Niacin flush is a standard facet impact of taking excessive doses of supplemental niacin, which might be prescribed to deal with ldl cholesterol issues.
Though innocent, its signs — pores and skin that’s pink, heat, and itchy — might be uncomfortable. Actually, that is usually why individuals cease taking niacin (1).
The excellent news is you can scale back your chance of getting niacin flush.
This text describes what it’s essential to find out about niacin flush, together with:
What’s niacin flush?
Niacin flush is a standard facet impact of taking excessive doses of niacin dietary supplements. It’s uncomfortable, however it’s innocent.
It seems as a flush of pink on the pores and skin, which can be accompanied by an itching or burning sensation (1).
Niacin is also referred to as vitamin B3. It’s a part of the B advanced of nutritional vitamins that play an important function in turning meals into vitality for the physique (2).
As a complement, niacin is primarily used to deal with excessive levels of cholesterol. Nicotinic acid is the complement kind individuals normally use for this function.
The opposite supplemental kind, niacinamide, doesn’t produce flushing. Nevertheless, this way isn’t efficient at altering blood fat, equivalent to ldl cholesterol (3).
There are two predominant types of nicotinic acid dietary supplements:
Niacin flush is a quite common facet impact of taking the immediate-release type of nicotinic acid. It’s so frequent that a minimum of half of people that take excessive doses of immediate-release niacin dietary supplements expertise it (4, 5).
Excessive doses of nicotinic acid set off a response that causes your capillaries to develop, which will increase the movement of blood to the pores and skin’s floor (1, 6, 7, 8).
By some studies, nearly each one who takes excessive doses of nicotinic acid experiences flush (6).
Different drugs, together with some antidepressants and hormone substitute therapies (HRTs), also can set off flush (1).
Signs of niacin flush
When niacin flush happens, signs usually set in about 15–half-hour after taking the complement and taper off after about an hour.
The signs primarily have an effect on the face and higher physique, and embrace (9, 10):
Folks usually develop a tolerance to high-dose niacin. So even should you expertise niacin flush once you first begin taking it, that may most likely cease in time (1, 8).
Why individuals take giant doses of niacin
Docs have lengthy prescribed excessive doses of niacin to assist individuals enhance their levels of cholesterol and stop coronary heart illness (5).
Taking excessive doses of niacin has been proven to supply the next enhancements in blood ldl cholesterol and lipids:
Folks solely expertise these optimistic results on blood fat once they take therapeutic doses of niacin within the vary of 1,000–2,000 mg per day (5).
To place that in perspective, the beneficial each day consumption for many women and men is 14–16 mg per day (9, 10).
Niacin remedy isn’t usually the primary line of protection in opposition to ldl cholesterol issues, since it may well trigger uncomfortable side effects aside from flush.
Nevertheless, it’s usually prescribed for individuals whose levels of cholesterol don’t reply to statins, that are the popular remedy (15).
It’s additionally typically prescribed to accompany statin remedy (16, 17, 18, 19).
Niacin dietary supplements ought to be handled like a drug and solely taken beneath medical supervision, since they will have uncomfortable side effects.
Is it harmful?
Niacin flush is innocent.
Nevertheless, excessive doses of niacin could cause different, extra harmful uncomfortable side effects, though these are uncommon (20).
Probably the most dangerous of those is liver harm. Excessive doses of niacin can also trigger abdomen cramping, so don’t take them when you have a abdomen ulcer or lively bleeding (9, 21, 22, 23, 24).
You additionally shouldn’t take excessive doses should you’re pregnant because it’s thought-about a class C drug, which means at excessive doses, it might trigger start defects (22).
Curiously, though the flush isn’t dangerous, individuals usually cite it as the explanation they wish to discontinue their remedy (1).
And that in itself is usually a downside, since should you don’t take niacin because it’s prescribed, it’s in no way efficient at stopping coronary heart illness.
In keeping with studies, 5–20% of people that have been prescribed niacin cease utilizing it due to flush (5).
When you’re experiencing niacin flush, or are involved about it as a doable facet impact of those dietary supplements, inform your healthcare supplier. They may help you determine how one can scale back the probabilities of flush or focus on various remedies.
Additionally, as a result of there are different, extra dangerous uncomfortable side effects related to taking these dietary supplements, don’t attempt self-medicating with niacin.
How one can stop niacin flush – “b vitamin flush”
Listed here are the primary methods individuals use to forestall niacin flush:
Variations between types of niacin
As talked about above, to keep away from undesirable signs, together with flushing, some individuals go for extended-release or long-acting niacin.
Nevertheless, extended-release and long-acting niacin differ from immediate-release niacin and should trigger completely different well being results.
Lengthy-acting niacin is related to considerably diminished flushing, because it’s absorbed over a very long time interval that usually exceeds 12 hours. Due to this, taking long-acting niacin considerably diminished the probabilities of flushing (11).
Nevertheless, due to the way in which the physique breaks it down, taking long-acting niacin might have poisonous results on the liver, depending on the dose taken (11).
Though unusual, switching from an immediate-release niacin to a long-acting niacin or considerably rising your dose can lead to severe liver harm (27).
What’s extra, niacin absorbability is determined by the niacin complement that you just take.
For instance, the physique absorbs practically 100% of nicotinic acid, which raises niacin blood ranges to an optimum vary in about half-hour.
In distinction, inositol hexanicotinate (IHN), a “no-flush” niacin, isn’t absorbed in addition to nicotinic support (28).
Its absorption price varies extensively, with a median of 70% being absorbed into the bloodstream.
Plus, IHN is considerably much less efficient than nicotinic acid at rising serum niacin. IHN normally takes between 6-12 hours to boost blood ranges of niacin to close the optimum vary (28).
Some research recommend that peak niacin blood ranges might be over 100 occasions better when supplementing with nicotinic acid in comparison with supplementing with IHN.
Analysis additionally exhibits that IHN has minimal impact on blood lipid ranges (28).
As a result of absorbability can considerably range relying on the type of niacin used, it’s a good suggestion to ask your healthcare supplier what kind can be finest on your particular well being wants.
The underside line
Niacin flush might be an alarming and uncomfortable expertise.
Nevertheless, it’s really a innocent facet impact of high-dose niacin remedy. What’s extra, it might be preventable.
That mentioned, giant doses of niacin can produce other, extra dangerous uncomfortable side effects.
If you wish to take excessive doses of niacin for well being causes, ensure to take action beneath medical supervision.