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VITAMINS & MINERALS?
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VITAMIN B3: NIACIN
Vitamin B3 is a water-soluble vitamin that breaks down foods into simpler compounds use for the release of energy. It helps blood circulation, reduces cholesterol levels and helps in the creation of several hormones. Vitamin B3 helps to keep the digestive track healthy and enhances brain function.
Vitamin B3 is made from nicotinic acid and niacin amide, which are both easily absorbed by the small intestines. It is common in a variety of foods including wheat, milk, peanut butter and potatoes, although cooking has little effect on this vitamin, 90% can be lost from milled whole grains. Our bodies can produce as much vitamin B3 as it requires given a well balanced diet including animal meat protein, if there is a deficiency for an extended period of time then irritability, diarrhea and skin problems arise.
If over 50g of vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid to be specific) is ingested daily a loss of blood pressure, cholesterol level and liver damage may incur (although the liver will heal itself doses go back to normal).
When settlers first arrived to America, they ate a diet very poor in vitamin B3 as a result, they often developed pellagra which gave rise to changes in skin color, which lead to the term “rednecks†given to describe these farming immigrants.
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References
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Book Description & Testimonial |
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The Vitamin Alphabet: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals and Food Supplements
by Christina Scott-Moncrieff
All in color! Make sure that you are getting all the vitamins and nutrients you need! Written by a physician who uses both conventional and homeopathic medicines, this must-have guide is a handbook for good health. More than 50 nutritional supplements are presented with explanations of what they do, what they can be combined with for enhanced effect, in which foods they can be found, and the recommended daily allowances. Recipes for quick nutritional boosts, case studies, and deficiency checklists are included. In addition to providing information on such common supplements as Vitamins C, A, D, E, and the B-complexes and important minerals like calcium, potassium, iron, and zinc, this authoritative reference also features information on common herbal supplements, including garlic, echinacea, ginseng, and ginkgo biloba. A cross-referenced lifestyles section highlights the special supplement needs for pregnancy, child development, athletics, immune system boosting, and mor
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The Columbia Encyclopedia of Nutrition
by Brian L. G. Morgan, Jaime Rozovski, Myron Winick (Editor), Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition (Corporate Author)
Useful sourcebook from the Institute of Human Nutrition of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons provides an authoritative compendium of information relating to a wide variety of topics. Short articles, alphabetically arranged, proffer concise and up-to-date discussions of such subjects as food additives, vegetarianism, vitamin deficiencies, food processing, sources of iron, macrobiotic diets and nutrient requirements during pregnancy. Not all the articles are about nutrition, however, and there are lucid writings on related topics like stress and exercise. Welcome dietary recommendations are given without pep talks or filler, and the evenhanded work doesn't take a dogmatic approach to controversial issues. In its entry on vitamin C, for example, the book states that "there are no definitive answers about consuming large doses," citing one study demonstrating that the vitamin supplement reduces the severity of the common cold and another study that was unable to prove any differences between those taking and those abstaining from the supplement.
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Nutritional Resources @ myfoodcount.com
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