Sunday, August 7, 2011

Vitamin B3 good for brain.

Since Martha Ann Miller mentions (previous post) that she takes a super - B vitamin supplement, I would like to take the opportunity to point out that this may be one reason why she is still so mentally sharp.
In this podcast on Science Friday, a researcher from the University of California, Irvine talks about how vitamin B3 supplements keep Alzheimer's from developing in mice that are programmed to develop it with that gene, and how it makes normal mice smarter.
The researcher says that these mice are taking the extremely high with doses of vitamin B3, and implies that these doses are not necessarily safe for humans.

At the same vitamin B3 is water soluble (which means that levels don't build up--unlike fat soluble vitamins)
and complications from too much vitamin B3 are very rare.
This is very exciting because brain conditions are very hard to treat (unlike a broken arm or a missing tooth that can be repaired surigcally without much patient intervention).
Vitamin B3 is also suppoesed to be good for after a stroke.

I talked to a pharmacist and he said the extended release (flush-free) Niacin is safest. It's probably safe anyway.