Niacin Is A Crucial Vitamin
Niacin is one of the most conspicuous vitamins required for good health of people. Being a crucial vitamin, indispensable for health, niacin prevents many diseases including pellagra from affecting entire body. As we all know that a deficiency of different types of vitamins causes different diseases like scurvy(vitamin C), beriberi(vitamin B) and rickets(vitamin D), a deficiency of niacin causes pellagra. Being too effective in keeping the people healthy, niacin treats arterial disease by dealing with a low density lipoprotein(LDL) and many other associated compounds as well favorably.
Being a colorless organic compound, niacin actually is a nicotinic-acid, popularly known as vitamin B3 as well. Niacin is a derivative of carboxyl and commonly identified as amide, nicotinamide and esters. Niacin gets completely converted into co-enzymes or NAD(nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) after passing through a few specific stages. Though niacin and nicotinamide are similar in many ways, they differ in their medicinal effects, causing different side effects on the health of user.
Considered to be similar to that of niacin, nicotinamide doesn’t play any positive role in controlling cholesterol in the body. Rather it causes a toxic effect on liver, while niacin does resuscitate disordered functions of body by activating a metabolic function. Being an efficient organic compound, niacin reconstructs DNA and stimulates hormonal growth as well in adrenal gland. Niacin is one of the most crucial and vital nutrients, needed for the body growth.
Niacin was analyzed in 1873 by a renowned scientist Hugo Weidel, who described a natural niacin as a most effective compound for human body growth. Effective enough in checking many harmful diseases, the extraordinary properties of nicotinic proved niacin as a most an effective and exceptional vitamin for the health and body-growth. Following a fact substantiating a presence of nicotine in cigarettes, the crucial organic compound was allotted a name niacin for its most conspicuous property of meeting the needs of essential vitamin as well.
Causes Of Niacin Deficiency
Corn has plenty of niacin meeting a need of vitamin to check pellagra disease. Niacin can be produced by a large quantity of corns placed in alkaline lime water. Such process is known as nixtamalization. Excessive consumption of wine and poor economical condition of people contributes to a large extent in causing niacin-deficiency leading to intestinal debility. Intestinal problem causes pellagra disease(aka alcoholic pellagra) among the alcoholics in many developed countries as well. But timely replenishment of niacin can check such type of health complications effectively.
Diseases Caused By Niacin Deficiency
Deficiency of niacin develops pellagra, characterized by many of its negative symptoms like diarrhea, dermatitis and dementia. Some other problems emerging over the body of affected one due to niacin-deficiency are lesions or wounds occurring over the neck, hyper pigmentations affecting the skin, hardening of skin, burning sensation in the mouth and tongue. Being indispensable for health, regular intakes of niacin reins in many additional complications as well like digestive problem, nausea, amnesia and delirium.
Deficiency of niacin causes psychiatric symptoms also like irritation, lack of concentration, anxiety, tiredness, obfuscation, laziness and nervousness. Less intakes of niacin or a niacin-deficiency affects metabolic function causing cold related problems as well. People consuming plenty of corns hardly encounter a niacin-deficiency and remain immune to all the related complications characterized by pellagra syndromes.
Sources Of Niacin
Liver, chicken, beef, fish, cereal, peanuts and legumes are the major cources of niacin.