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Twinlab Niacin Review

Want a vitamin that makes you relaxed, calm, sleep better, and fixes your depression?

A vitamin that only costs $0.06 per capsule?

One that has even been shown to cure schizophrenia?

Is extremely safe, water soluble, and easy to try?

Read on to find out how to take this vitamin, what to do if “flushing” occurs, and where to buy the best niacin out there for the lowest price.

Niacin is something I wish I would have tried earlier.

Nicotinic acid, which is niacin, is a common name for vitamin B3.  Getting enough B3 vitamin in your diet is necessary to break down fats, proteins, and to help process carbohydrates to use for energy.

Niacin can be confusing.  There are two forms – nicotinamide (also called niacinamide) and inositol hexanicotinate.

Niacin causes flushing, whereas products labeled no flush niacin typically contain inositol hexanicotinate.

Read on to find out more about how these different forms work and which one you should take for depression.

What is Niacin Good For

Niacin Detox

Many people do a niacin cleanse to flush toxins out of their body.  If you search Google you will find tons of people using Niacin to flush drugs out of their system before a drug test.

Supposedly, niacin opens the capillaries when you get the “flush” effect causing blood to flow closer to the surface of the skin.  This causes your body to release histamines.  This increase in histamines tells the body to send more blood in order to remove excess toxins.

However, there has been no documented studies showing that it will help flush out marijuana quicker for your drug test.  If you’re worried about that, just ask me to send you a clean pee sample and I got you covered. Just kidding, that is illegal.

Niacin to Lower Cholesterol

One of the major niacin uses is to use niacin for cholesterol. You won’t be able to use the flush-free version.  Sorry cholesterol sufferers, but you are going to have to experience the dreaded flush.  Niacin can lower two types of your bad cholesterol while it increases your levels of good cholesterol.  Crazy thing is, it has even been shown to increase HDL more than medications.

No-flush niacin is basically inositol hexanicotinate.  It works great for energy and helping your nervous system, but hasn’t been shown to affect cholesterol levels.

If you’re looking to lower cholesterol while improving your mood, stick with the regular niacin.

Niacin Weight Loss

Among the list of niacin benefits is weight loss.  Niacin slows down the production of cortisol.  Cortisol is the hormone that is released in response to stress. If you have too much cortisol, your body won’t be able to burn fat.  You will be storing all that food in the fat cells on your body.

Vitamin b 3 helps convert the food you eat into energy.  It helps your body make L-Carnitine, which is an amino acid that helps burn fat.

Niacin and Blood Pressure

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information Niacin B3 caused short-term lowered blood pressure.  Larger studies show that prescription niacin and extended release niacin have a blood pressure lowering effect over the long-term.  Many people list lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol as the main vitamin B3 benefits.  But, obviously, I had other plans in mind when I took it.

Niacin For Depression

Why I became interested in niacin benefits was obviously for depression. My first experience taking a niacin pill was after buying Twinlab niacin caps off the internet.

What was weird was how relaxed I felt after I took it.  I literally felt like a warm blanket was placed over me.  After I took one Twinlab Niacin 500 mg capsule I had that “Everything is going to be okay” type of feeling.  I liked niacin so much I wanted to create a site purely for niacin reviews.

I gave my brother some, and he loved it so much it almost looked like he was taking a drug.  He took it every night for about a month.  I almost thought he needed to go to Niacin Anonymous from all the flushing he was doing.

There is a lot of debate around B Vitamins and curing not just depression, but schizophrenia as well.  Andrew Saul had a patient that had been hospitalized for schizophrenia and was extremely hyperactive at night, unable to sleep.  Using 3,000mg of niacin and 1,000mg of Vitamin C each day, he suddenly slept 18 hours a day and was normal in a few days.

What is the deal with niacin therapy?  Do we all have a niacin deficiency?

Dr. Hoffer, a leading doctor in orthomolecular therapy that uses vitamins to cure people, explains a few key points about niacin:

• Niacin acts as an antihistamine.  People who suffer from psychotic behavior typically have some form of cerebral allergies.  Eating certain foods can really mess them up, such as junk food and sugar.  This means that they need more niacin to cope with these foods than the average person.
• If you take niacin and don’t flush red, that means you need more of it.  You are literally soaking up the niacin in your body.  The Niacin creates NAD, which is one of the most important coenzymes in the body.
• Schizophrenic patients have have a high amount of oxidized adrenalin, called adrenochrome, that has an almost LSD-like effect on the body.  Niacin serves to reduce the body’s production of this toxic material.

