Vitamin B3 (Niacin) And Cholesterol Control

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) And Cholesterol Control

Vitamin B3, or niacin, is very effective in helping not only lower bad cholesterol (often more effectively than “statins” such as atorvastatin or “Lipitor”) but also, more importantly, in increasing good cholesterol – so one supplement gives you the best of both worlds!

To find out more and to improve your health – read on….

Many studies have found that niacin lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol by approximately 10%, lowers triglycerides by 25% and raises “good” HDL cholesterol by 15% - 30%. It also appears to significantly lower levels for another risk factor for atherosclerosis, lipoprotein A.

Niacin can also increase the effect of high blood pressure and cholesterol lowering medication and for these reasons niacin should not be used to lower cholesterol unless under the supervision of a qualified healthcare practitioner. The other most common side-effect of high-dose niacin is skin flushing or hot flushes, which are caused by widening of blood vessels although these effects are temporary and usually occur when you initially start taking niacin.

This flushing effect due to dilation of blood vessels is the reason niacin has been used preventively for such serious problems associated with cardiovascular disease such as myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) and strokes.

Treatment with about 2gm per day of nicotinic acid has produced significant reductions in both blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels but you need to build up to these levels. To lower the LDL and raise the good HDL cholesterol, I would recommend starting with 50-100mg twice daily and then over two to three weeks increasing this dose to 1500-2500mg daily.

Note that only nicotinic acid and not niacinamide (another form of B3) lowers blood cholesterol levels.