Discount

🎁 Save $200 off your Certification + 100s of Freebies! Choose: Nutrition OR Sleep, Stress & Recovery

Discount

🎁Save $200 off your Certification + 100s of Freebies! Choose: Nutrition OR Sleep, Stress & Recovery

🎁HOLIDAY SPECIAL—ENDS FRIDAY!
Discount

Enroll in either PN’s Nutrition OR SSR Certification and get...

  • $200 off the Certification of your choice
  • FREE: 100s of resources to level-up your coaching
  • FREE: 5 weeks of live business mentoring to help you succeed
NUTRITION SSR

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Share This:

The Encyclopedia of Food is part of
the Precision Nutrition Network

All content © Precision Nutrition

At a Glance

Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, has several functions in the body, including assisting with DNA repair, facilitating cellular signaling, and helping to control cholesterol levels. Vitamin B3 can be found in vegetables like mushrooms and asparagus, legumes such as lentils, peanuts and lima beans, whole grains, poultry and some types of seafood.

Overview

Vitamin B3 is also referred to as niacin. Vitamin B3 is the basic term for a family of compounds including nicotinamide and nicotinic acid, both of which can be obtained from food.

Vitamin B3 is a water soluble vitamin, which means it dissolves best in water.

Importance

Vitamin B3 has many functions in the body including:

  • Helping to make up the electron transporter NAD
  • Assisting in DNA repair
  • Facilitating cellular signaling
  • Helping to control cholesterol levels by influencing lipid synthesis in the liver.

Food Sources

Vitamin B3 can be found in several foods including:

Deficiencies

Common symptoms and resulting conditions of vitamin B3 deficiency include:

  • Dermatitis
  • Diarrhea
  • Dementia
  • Stomatitis (inflammation of mucous membranes of the mouth).

However, your individual response could be different. If you suspect a health problem or deficiency in certain nutrients, please see your primary health care provider (doctor, naturopath, etc). They can help unravel the complexity of your physiology.

Excess/Toxicity

Common symptoms of vitamin B3 excess/toxicity include:

  • Nausea
  • Liver toxicity (with chronic supplemental intake of 750mg of more per day)
  • Can lead to increased liver enzymes.

However, your individual response could be different. If you suspect a health problem or an excess of certain nutrients, please see your primary health care provider (doctor, naturopath, etc). They can help unravel the complexity of your physiology.

Note: niacin from foods is not known to cause adverse effects. However, supplemental nicotinic acid may cause flushing of skin, itching, impaired glucose tolerance and gastrointestinal upset.

Recipe

For recipes rich in vitamin B3, check out any of the Encyclopedia of Food entries for food items listed above.

Free Recipe Book

Precision Nutrition’s Encyclopedia of Food expands every single month as we highlight new foods and showcase beautiful food photography. If you’d like to stay up to date, simply click this link. From there, we’ll send you a FREE copy of our recipe book. We’ll also let you know when new and delicious foods are added to the site.

Click here for the free Encyclopedia of Food recipe book.

At a Glance

Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, has several functions in the body, including assisting with DNA repair, facilitating cellular signaling, and helping to control cholesterol levels. Vitamin B3 can be found in vegetables like mushrooms and asparagus, legumes such as lentils, peanuts and lima beans, whole grains, poultry and some types of seafood.