing else has worked.

I then went back to Ray's article on glycemia and found this quote:

"There is evidence that diabetics are chronically deficient in niacin" - Ray Peat.

Oh... well that explains a lot. Wish I would have discovered this sooner. A lot of fear in this thread about it causing diabetes posting Dr. Leaf articles, but Ray thinks the opposite.

Furthermore, I believe everybody is dosing niacin wrong, and here's why.
View attachment 48100

Here's my view of the optimal niacin dosing schedule:
- 100mg per hour, every hour, up until ~1.2G is reached

Why?
- Niacin takes 30-60 min to hit peak levels
- Niacin half life in blood is 60 min
- Diminishing returns after 1.5G per day^ (chart above)
- Also we learned from vitamin C study that it does it's magic when the blood level is high for a SUSTAINED amount of time, i'd imagine most water soluble vitamins are like this (my opinion). Once the blood levels fall off quick and it's no longer in your blood to do magic. Even IV falls off quick. Frequent oral dosing is the holy grail imho. See below Vitamin C chart:

View attachment 48101

So for these reasons I think most everybody is doing it wrong. Who know's the I could be wrong. Just my uneducated opinion.

Also guess what?

No niacin flush at this dose.

cc: @redsun

Thank you so much. Will re-try Niacin now with your dosing method of 100mg every hour until 1200mgs per day are reached. I also sometimes suffer from insomnia.

@Digital Samurai Are you still taking Niacin? Does it still help your sleep?

Thank you!!!

 

[Kocky777]

@Digital Samurai Sorry for bumping again, but I forgot to ask you another question:

What other benefits does/did Niacin bring to your life?