The Cholesterol Vitamin (Vitamin B3 - Niacin)

Ciao Nutrinutters!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!

Counting down the days to the new year yet??? I know I am pretty excited about 2014...with all of its mystery...never know what will come our way...but it is also time for a fresh start! Everything you wish you had done in the previous year, you get to try again - set new goals - improve yourself, the famous "New Year's Resolution". Have you come up with yours yet?

I confess I have not come up with mine...I do have a few things I want, does that count? Like a hammock...I imagine myself in my patio swinging while reading a Jill Shalvis romance...don't judge, it's my thing :)

How about we set one now?

I vow to learn about all vitamins and minerals together with the Nutrinutters - every Monday a new post, until we finish this journey. What do you say?

With at least one New Year's Resolution set, how about we move on to the good stuff!

It is time to introduce B3 or if you want to sound like a nutrition wiz, Niacin! This vitamin was found in the early 1900s because of a disease called pellagra. Pellagra is characterized by cracked, scaly, discolored skin, digestive problems and body weakness. What was interesting about it is that the disease prevalence was associated with diets based on corn and that the addition of protein to the diet seemed to help.

You might be thinking that corn has zero vitamin B3, but in truth it does have significant amounts, it just needed to be prepared/cooked in a way that the vitamin could be absorbed. As for why the addition of protein helped, it's because some of the B3 we get comes from the conversion of an amino acid called tryptophan into this vitamin.

Are you wondering how come these vitamins have the craziest names? Niacin kind of reminds you of nicotine doesn't it? When we say Niacin we are actually including a group of different forms of the vitamin and how this name came about is because B3 was first "discovered" during a tobacco study while investigating nicotine from tobacco leaves, isn't that neat?

Now that we understand how this name came about..

What  does vitamin B3 do for us in our bodies?

Some important functions of Niacin include energy production, breaking down and absorption of fats and finally supporting genetic processes.

Let's understand these better shall we?

Do you sense a pattern here? So far the B vitamins have participated in energy production. B3 is no different in the sense that it helps convert protein, carbohydrate and fat into usable energy for your cells. What is different about this one is that it will help store energy in your muscles and liver for whenever you need it.

You might  have noticed that I called this post the cholesterol vitamin.  Did you know niacin plays an important role in how your body processes fat? Niacin supplementation has been linked to the increase of HDL or "good" cholesterol and lowering of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, which is why there have been many studies done using Niacin supplementation to improve cholesterol status in the body.

Another important function of this vitamin is its involvement in DNA production. Niacin is essential to help support genetic processes and a B3 deficiency has been linked to genetic damage. This is extremely important especially when it comes to cancer prevention.

How much do we need and what are good sources?

The recommendation for adult females is 14 milligrams per day (pregnant: 18 mg/day, lactating: 17mg/day) and for males is 15 milligrams per day.

 

Some good food sources include:

• protein (meat, poultry, fish, beans, peas)
• whole grain and enriched breads/cereals
• eggs and milk are good sources of tryptophan (converts to B3)

 

What are some signs that show deficiency?

Niacin deficiency alone is rare, being usually accompanied by the deficiency of other B vitamins. Some signs include pellagra, inflammation of skin, digestive problems, loss of appetite and even mental confusion.

INTERESTING STUFF: Did you know that people who consume higher amounts of Niacin regularly seem to have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease?

How much more of this vitamin can I take?

The good news is that in the levels found in foods, no toxic symptoms were reported in the literature since this is another water-soluble vitamin. However, a tolerable upper limit of 35mg per day of Niacin was determined since some toxicity symptoms that can occur from high supplementation of this vitamin (1,000 mg/day) can occur, such as:

• liver damage
• flushing (reddened skin)
• upset stomach

The Nutrient Chain

We once again see that the nutrients are all linked in some way. When it comes to Niacin, since some of our supply does come from the amino acid tryptophan, a person that does not have enough protein in their diet has an increased risk of being B3 deficient. This conversion also needs the help of other vitamins including B1and B6. Deficiency in these can also inhibit the conversion into vitamin B3.

