Vitamin B3, better known as niacin, is responsible for our energy metabolism and ensures the utilization of nutrients. Utopia explains how our body can get this vital vitamin and what happens when it is deficient.
Vitamin B3 is one of the vitamins of the vitamin B complex, but is usually only called niacin designated. Niacin, in turn, is just a collective term for various compounds: namely nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and compounds derived from them. The body can make vitamin B3 in the liver (from the amino acid Tryptophan) itself, but it is also found in many foods. B3 is a robust vitamin that is relatively insensitive to heat, light and long storage times. However, it is water-soluble and therefore partially passes into the water when it is boiled – so it is worth not throwing away the boiling water.
Functions of vitamin B3 (niacin)
Like all vitamins of the vitamin B complex, vitamin B3 / niacin is also for the Energy metabolism responsible. So it ensures that our body can use the macronutrients fat, carbohydrates and protein from food. Basically, it is involved in the following processes:
- Cell division
- Signal transmission in the cell
- Fat metabolism
- Carbohydrate metabolism
- Protein metabolism
- immune system
- Insulin release
What happens if there is a lack of vitamin B3 / niacin?
There is even a name for a vitamin B3 / niacin deficiency: Pellagra disease. This disease begins with mild symptoms such as physical weakness, loss of appetite, and indigestion, but if left untreated, it can lead to dementia and ultimately death. Niacin deficiency is mainly found in countries where the main component of the diet is corn and corn products. Because the vitamin B3 bound in it can hardly be broken down and used by the body.
In In industrialized countries like Germany, a vitamin B3 / niacin deficiency occurs only rarely and when it does, it occurs as a result of illnesses: In certain diseases, the supply, utilization and metabolism of niacin and / or tryptophan (which is required for the formation of niacin) is impaired. These conditions include alcoholism, anorexia, chronic diarrhea, cirrhosis of the liver, and Hartnup’s disease (an inherited metabolic disorder).
General signs of niacin deficiency are:
- physical weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Indigestion
- Skin changes
- diarrhea
- depression
- Signs of dementia
- Changes in the mucous membrane in the digestive tract
Side effects of an overdose of vitamin B3 / niacin
Unlike other B vitamins (such as vitamin B2) harms an overdose of niacin: Anyone who takes in very high amounts of vitamin B3 through dietary supplements, medication or foods that have been specially fortified with additional nutrients (so-called functional food) can show symptoms of overdose.
However, the forms in which the vitamin occurs differ: While nicotinamide rarely causes side effects, nicotinic acid has side effects such as gastrointestinal complaints, liver damage and vasodilatation with so-called “flush symptoms” – local reddening of the skin, sensation of heat and itching of the skin .
Danger: Some supplement sellers falsely claim that such symptoms are signs of the effectiveness of their products. If your body shows symptoms like this, you should stop taking the product but absolutely quit – rather, they are warning signals from the body.
Other long-term consequences of very high vitamin B3 doses can include:
- Jaundice
- Damage to the liver
- Problems with glucose metabolism
- severe eye damage up to blindness
- high blood pressure
- increased fat levels in the blood
The The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has therefore set total intake levels that should not be exceeded: for nicotinic acid this is 10 mg per day and for nicotinamide 900 mg per day. The Federal Ministry for Risk Assessment (BfR) recommends no more than 4 mg nicotinic acid or 160 mg nicotinic acid amide per day for food supplements.
However, it is not possible to reach such harmful levels through conventional foods. This only occurs with incorrect doses of vitamin supplements or foods that have been artificially fortified with vitamin B3. You should also be careful when taking medication (such as oral antidiabetic drugs or anticoagulant drugs): there may be interactions with dietary supplements. Therefore, you should definitely have a doctor clarify the use of dietary supplements and niacin preparations.
Daily requirement for vitamin B3 / niacin
Since vitamin B3 / niacin is significantly involved in the metabolism, the requirement depends on the amount of calories consumed and also differs according to age and gender. For adults, the recommended intake of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) is 11 to 16 mg niacin equivalents per day. Because a lot of meat is eaten in Germany and meat contains a lot of vitamin B3 / niacin, the “average German person” is even oversupplied with this vitamin.
And why are we talking about niacin “equivalents”? Because niacin is not only absorbed directly through food, but can also be produced by the body itself with the help of other compounds that are also found in food: Foods containing protein, for example, provide the amino acid tryptophan, which is converted to niacin in the liver – from 60 mg tryptophan this produces about 1 mg of niacin.
Which foods contain vitamin B3 / niacin?
As mentioned, the body can produce the vitamin itself from protein products. The biological availability – i.e. the body’s ability to absorb the substance – is higher for animal foods than for plant-based foods.
Corn, for example, contains vitamin B3, but the body cannot break down and use it in the form in which it is in grain. Therefore, in Latin America, where the maize originally comes from, maize kernels are ground together with lime or lime water: This creates an alkaline environment in which the vitamin is bioavailable as nicotinic acid. It is particularly easy for our body to produce the vitamin from animal proteins such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.
Who himself vegan nourished, can rely on bread, peanuts, mung beans, cashews, legumes, dates and other dried fruits as well as mushrooms. All coffee lovers will be pleased to learn that coffee beans are a good source of the water-soluble but heat-stable vitamin B3 / niacin. Two slices of wholemeal bread with peanut butter and two cups of coffee for breakfast or 25 g peanuts and 100 g oyster mushrooms as a snack in between are enough to cover the daily requirement.
Vitamin B3: Utopia recommends
Anyone who eats meat and fish This covers his vitamin B3 requirement by at least twice the recommended daily intake and therefore does not have to worry about an adequate supply.
Vegetarians: inside also cover their needs for vitamin B3 / niacin with eggs and dairy products well.
Vegans: inside however, care should be taken to consume enough plant-based foods in which the vitamin is in a form available to the body. Since niacin is water-soluble, it is worth using boiling water to avoid vitamin losses.
You should be careful when taking nutritional supplements: Overdosing can lead to serious health consequences! Therefore it is absolutely necessary to clarify the intake of vitamin preparations with a doctor beforehand.
Read more on utopia.de:
- Please do not throw away! 9 things you can do with pasta water
- Vitamins – everything you should know about them
- Vitamin B1 (thiamine): How much you need, where it is, how you can recognize a deficiency
Related Links: DGE, Consumer centers, BfR