Overview
Vitamin-B-3 (niacin): Your cardiovascular health depends upon it, and so does your mind.
The B-vitamins are required for energy production and the synthesis and metabolism of various biological substances. Your
body does not make them, so you must get an adequate amount in food or from supplements.
Vitamin B-3 deficiencies are usually the result of:
- malnutrition
- chronic alcoholism
- reliance on corn as a staple food.
Severe B-3 deficiency is called ‘pellagra’, the symptoms of which are:
- diarrhea
- dementia
- dermatitis
- death.
B-3 supplementation is of value not only to prevent pellagra, but also
- to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- to prevent heart attacks and strokes
- to optimize metabolic capacity during strenuous exercise
and simply to serve as cheap insurance against the mental and physical lapses that could result from minor and temporary niacin
deficiencies.
