Vitamin B3 Benefits

Vitamin B3 is essential for the body’s metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and lipids. It is also required to produce energy, making vitamin B3 one of the most important nutrients in our everyday lives.

What is Vitamin B3?

Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, is an essential nutrient. Our bodies cannot synthesise or store niacin, which means that we need to consume it regularly in our diets. 

Vitamin B3 is made up of three distinct forms, known as vitamers. These are nicotinamide (niacinamide), niacin (nicotinic acid), and nicotinamide riboside. All forms of vitamin B3 are converted by the body into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which is needed for over 400 biochemical reactions in the body.

Vitamin B3 is produced by some plants and animals, but often in lower quantities than we require. For this reason, and in order to ensure that those who cannot afford vegetables and meat do not develop a deficiency, vitamin B3 is often added to flour and other common grains.

What are the benefits of Vitamin B3?

As previously mentioned, vitamin B3 is required for most different elements of our bodies, making it extremely important. This also makes the benefits of vitamin B3 hard to pin down, as they are so plentiful. 

That said, the main vitamin B3 benefits are related to how it enables our bodies to turn food into energy. This energy is used by the whole body but is also known to boost brain function in particular. Some research even suggests that vitamin B3 can be used to treat Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, as it keeps brain cells healthy.

One of our favourite Vitamin B3 benefits is that it protects our skin cells from sun damage. This, in turn, keeps our skin looking younger and healthier. In addition to this, studies have shown that niacin can help prevent skin cancer.

What is a Vitamin B3 deficiency?

A vitamin B3 deficiency is caused by a chronic or long-term lack of vitamin b3. A vitamin B3 deficiency leads to the disease Pellagra, which has the following symptoms: 

• Diarrhoea
• Sun-sensitive dermatitis involving thickening of the skin and hyperpigmentation
• Inflammation of the mouth and tongue
• Psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, fatigue, irritability, poor concentration, loss of memory, restlessness, apathy, and depression
• Delirium and dementia
• If left untreated, death

However, it is useful to note that Pellagra is not a common disease in developed countries and is more often seen in places where malnutrition and poverty are common concerns.

What Rejuvenated products include Vitamin B3?

As vitamin B3 is such a beneficial nutrient, we have added it to the formula of two of our award-winning health and beauty supplements. Our Collagen Shots and Regenerate NAD+ supplement both benefit from the addition of vitamin B3 and a range of other excellent minerals, vitamins and extracts.

As our capsules contain several ingredients, we don’t recommend that you take them while you are pregnant or breastfeeding.