Need a natural anti-depressant and pain reliever?

I had an interesting experience with a vitamin that I had forgotten all about.

This is a very simple and cheap vitamin that has a lot of profound effects and can be used in detox, to decrease joint pain, decrease cholesterol, and as an anti depressant to name a few of the benefits.

But, you do have to be careful how you take it. It does have a down side - it causes flushing. What I mean by that is you get redness, heat, and tingling in the face and sometimes in the extremities. Usually it is at most like a mild sun burn.

Here's my story: I had family visiting for the week, and a few of them were taking niacin. I had heard about the benefits of niacin, but I had never tried it, so I decided to take one... right before I was stuck in the car for 3 hours... not a good idea. (I think it was a 350 mg tablet).

I had a severe reaction. Within about 5 minutes, I was extremely red in my face and extremities. My face swelled up and I got severe brain fog. I felt dizzy and thought I was going to throw up. I couldn't think or concentrate and I was exhausted. While the initial feelings faded, I continued to feel off all day. Having had such a reaction, I was very curious about what could be going on. I had obviously started with too much, but I wanted to know if what I experienced meant I should take more or avoid it.

Here is what I found out.

Start slow: Most people should start at 100mg and take with food. Some people even start on 50mg. Taking it on an empty stomach will increase the flushing reaction. You can use the flush to help with detox, but be prepared to help move the toxins out with drinking water, sweating in a sauna or bath, and exercise. I think that I took enough to dump lots of toxins but didn't move them through fast enough.

Arthritis: Niacin opens the blood vessels near the skin and throughout the body. Niacinamide, which is a different form of B3 only opens the blood vessels near the joints. In moderate arthritis, 1000-1500mg has had great results.

Cholesterol, Triglycerides, and Heart: People have been able to lower cholesterol and triglycerides with 1000mg-3000mg per day. Not only are they avoiding all the horrible side effects of statin drugs but they are reversing the effects of heart disease and show a much lower 5 year mortality rate than those not using niacin.

Mental Illness and Memory loss: Amazingly, this simple vitamin can also help in the control of mental illness and can even improve or reverse senility and memory loss.

Other: Niacin can help with sensitivity to the sun, acne, circulation problems, diabetic neuropathies, migraines, etc. See the article below for more info.

Link to article by Dr. David Williams about niacin benefits

Detox: Dr. Mercola has an interview with Dr. George Yu who is using niacin in detox, particularly for 9/11 firefighters. He has a very interesting article about it here. You can use niacin with exercise followed by a sauna or hot bath to eliminate toxins from your fat, which will in turn also help you lose weight. Learn more

Link to article about how to detox with Niacin

What to do with this information

Am I going to take niacin again?

Absolutely!

But this is how I would suggest trying this. As always, consult with a naturally oriented healthcare provider, but especially if you have a liver problem, or are pregnant or breastfeeding. I wouldn't recommend doing the detox while pregnant, and you may need to pump and dispose of one feeding if doing the detox while breast feeding.

For detox:

1. Once or twice a week, take 50 mg of flushing niacin. If this doesn't cause you to flush increase your dose to 100 mg. You can continue to increase it until you get a flushing reaction.

2. Do 20 minutes of intense exercise to get you sweating.

3. Drink lots of water with a little sea salt in it. 4. Take 500 mg of Activated charcoal.

5. Get in a sauna or hot bath. Add skin brushing to increase the release of toxins. Make sure you shower afterwards to remove the toxins excreted on your skin.

For the other benefits:

Take 50 mg of niacin with each meal. Slowly increase the dose over several weeks until you are up at the required dose. Avoid extended release niacin and non-flushing niacin as these do not have the same benefit and have been associated with liver damage at high doses.

Wishing you health and freedom from pain!

Mary X. Psaromatis, DC

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