Vitamin B3 (niacin)
Vitamins
At the heart of hundreds of energy reactions; the body can also make it from tryptophan.
Corn contains it in a form the body cannot take up — unless treated with lime, as Mexican cooking has always done. That is nixtamalization, and abandoning it caused epidemics of pellagra.
Effects and benefits
It forms NAD, a molecule involved in hundreds of reactions that produce energy and repair DNA. It contributes to energy, skin and nerves; and the body can make it from tryptophan.
NAD passes from one reaction to the next like an electron shuttle: it is at the heart of cellular respiration, and also fuels enzymes that repair DNA. Its level falls with age, which makes it one of the most studied subjects around aging (Rajman et al., 2018).
It contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism, to the normal functioning of the nervous system, to normal psychological function, to the maintenance of normal skin and mucous membranes and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue (Regulation 432/2012).
About 60 mg of tryptophan give 1 mg of niacin: a protein-rich diet thus covers part of the needs (EFSA, 2014). High-dose nicotinic acid supplements cause flushing and can affect the liver.
Sources: Rajman et al., Cell Metab, 2018 · EU Regulation 432/2012 · EFSA, 2014
Where to find it (16)
- African rice
- Avocado
- Black chickpea
- Black rice
- Brown rice
- Button mushroom
- Chickpeas
- Green / brown lentil
- Nutritional yeast
- Oyster mushrooms
- Peanut
- Pumpkin seeds
- Red rice
- Shiitake
- Sunflower seeds
- Whole wheat