This concludes another chapter in the "B-files"!! How are we doing so far?? Feel free to message me with comments/ observations/ questions, I would love to hear from you! :)

I wanted to say a quick hi to the Nutrinutters in Brazil, Malaysia, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, India, Netherlands and of course the United States! Thank you so much for your support!!!!

And finally, I wish each and every one of you a WONDERFUL 2014!!!!!

XOXO

 

    From your NUTRINUT

Sources: Nutrition411, whfoods.org, mayoclinic.com, Nutrition for Dummies

 



 

Opening the B-Files (Vitamin B2 - Riboflavin)

Ciao Nutrinutters!

Welcome back! So Christmas is here once again for those of us who celebrate it...I confess I've been stressing over what to give my older sister, I'm sorry Mi!!! Well, I guess this will be the test if she reads the post or not :)

But going back to "the A through Z Journey" it is time to open the second B- file! Ladies and gents I introduce to you vitamin B2... known by close friends/nutrition nerds like me as Riboflavin or "Ribs" (my own nickname for it).

You might be wondering how it got this name...It's actually because it contains in its chemical structure a sugar called "ribitol" attached to a flavonoid, which is a substance from plants that contain a pigment called flavone...In B2's case, it has a yellow pigment. So the happy marriage between both resulted in beautiful Riboflavin...a perfect name don't you think?

Benefits of B2

In some ways, this vitamin has similar functions to others we've previously discussed. Like B1, this vitamin is important for the breakdown and absorption of proteins and carbohydrates, meaning that it helps in having energy available for the cells in our body. "Ribs" is similar to vitamin A because it protects the health of mucous membranes (the moist tissues we talked about before) that line up the eyes, mouth, nose, throat.

 Here's another very good reason to want vitamin B2 in your body...it works indirectly as an antioxidant!

What is an antioxidant anyways? That word keeps popping up! I think that it is safe to assume that those are good for me and found in berries, or so I've heard...But what in fact do they do?

A natural process that happens in our bodies is our cells being affected / damaged by activated oxygen...Does this make you want to hold your breath? Oxygen sounds quite evil with aging my skin and all...but no worries, this is actually quite natural and part of the living process..so continue taking those breaths :). Antioxidants protect the cells from this kind of damage by making the activated oxygen stable , keeping the reaction from taking place in your cells. And how does B2 help? Well, antioxidants need to be recycled constantly and this week's vitamin makes it possible for a specific antioxidant called Glutathione...We can call B2 our co-pilot for this antioxidant!

What happens if I'm lacking B2 in my diet?

Quite a few different skin irritations can happen when there's not enough B2 in your body, including inflammation of the skin, soreness and burning of the lips, mouth (with also cracking of the skin around the corners of the mouth) and tongue. "Ribs" deficiency can also result in symptoms that affect your eyes such as light sensitivity and burning and itching of the eyes.

How to avoid these symptoms and how much is enough??

Good ways to obtain riboflavin come from animal sources such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and milk. However, whole or enriched grain products have considerate amounts as well as dark green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli.

Riboflavin's recommendation for adults is as follows:

Females: 1.1 mg / day                      
-Pregnant: 1.4 mg
-Lactating: 1.6 mg

Males: 1.3 mg / day

Just so you have an idea of how much riboflavin is available in foods, your Nutrinut has some numbers for you!

1 egg has about 0.3 mg of Riboflavin
1 cup (8 ounces/230 ml) of milk has about o.4 mg of Riboflavin
1 cup of plain yogurt has about 0.5 mg of Riboflavin.  (Almost half of what you need per day!)

 

Can "Ribs" be toxic???

The good news is that B2 is also a water-soluble vitamin...meaning that it is very difficult to overdose on these kinds of vitamins unless you take enormous amounts of supplements. In this vitamin's case, there have never actually been any toxic side-effects documented. However be advised that just because they were never documented, does not mean that it is safe to have incredibly large supplement doses.

