Vitamin Supplements

How Much Vitamin B3 Do You Need?

The body’s requirements for vitamin B3 can be met in part by the conversion of tryptophan to niacin. Even so, most people need to consume additional niacin to meet the RDA guidelines.

Optimal Daily Vitamin B3 Allowance

To select an optimal daily allowance (ODA) of niacin, we examined the energy needs of men and women and chose a level to meet the needs of the most active individuals. We believe that 20 NE (niacin equivalent) per day—the highest RDA—is an optimal amount. Read the rest of this entry »

Vitamin B3 Basic Functions

In concert with a variety of enzymes, niacin participates in a variety of metabolic processes. It helps convert energy derived from carbohydrates, fats, and protein into a form that the body can use.

In large doses, niacin (specifically, nicotinic acid) positively affects fats in the blood: it can decrease total cholesterol, while increasing the HDL (”good”) component of cholesterol. Read the rest of this entry »

Today we know that this vitamin exists naturally in foods in three closely related forms: pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. Nutrition supplements generally provide B6 in the form of pyridoxine.

Vitamin B6 Basic Functions

• Vitamin B6 is necessary to convert amino acids to proteins.
•  Vitamin B6 is important in forming tryptophan, an essential amino acid, and helps to convert tryptophan to niacin (vitamin B₃) in the body.
• Read the rest of this entry »

Toward the end of the 19th century, a fluorescent pigment was detected in milk whey; subsequently, the pigment was found in other sources (liver and eggs) as well.

Riboflavin is important to the complex processes in your body that give you energy from the foods you consume. It is also needed to convert tryptophan to niacin.

Signs of Riboflavin Deficiency

Studies have shown that signs of deficiency can occur with a consumption of riboflavin at 0.55 mg per day or less. These signs won’t occur overnight, however, because your kidney and liver store small amounts of B2, thus postponing deficiency symptoms for some three to four months of deprivation. Read the rest of this entry »

The emergence of niacin as a specific vitamin dates back to the 1930s, but it has been known to the chemists as a substance called nicotinic acid for well over a hundred years. The vitamin occurs both as nicotinic acid (the acid) or nicotinamide (the amide), and these are the two specific names which come under the generic, or family title, of niacin. Occasionally it is written, incorrectly, as B3 and in the U.S.A. the generic term niacin is sometimes used to describe the acid form of the vitamin.

Another name for niacin found in older books on nutrition is ‘vitamin PP‘. This refers to the deficiency disease, pellagra. Niacin was found to protect against pellagra and was accordingly described as the pellagra- prevention factor, hence PP. This term is no longer in use but it does help in remembering a little of the history of this B vitamin. Pellagra is a skin disease which affects communities which live on maize as their main source of food with little or no protein foods to supplement the diet. Typical symptoms are severe dermatitis and reddening of the skin. It is summed up in textbooks as the disease of the three D’s — dementia, diarrhoea and dermatitis, but this is rather a sweeping description and can cover effects in many other deficiency diseases and illnesses. Read the rest of this entry »

During the formation of niacin from tryptophan yet another vitamin is needed and again it acts as a coenzyme. This is vitamin B6 and it is given the name pyridoxine. Of all the vitamins this is probably the greatest worker and it takes part in over sixty different metabolic reactions.

As we saw in the descriptions of NAD and FAD many coenzymes are involved in the transference of single atoms from one substance to another. Many reactions in the body require a greater change to take place and whole groups of atoms may be transferred between molecules. Read the rest of this entry »

Vitamin B2 [Riboflavin]

FACTS:

Water soluble. Easily absorbed. The amount excreted depends on bodily needs and may be accompanied by protein loss.

Like the other B vitamins it is not stored and must be replaced regularly through whole foods or supplements.

Also known as vitamin G.

Measured in milligrams [mg.] Read the rest of this entry »

Absorption: the process by which nutrients are passed into the bloodstream.

Acetate: a derivative of acetic acid.

Acetic acid: used as a synthetic flavouring agent, one of the first food additives (vinegar is approximately 4 to 6 percent acetic acid); it is found naturally in cheese, coffee, grapes, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries; Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) when used only in packaging.

Acetone: a colourless solvent for fat, oils, and waxes, which is obtained by fermentation (inhalation can irritate lungs, and large amounts have a narcotic effect). Read the rest of this entry »

Niacin [Nicotinic Acid, Niacinamide, Nicotinamide]

FACTS:

Water soluble and a member of the B-complex family, known as B3.

Usually measured in milligrams [mg].

Using the amino acid tryptophan, the body can manufacture its own niacin.

A person whose body is deficient in B₁, B2, and B6 will not be able to produce niacin from tryptophan. Read the rest of this entry »

Arginine

This amino acid is necessary for the normal function of the pituitary gland. Along with ornithine, phenylalanine, and other neuro chemicals, arginine is required for the synthesis and release of the pituitary gland’s growth hormone. The need for arginine is especially great in males, since seminal fluids contain as much as 80% of this protein building-block, and a deficiency could lead to infertility.

WHAT IT CAN Do FOR You:

• Increase sperm count in males.
• Aid in immune response and healing of wounds.
• Help metabolize stored body fat and tone up muscle tissue. Read the rest of this entry »