Thanks for explaining. I thought time release means since it is slowly released, it stays in the body for hours, but not the liver? I didn't feel much "flush" since it's time-release niacin which probably lessens the "flush" as it is not all released at once.
Niacin research is a bit of an eye-opener, and not just about niacin but about the motivations behind research in general. There is remarkably little research about niacin or niacinamide for their own sake (hardly a thing on niacinamide and arthritis, for example)--the aim of the vast majority of research is to find a way of beating the flush, the reason being that the flush puts off the majority of potential niacin takers, and so a non-flushing niacin formula with the same effect as flushing niacin would be worth a fortune. There is no money in plain cheap old niacin and niacinamide, which anyone can manufacture. I think this is why there is such a preoccupation with slow-release formulae.
But the way I look at it is this: the flush signals the effect. The body clearly wants to react to niacin with a tangible flush, because its effect upon blood flow is the greater if the effect is sudden, as is the stimulation of prostaglandins, platelets, etc., to produce cleansing effects, anti-inflammatory effects (and inflammatory effects, of course, which go hand in hand with the latter), and the reduction of cholesterol. To put it crudely, if you want to clean out a drain, you will do better with a bucket of water than with a sprinkler.
In my opinion, though, there is not much need to take niacin, as such, if you are not interested in lowering cholesterol, which I am not. The only reason I alternate a little niacin (100mg capsules) with my niacinamide is that too much niacinamide can conceivably tax the liver. (I admit the chances of upsetting the liver with normal niacin or niacinamide capsules are fairly low, but one might as well be cautious.) Since I take niacinamide and niacin mainly for arthritis and the warming effect, experiencing the flush from a dose of niacin is not important to me; but I would not like to take slow-release capsules, because then I would lose my niacin rhythm (as it were)--my awareness of how the supplements affect me from hour to hour.
As for sleep, which is the subject of this thread, I am not sure whether niacin or niacinamide help me with that or not. I have certainly identified a cosy, restful feeling from taking niacinamide, but it does not dull my senses (nor energise them). I would not risk taking niacin in the evening, in case a delayed flush struck while I was going to bed.
Edited by Gerrans, 14 December 2013 - 05:59 PM.
LongeCity
