Asked by
Areeba khan
in
Personal Health
at
12:53 PM on August 23, 2009
Vinay Kiran's Answer
Vitamin B3 is also called niacin. Like all the B-complex vitamins, it is important for converting calories from protein, fat and carbohydrates into energy. But it also helps the digestive system function and promotes a normal appetite and healthy skin and nerves.
Larger doses of niacin sometimes more than 1,000 milligrams a day have also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the 'bad' cholesterol that clogs the heart's arteries) and triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol (the 'good' cholesterol that prevents hardening of the artery walls). However, you should only take increased doses of niacin under the supervision of a physician.
Sources of Vitamin B3
Meat, poultry, fish
Peanuts
Yeasts
Milk and eggs contain small amounts, but are excellent sources of tryptophan
Nicotinamide, via its major metabolite NAD++ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), is involved in a wide range of biological processes including the production of energy, the synthesis of fatty acids, cholesterol and steroids, signal transduction, and the maintenance of the integrity of the genome. Nicotinic acid, in pharmacological doses, is used as an antihyperlipidemic agent. It also causes vasodilatation of cutaneous blood vessels resulting in the so-called niacin flush. Nicotinamide in pharmacological doses does not have antihyperlipidemic activity, nor does it cause a niacin-flush. There is evidence, however, that pharmacological doses of nicotinamide may help prevent type 1 diabetes mellitus. Pyrazinamide, an important drug in the treatment of tuberculosis, is an analogue of and shares the same biochemical mechanism with nicotinamide.
Answered at
4:11 PM on August 26, 2009
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