Diabetes increases your risk for heart disease. A person with diabetes is twice as likely as someone without the disease to suffer a heart attack or stroke, according to the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes can make it more difficult to control the level of triglycerides and cholesterol in your bloodstream. Niacin, an effective treatment for lowering triglycerides, may create unhealthy spikes in blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. Talk to your doctor before taking niacin to lower triglycerides.
Triglycerides
Some factors that exacerbate conditions of diabetes -- excess sugar and body weight -- can also increase your triglycerides. Some of the food in your diet -- meat and other animal products, for instance -- naturally contain triglycerides, a type of fat. Your body also converts some substances -- sugar and alcohol especially -- to triglycerides. Trans fat, found mostly in margarine and shortening, can also elevate your triglycerides. Your body stores triglyceride in fat cells, so carrying excess weight contributes to high triglyceride levels. Aim to keep your triglycerides below 150 mg/dl. Triglycerides levels that measure more than 200 mg/dl put you at high risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Niacin and Diabetes
Niacin, prescribed for 50 years to treat cholesterol, can help improve the levels of all three types of lipids in your bloodstream: triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. But persons with type 2 diabetes face a potentially serious side effect if they take niacin. Niacin can cause hyperglycemia, very high blood sugar levels. If you take insulin or other medications to treat high blood glucose levels, closely monitor your blood sugar levels if you also niacin supplements. Niacinamide, a different type of niacin, may help delay the need for insulin for persons with type 1 diabetes.
Additional Risks
You can purchase niacin -- vitamin B3 -- without a prescription. But, because of the risks of hyperglycemia for persons with diabetes, you should only take niacin with a doctor's supervision. Niacin taken in doses of 100 mg or more can cause additional side effects, including stomach ulcers and liver damage. Niacin may also cause a less serious but unpleasant side effect called skin flushes, a condition that makes your face and chest burn, tingle and turn red. Timed-release formulas of niacin may prevent or alleviate skin flushes, but they increase your risk of sustaining liver damage.
Considerations
If you want to lower your triglycerides without taking niacin or other medications, a strict diet and moderate exercise may prove helpful. You can reduce triglycerides 20 percent through diet and another 20 to 30 percent by exercising at least 150 minutes a week, according to a statement released by the American Heart Association in April 2011. Your doctor or a registered dietitian can help you develop a menu plan that helps you meet your diabetes needs and the AHA triglyceride-lowering guidelines. If you need to take medication to lower triglycerides, ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking niacin as well as other available remedies.
References
- American Diabetes Association; Living With Diabetes: Heart Disease
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B 3 (Niacin); June 18, 2009
- Brigham and Women's Hospital; Understanding Trans Fat; April 7 2011
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol; June 24 2010
- Medline Plus: Niacin and Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
- American Heart Association; Diet, Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Reduce Triglyceride; April 18 2011