Here's an interesting fact...did you know that your  urine can become bright yellow after taking high amounts of riboflavin??? True story! Not mine...but still true! This is because of its yellow pigment that we talked about above.

The Nutrient Chain

The beauty of these nutrients is that they all link to each other in some way or other. For this week's vitamin, we'll see that it depends on B1 status...adequate amounts of B1 will help B2 levels.
Did you know that a few other vitamins and minerals will not fully be available in the body without adequate amounts of Riboflavin?? Iron, Folate, B12 and next week's star..B3, just to name a few.

This concludes another B vitamin for you!

Getting the names mixed up?? Don't worry...I've got you!

B1: Thiamine
B2: Riboflavin (or "ribs" if you'd like to adopt my nickname for it)

Come back next Monday for more! B3 is ecstatic to introduce itself to you! :)

XOXO,

-The Nutrinut-

The energy nutrient (Vitamin B1 or Thiamine)

Welcome back to the "A through Z Journey" Nutrinutters!

I don't know about you, but I do like the sound of that, adds a little mystery to the posts don't you think?

Before I move on to the next vitamin, I would like to thank all of you for accompanying me through this process...I appreciate your support and it has served as great motivation for me.

Now let's move on to the good stuff shall we? If last week's vitamin was the moisturizing nutrient, than we can call this one the energy nutrient. Why's that you ask? Before I explain some of the functions of vitamin B1, also known as Thiamine, here's how it was discovered...

B1 fun facts...

Did you know that vitamin B1 was actually the first vitamin to be recognized? 

It all started in the late 19th and early 20th century back when long sailing voyages were common (don't worry, I won't go tooooo much into history). Mainly in southeast Asia, where rice was the sailors' main food source during these voyages, a disease known as beriberi grew popular among sailors. Beriberi means in Sinhalese "weakness" and it got this name because it was characterized by its victims feeling muscle weakness, energy deprivation and becoming inactive. While searching for the cause of this, it was found that the addition of whole grains to the sailors' diets helped in preventing beriberi. Finally, in mid 1920s it was discovered that the one responsible for this preventive effect was vitamin B1.

Vitamin B1's special participation in the body

One of its main functions is being an energy producer. It is known that energy needed for our bodies comes from carbohydrate; however, it needs to be converted into usable energy for our cells before. This process cannot happen without the presence of vitamin B1 since it plays a crucial role in the process of extracting energy from carbohydrates.

Other than being an energy producer, B1 also acts in the nervous system. It helps a fat-like covering that's present around most nerves to healthy develop. When there is a B1 deficiency, these coverings can degenerate or become damaged.

What happens when I don't have enough Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)?

Since it plays such a crucial role in the body's energy production, one of the first symptoms of deficiency is loss of appetite. Also, like mentioned above, it is strongly related to the nervous system and a deficiency can cause nerve-related symptoms including "pins and needles" sensations or numbness.

Where in foods can I find Vitamin B1?

Some of the common sources are

• unrefined cereals and grains,
• pork,
• beans,
• nuts and seeds.

Unlike Vitamin A, we don't have to worry about whether this vitamin is found actively or not because it is present in foods in the same form - thiamine.
However, there are some substances in a few foods that are called the "anti-thiamine" compounds. Some common ones are found in raw fish, some teas and the frequent consumption of alcohol is a big contributor to B1 deficiency!

Below is a figure showing some foods that are good sources and how many milligrams of vitamin B1 each has. RDA stands for recommended dietary allowances, meaning that the RDA for men and women is the amount of milligrams each one should have of the nutrient.

How much is enough?

Since B1 is so closely related to energy, its recommendation depends on how many calories you have per day. The requirement for adults is 0.5 milligrams per 1000 calories, in average, 1-1.1 milligrams per day for females and for males 1.2-1.5 milligrams. Pregnant and lactating women do have higher needs of 1.4 and 1.5 milligrams respectively.

