Health Trend: Niacin Flush
Niacin flushing, deliberately taking in a surplus of niacin in order to increase the blood flow, is becoming more and more popular. Regular niacin consumption can prevent depression, add muscle to your physique, make you lose a few pounds and improve cholesterol. This article will explain how this is possible, how you can niacin flush properly yourself too and how to avoid side effects often associated with niacin overdosing.
How it Works
When you take in the overdose of niacin, your veins will become a little wider (vasodilation). This greatly enhances circulation, enabling your body to get rid of toxic waste stored in the capillaries. The blood flow in the capillaries, which can be seen as access roads if the veins were a highway, is normally relatively weak and by improving circulation, cluttered waste is being removed. This process also improves good cholesterol (HDL) and decreases bad cholesterol (LDL) at the same time.
Niacin Consumption: Two Paths
In order to achieve these benefits yourself too, you can do a few things. First of all you can eat lots of niacin dense foods. Otherwise, you can take in niacin supplements. Personally, I heavily recommend to eat lots of niacin dense foods, because the also contain other crucial micro-nutrients like folic acid that make the body function properly. The following list shows my favorite foods high in niacin:
- Wild salmon | 9.2 mg vitamin b3 per 3 ounces serving.
- Peanut butter | 4.1 mg niacin per 1 ounce serving.
- Sun dried tomatoes | 8.7 mg niacin per 100 grams serving.
- Lima beans | 2.4 mg vitamin b3 per cup.
- Raw Crimini mushrooms | 4.6 mg vitamin b3 per 5 OZ.
Avoiding Side Effects of Niacin Overdosing
Most people complain after their first niacin flush about intense side effects like a red skin and a tingling feeling in the chest. In order to avoid this, you should note down with pen and paper how much niacin you have consumed during the day. Personally, I recommend for people new to niacin flushing to spread intake over the whole day.
Other remedies include, taking in an aspiring 30 minutes prior to the niacin rich meal or drinking lots of water during the flushing period. However, no matter what you do avoid alcoholic and hot beverages at all costs, since these make side effects more intense. This is something I can confirm out of own experience.
If you follow the advice given in this article, you will be able to experience the benefits of niacin flushing without having to worry about niacin side effects like a red skin.
