Dangerous supplements -- niciacin (B3) and green tea?

rosebette
rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
edited February 27 in Food and Nutrition
I'm hearing a lot of news about how some supplements are dangerous, but they are not very specific about at what levels. Yesterday, there was a story about niacin (B3) being dangerous. I take a B complex every day with 200 mg niacin for high cholesterol and overall health (2 members of my family are also B deficient). I've also been using a cronometer to track micronutrients, and most of the time, I am B deficient. I also take two 315 capsules of green tea every day because it's supposed to have antioxidant properties and also speed my metabolism. In fall and winter, I also drink at least 2 cups of green tea, some of it brewed from pure leaves, some bags. However, some reports say that green tea causes liver damage and people have actually been hospitalized. Again, no levels at which this substance becomes toxic. I was talking with my sister about this a week or so ago as we were drinking margaritas, and she says margaritas are bad for your liver too (haha), bu t I have one of those only about once a week. Anyone have any scoop on this? I've been at this level of supplementation for at least 5 years.

Replies

  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
    Excuse typo in post title!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about it. Could be scaremongering, might not apply to you as you're B deficient, hard for us to say...
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
    I'm not deficient, but the tendency is in my family. Yesterday I got all my B's in, but many days I don't.
  • martyqueen52
    martyqueen52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I recently had my first Niciacin flush from taking a pre-workout with Yohimbe in it.... not a good feeling at all.

    I DRINK green tea daily (Lipton kind, and home-brewed from tea leaves) for over 8 years now, ever since I had Mono and my doc. told me to take it to increase my immune system. I'm yet to die of liver / kidney failure.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
    Could that side effect be from the Yohimbe,though, which is a male supplement? That's got a lot of warnings on the Internet. My dad was taking it as a natural way to ward off prostate trouble and his doctor made him stop because of heart side effects.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    A niacin flush is uncomfortable, but ultimately completely harmless.

    Ingesting too much of absolutely anything (even water!) can potentially be harmful, and the level that defines "too much" may vary from individual to individual. However, based on what you've described, a B-complex and a green tea supplement taken as intended doesn't sound like it could possibly be "too much" of anything for someone who doesn't have any underlying health problems that would make them particularly sensitive to the effects of the supplements. Make sure you're confident in the quality of your green tea supplement (as those things aren't regulated), and if you're not noticing any adverse health issues, you're probably good to go. Check with your doctor (rather than strangers on the internet) to be sure, though, if you're concerned.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    The recent studies were on prescription strength niacin, which seems to be 1,500 - 2,000 mg per person per day.

    Over-the-counter niacin is going to be MUCH lower: the RDA for niacin is about 14 - 16 mg/day. Being that it is a vitamin, that means that we do need it to live. So, getting it at these low levels is probably better for you than not getting it at all, especially if you have a tendency to deficiency.

    There have been some suggestions that too many anti-oxidants (which green tea primarily is) are potentially not as good for you as previously thought. Basically, your body is in a flux between oxidising things and reducing things. Anything that seriously alters that balance is basically "not a good thing". But I don't think a few cups of green tea is going to push you over the edge.

    As for the margarita, that is why our livers produce alcohol dehydrogenase! :drinker: (in moderation, of course)
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
    Thanks for the numbers on the niacin. This was what I was looking for. It seems as if so many of these media reports are alarmist -- without providing the full picture. I also wonder who sponsors some of these studies -- the makers of lipitor, for instance, so more people will go off niacin and take lipitor instead?
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Update: here is a section from the abstract on one of the papers:

    METHODS
    After a prerandomization run-in phase to standardize the background statin-based LDL cholesterol–lowering therapy and to establish participants' ability to take extended-release niacin without clinically significant adverse effects, we randomly assigned 25,673 adults with vascular disease to receive 2 g of extended-release niacin and 40 mg of laropiprant or a matching placebo daily. The primary outcome was the first major vascular event (nonfatal myocardial infarction, death from coronary causes, stroke, or arterial revascularization).

    So yeah, 2 g.

    Note: Even at this high level, neither this study nor the other one actually showed any benefit to the niacin on clinical outcome.

    CONCLUSIONS
    Among participants with atherosclerotic vascular disease, the addition of extended-release niacin–laropiprant to statin-based LDL cholesterol–lowering therapy did not significantly reduce the risk of major vascular events but did increase the risk of serious adverse events.

    Source: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1300955
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,663 Member
    Thanks.
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