Vitamin B1, being a water-soluble vitamin, is easily eliminated after your body takes what it needs. Unlike vitamin A, having higher amounts of B1 should not result in presenting toxicity symptoms. However, you do have to be careful since it has potential to be toxic when you take 1000 times more than what is recommended.



This concludes vitamin B1 for you! :)

So far we've covered vitamin A and B1...before you know it, you will be the nutrition experts!

Stay tuned as our journey continues and next week B2 will show you what it's made of!
See you then...

-The Nutrinut-

 

Resources: whfoods.org, Medline plus, mayoclinic.com

The moisturizing nutrient (Vitamin A)

Ciao Nutrinutters!

As we start the holiday season I hope everyone has a Wonderful December!!!...the last month of 2013! Crazy how that went by so fast huh? And for all of the students reading this, good luck on your finals! :)
I thought about starting a little A through Z review....cover all the vitamins and minerals...are you up to take this journey with me???? This will benefit me greatly too since I get a lovely review out of it! ;)


Being there are so many of them, I figure we can start in alphabetical order and go from there...
Ladies and gents I introduce to you "the Amazing A"....vitamin A!

Vitamin A's special participation in the body

This vitamin is the moisturizing nutrient since it keeps your skin and mucous membrane (which is the tissue that lines the eyes, nose, mouth, throat and more) smooth...ladies, we don't need to go crazy and start popping vitamin A pills ok? :) .

There's more! This vitamin is also important because it makes a pigment that is responsible for the proper functioning of the retina, essential to maintain good vision, specially when the lights are low (such as when this nutrinut goes crazy with candles, don't judge ;) )... therefore being also known as the vision vitamin.

And since the fun never stops, this vitamin is also important for the growth of healthy bones and teeth, it is essential in reproduction during pregnancy and lactation for the production of hormones and is a definite participant in helping your immune system kick some infections' behinds!

What happens when I don't have enough Vitamin A?

A process called keratinization may take place in the skin, cornea, lining of nose, mouth throat and other tissues. Basically what this means is that the cells lose their humidity and is restored by a fibrous material that is mainly made of keratin. Keratin might do wonders to our hair, but we certainly don't want this process happening where its not meant to. This may lead to frequent infections in the respiratory and digestive systems. Also, since this is the vision vitamin, a serious deficiency may also lead to night blindness.

These are some countries that have more vitamin A deficiency according to the World Health Organization in 2009 (VAD stands for vitamin A deficiency)

Let's stalk up in vitamin A, right???

Arrêt! (a little french  for you - STOP). Let's analyze this one a little closer shall we? Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin which means that since they dissolve in fat they are stored in your fatty tissues. So what's the problem? Simply that your body doesn't eliminate the excess that easily as vitamins that are water-soluble. 

Too much vitamin A is also a problem. Toxicity symptoms may vary from dry skin and skin turning yellow to nausea and more serious ones such as liver damage.

What are some good sources?

Vitamin A has the active form, that is better absorbed in the body such as retinol, and forms that need to be converted into vitamin A in your body, such as beta-carotene. This one might sound familiar to you...beta-carotenoids are responsible for giving fruits and vegetables yellow and orange colors and also acting as antioxidants (I will cover antioxidants better later, promise).

Retinol will always come from animal sources such as eggs, cheese, fortified milk and butter.
Carotenoids on the other hand will be found in plant sources such as: apricots, carrots, cantaloupe, pumpkin, sweet potato and many others.

How much is enough but not tooooo much?

For men over 14 years, it is recommended 900 micrograms (mcg) and for women over 14 years, 700 mcg of vitamin A per day. Pregnant and lactating women do need a little more, 770 and 1300 mcg respectively. You should be very careful to not take more than 3000 mcg daily because of the toxicity symptoms we discussed above.

Well, that summarizes a little for you vitamin A. Thanks for staying tuned! Let's continue this journey next week shall we??? Have an amazing week!!!

-The Nutrinut-

Reference: Nutrition 411 and Nutrition for Dummies