Health Trend of 2011: Niacin Flushing
One of the greatest health trends of the years was niacin flushing. This entails that you deliberately take in a surplus of niacin in order to cause vasodilation in the body. This process has several health benefits like improved cholesterol, prevention of depression and adding on muscle. In this article, I will explain how this is possible, how you can achieve these benefits yourself too in a safe and proper manner and how to avoid side effects.
Niacin Flushing Explained
When you have consumed the overdose of niacin (vitamin b3), basically your giving the body a chance to get rid of poisonous waste. This waste gets cluttered in areas of the veins where blood flow is weak. The veins will become a little wider after good niacin flushing and blood flow is enhanced. This process improves cholesterol greatly.
Niacin flushing can also help to prevent depression. When your diet is low in niacin, your body will use the amino acid named tryptophan in order to produce niacin by itself. This goes without harm, unless all tryptophan is used for the production of niacin, because your body also needs tryptophan to make serotonin, a hormone that causes happy feelings. If no serotonin is produced anymore, you will inevitably become depressed. This phenomenon is also known as niacin depression.
Finally, a niacin flush can put on muscle. When you take in the overdose of niacin, the production of growth hormone is also stimulated. Growth hormone is needed to become stronger and lift more weight. Also niacin flushing improves vascularity temporally, which is a great asset during a bodybuilding contest.
Foods for Niacin Flushing
In order to niacin flush, your body will need to consume niacin dense foods or you can take in niacin supplements. Personally, I recommend niacin dense foods, surely this will take more time and supplements are more convenient, but the supplements are often way too concentrated leading to nasty side effects. Besides, the natural foods also contain other highly important micro-nutrients. The following list contains my favorite niacin dense foods:
- Sun dried tomatoes | 10.2 mg vitamin b3 per 100 grams serving.
- Raw Crimini mushrooms | 6.5 mg niacin per 5 OZ.
- Organic chicken| 11.9 mg vitamin b3 per 3 ounces serving.
- Organic turkey | 5.1 mg niacin per 3 ounces serving.
- Peanut butter | 5.1 mg vitamin b3 per 1 ounce serving.
Avoiding Side Effects
In order to avoid side effects associated with niacin overdosing, it might be helpful to closely monitor niacin consumption. Side effects are often caused by taking in way too much niacin. Around 50-80 mg is more than enough. Anything above 600 mg will definitely lead to intense side effects. Another remedy I personally recommend is to take in an aspirin 30 minutes prior to niacin consumption.
If you follow this advice, you can enjoy the benefits of niacin flushing without having to worry about nasty side effects like a red skin or severe headaches
No related posts.