Scientists have learned about the deadly dangers of vitamin B3

For those who like to eat vitamins by the handful, this is bad news. The journal Nature Medicine published the results of a new study on vitamin B3 (aka PP), which is part of almost any multivitamin complex. As follows from an analysis of data from more than 4,500 people, an excess of its metabolites in the body significantly increases the risk of heart attacks, including fatal ones.

“Metabolites are substances that are formed in the body during the processing of the original substances that enter it. In this work, the authors were interested in the metabolites of vitamin B3, or more precisely, one of its forms – niacin, also known as nicotinic acid. With an excess of vitamin B3 in the blood plasma of the subjects “Increased concentrations of two specific metabolites were observed – 2PY and 4PY (abbreviated names of two complex formulas),” says microbiologist Irina Yakutenko.

These elevated concentrations were directly associated with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular problems. For example, Americans with elevated 2PY levels were 64% more likely to have a heart attack during three years of follow-up; Europeans were 102% more likely to have a heart attack. The risk of dangerous heart problems among those with elevated 4PY concentrations was increased by 89% in the US and 99% in Europe. “The risks were even higher for certain people, namely those whose DNA had the rs10496731 polymorphism (genetic variant). These people made more 2PY and 4PY than others, and also had higher concentrations of a substance called VCAM- 1. This is an immunoglobulin that works in blood vessels and attracts other immune cells there. In other words, VCAM-1 promotes inflammatory processes in blood vessels, which significantly increase the risk of atherosclerosis, that is, blockage of the lumen of blood vessels with plaques. Experiments on mice have shown that, at a minimum, 4PY directly stimulates the production of VCAM-1 and inflammatory processes in blood vessels,” continues Yakutenko.

“The authors began by analyzing the blood of heart patients, not yet having any hypotheses about what else might be wrong if cholesterol is controlled, but the heart still suffers. To their surprise, two similar rare metabolites – 2PY and 4PY – were associated with an almost doubling of cardiovascular risk.But… high levels of vitamin B3 (niacin or niacin) in food appeared on the orders of the health authorities themselves.Lack of niacin due to a low-quality diet threatened pellagra, which was killing impoverished Americans during the Great Depression, and formerly the scourge of Gulag prisoners and orphanages in Russia. Therefore, B3 is also called “vitamin PP” – “preventing pellagra.” To cope with this threat, governments began to recommend, and then legally require, vitamin supplements in wheat flour. In many countries, for example, in the USA, fortification is mandatory.But over the years, people’s regular diets became richer, and as a result, after increasing the niacin content in flour, Americans began to receive twice as much vitamin from food as recommended. However, niacin in food is not the only source of vitamin PP and its dangerous metabolites in the body. Another source is quinolinic acid, a metabolic product of the essential amino acid tryptophan, which accumulates especially in people with a protein-rich diet.

I would also like to note that niacin is not only a dietary vitamin, but also a drug that has been especially widely used to improve lipid balance. At its peak 15 years ago, 9 million Americans were on prescription niacin. But gradually it turned out that although their cholesterol levels improved, their cardiovascular health did not improve. But data has accumulated on serious side effects – liver, hemorrhages and strokes, diabetes. As a result, high levels of niacin are now prescribed to only a few patients,” says American geneticist Dmitry Prus.

The conclusion is sad: those who drink vitamin B3 for the sake of health (and not as prescribed by a doctor) do not add health to themselves, but on the contrary, they reduce it. This is especially true for people with the rs10496731 polymorphism (which, of course, most of them are not aware of, since they have not done special genetic studies.

This is far from the first work that proves that uncontrolled use of vitamins (which many Russians are obsessed with today, and during the pandemic this trend has strengthened significantly) can lead to serious health problems and even hasten death. There are studies showing a correlation between death from all causes or the development of cancer problems and taking multivitamin complexes.

Doctors never tire of repeating that vitamins are not candy; they should be taken only after tests and when a serious deficiency is identified, which is necessarily accompanied by symptoms. However, sometimes an excess of vitamins in itself is more dangerous than its deficiency. And the best way to get vitamins is to get these nutrients from food. “The body is a complex system, and attempts to improve its functioning using simple methods often lead to such sad results. What’s most interesting is that we all know how to reduce the risks of health problems in general: eat a balanced diet, but do not overeat, greatly reduce the amount processed foods in the diet, maintain a high level of physical activity, both aerobic and strength, get enough sleep,” says Irina Yakutenko.