Vitamin B3

Many people are familiar with the plague of the nutritional deficiency disease of scurvy. It is caused by lack of vitamin C. Armies and navy fleets in the past suffered extreme losses due to the disease. Vitamin C is essential for strong connective tissue. Mild deficiencies weaken tissue. Smokers who often have a mild vitamin C deficiency wrinkle 20 years faster than people who do not smoke and this has been attributed to inadequate vitamin C intake. Severe deficiency causes old wounds to open up and the body to literally begin to dissolve. The teeth fall out and blood vessels rupture.

America owes its freedom from Great Britain as much to scurvy as to all of the armies it raised to fight for freedom. Scurvy so debilitated the British navy that it could not relieve the British army being attacked by George Washington. A few years later British sailors were being called limeys because lemon and lime juice became standard rations to treat scurvy on British ships. The efficiency of the British navy was so increased a few short years later that it was able to blockade the continent of Europe and defeat Napoleon at sea.

It is more or less forgotten that a plague every bit as severe as scurvy affected the south after the American civil war. This plague which also affected other parts of the world was called pellagra. It is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B3. Pellagra deficiency is a disorder characterized by 4 D's: diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death. Many people do not know that when white flour was fortified with vitamin B3 half the people in mental hospitals were able to leave the institutions, go home, and live normal lives.

Abram Hoffer was a psychiatrist who had a very high success rate in treating mental illness and depression with vitamin B3 and other nutrients (including vitamin C). Hoffer maintained that the amount of vitamin B3 used to fortify foods was inadequate to meet the needs of many people. This was particularly true of individuals who had suffered prolonged or serious deficiency at some point in life. Hoffer found this particularly true of schizophrenics, those who were depressed, and alcoholics.

The founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) never felt completely well until Hoffer persuaded his to supplement with vitamin B3. Hoffer reported better results treating schizophrenics with B3 and other nutrients than about anyone else treating these severely ill individuals. Hoffer and his associates wrote a book, Niacin, the Real Story, many years ago. In 2023 an update with twice the number of pages became available in a second edition which covers many topics not discussed in the earlier edition. This book is a worthy addition to the library of any budding nutritionist.

I have never been able to forget a study released in 2008 in which niacinamide, one of the forms of vitamin B3, reversed mental deterioration in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is characterized by accumulation of two substances, a form of tau protein and beta-amyloid. Niacinamide reversed the accumulation of tau protein. In another study pomegranate juice was shown to reverse the accumulation of beta-amyloid.

I consider supplementation with the B complex vitamins essential for long term health today. These nutrients help us cope with the physical and mental stresses we face in the modern world. Because both vitamin C and some of the B vitamins have a short half-life NeoLife has both nutrients in a continuous release form (Threshold Control) for optimum effectiveness and long term benefit.

Reference:

Link to a second edition of Niacin the Real Story.

Link to article on Alzheimer's and niacinamide.

Link to article on pomegranate juice and Alzheimer's.