Two out of three people with diabetes die from cardiovascular disease, according to the American Diabetes Association. Niacin may help protect you against heart attacks and strokes -- in can help improve cholesterol and hardening of the arteries. But taking niacin could also elevate your blood glucose levels and affect your need for insulin. If you have diabetes, do not take niacin without doctor supervision.
Niacin in Diet and Supplements
Niacin appears naturally in foods such as beets, tuna and milk. Tryptophan in foods such as soy, pumpkin seeds, eggs and chicken also convert to niacin in your bloodstream. A healthy diet includes about 14 mg to 16 mg of niacin daily. This amount of niacin will not likely affect your diabetes medications or conditions. But if you take large doses of niacin -- 100 mg of more -- this could affect your need for insulin. Since niacin is a vitamin -- vitamin B3 -- you can purchase it without a prescription. But if you have diabetes, don't take niacin without a physician's consent and guidance.
Niacin and Diabetes
If you have type 1 diabetes, niacinamide may help delay your need for taking insulin -- extend the time before you become insulin-dependent. Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 that works differently than regular niacin. If you have type 2 diabetes, niacin may cause dramatic elevations in your blood sugar levels. Hyperglycemia -- high blood sugar levels -- puts your health at risk. If you take niacin, check your blood glucose levels frequently. You may need to alter your dose of niacin and, if you take insulin, you may need to adjust the time and amount you take.
Niacin and HDL Cholesterol
For people with type 2 diabetes, niacin works better than other types of cholesterol medications -- statins, for instance -- in elevating HDL cholesterol, according to researchers at University Hospital Zurich and the Medical School of Hannover in Germany and Switzerland. Lead author Sajoscha A. Sorrentino, M.D., and others found that including niacin in a cholesterol-lowering regimen worked better for people with type 2 diabetes than taking only statins, according to the report published in the December 2009 issue of "Circulation," a publication of the American Heart Association. HDL is the "good" cholesterol that helps pulls low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides out of your arteries.
Risks
Taking niacin in high doses poses serious health risks, including stomach ulcers and liver damage. If you take timed-release niacin, sometimes prescribed to alleviate an unpleasant side effect of niacin called skin flushes, you increase your risk for liver damage. Taking niacin may also increase your risk for strokes, according to a National Institutes of Health study. People in the study who took 2,000 mg of niacin daily along with statins enjoyed greater improvements in their overall cholesterol levels than persons who took only statins. But the niacin users suffered more than twice as many strokes as those who did not take niacin. The NIH halted the study 18 months ahead of schedule, in May 2011.
References
- American Diabetes Association; Living With Diabetes: Heart Disease
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B 3 (Niacin); June 18, 2009
- Medline Plus: Niacin and Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
- National Institutes of Health: NIH Halts Clinical Trial on Combination Cholesterol Treatment; May 26, 2011
- American Heart Association: HDL Cholesterol Not As Protective in Persons With Type 2 Diabetes; Dec. 21 2009