Niacin Dosage and How To Take Niacin

What I didn’t know for a long time was that flushing meant you were saturated with enough niacin.  In other words, if you flush beet red from niacin, you’ve taken plenty (if not a little too much).

This is particularly interesting, because there have been a few times where I took a Twinlab Niacin B-3 capsule and literally didn’t flush at all.  Now I know that that meant I needed all that niacin and it was being absorbed into my body.

You want to take just enough so that you have a slight flush.  This means a little bit of pinkness visible on your skin.  If you are turning beet red like you’ve been living on the sun for a few says and this lasts a half hour or longer, this means you’ve taken too much.

Niacin should be taken right after you eat a meal.  If you take it on an empty stomach, a niacin flush can occur within 20 minutes.  If you take it after a meal, it can appear in an hour or two.  If you start to flush red, just remember that you took niacin that day!

Many people suggest taking a small dose, around 50mg to 100mg, after each meal over the course of one day.  I would suggest trying to take one half of the Twinlab Niacin (b-3) 500mg 100 Capsules and see what happens.  If you don’t flush at all, take a whole capsule the next time.  If you flush too much, try taking it with food or even a smaller dose.

It would be wise to take niacin along with a b complex and other B Vitamins throughout the day.  B Vitamins work together, and a B Complex is one of the best vitamins you can take for fixing depression.  To learn more about which B Complex vitamins I recommend, check out my Supplements for Depression page.

Niacin Side Effects

The biggest side effect you will find taking Twinlab Niacin B-3 caps is the “flush.”  Niacin flushing can be described as burning, tingling, itching all over, redness of the body, and even headaches.

Other side effects can include stomach upset, intestinal gas, and dizziness.  If you experience anything like this, than you have definitely taken too much.

If the main side effect of niacin is simply the flushing, why not just the buy no flush niacin?

Flush Free Niacin

To flush or not to flush, that is the question.  Why would someone take flushing niacin when non flush niacin forms exist?

There is nothing wrong with taking the non flush version.  However, it is less effective in inducing relaxation and calming effects.  It also doesn’t do much to lower cholesterol.

I have talked to people that say they took large amounts of flush free niacin and significantly reduced their depression.  I have tried it myself, and personally felt nothing.  With regular flushing niacin, I can definitely feel the effects.

There is also a sustained release niacin.  It is often advertised as another niacin flush free product.  It is supposed to not cause a flush while still keeping all the cholesterol lowering and calming effects of regular niacin.  However, the flush can simply just happen hours later.  This makes it harder to tell if you are properly saturated with niacin and how to adjust your dose.  They can also cost a lot more (Twinlabs Niacin B3 is extremely cheap).

Twinlab Niacin Ingredients

Twinlab niacin B-3 500mg capsules simply contain Niacin.  The picture above shows the Twinlab Niacin 1000 mg version.  I’d personally recommend getting the niacin 500 mg version (links below).  Taking niacin 1000mg is almost guaranteed to cause a pretty intense flush.

Other ingredients are gelatin, purified water, and MCT.

Twinlab Niacin Review

Why twinlab niacin?

Twinlab vitamins are known for their high quality, pure ingredients, and amazing reviews.  Their version of niacin is also some of the cheapest niacin I have ever seen in comparison to other brands such as nature made vitamins.  You can currently buy Twinlab Niacin off of Amazon.com for $0.06 a capsule.

Where to Buy Niacin Pills

My favorite place to buy niacin supplements and niacin pills is Amazon.com.  Some people like iHerb.com better because Amazon supplements can sit on the shelf for a while.  I’ve never received an expired niacin vitamin bottle from Amazon.com before, but iHerb is a great vendor to choose from as well with comparable prices.

Twinlab Niacin B 3 500mg – This is the “internet bottle.”  It is break resistant, ships easier, and is only $7 dollars for 120 capsules when you order it with any order over $25.

Twinlab Niacin B 3 1000mg – Same as above, except the 1000mg mega dose.  Costs $11 dollars.  I would recommend sticking with 500mg for first time users of niacin.

Twinlab Niacin No Flush isn’t typically reviewed very well.  I would recommend going with another brand if you decide to opt for the no flush route (I would urge you to try using regular niacin!)

Life Extension No Flush Niacin 800 Mg , 100 Capsules – This goes for around $13 dollars and contains the special form of niacin (inositol hexanicotinate) that I talked about in the intro that doesn’t cause flushing.