The safety record of the B-complex vitamins is extraordinarily good.
Since their discovery, beginning with thiamine (B-1) in 1911, many
thousands of studies have verified an unequaled therapeutic value of
these essential substances. Side effects have been rare, and toxicity
is nearly nonexistent, even at the highest doses. Some cautions are
in order, of course, and here are some of the most important.
Vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine) has been reported to cause temporary
neurological symptoms such as heaviness, tingling or numbness of the
limbs in persons taking very large doses. It is very important to
realize that such cases are not common, and when they do occur usually
result from huge doses of pyridoxine TAKEN ALONE. The B-vitamins are
a team, and work best as a team. Upsetting the balance by taking a
lot of just one is like devoting all your baseball practice time to your
pitcher. You might get a lot of strikeouts, but if anybody hits one,
you are in trouble. No one player has ever won a World Series by
himself, and no single B-vitamin can do the job that the whole "team"
can do.
B-6 by itself in doses of 2,000 to 6,000 milligrams daily (that's one
thousand to three thousand times the US RDA!) can produce side effects
and is therefore way too much to take. Very, very few persons report
symptoms on 1,000 mg daily, and only the rarest reports go any lower.
When taken with, or as part of, a complete B-complex supplement, B-6
side effects other than a harmless deeper-colored urine are virtually
unknown.
Premenstrual tension symptoms often improve dramatically with only a few
hundred mg/day of extra B-6. There is no need to "push the envelope"
and take thousands of milligrams when hundreds will do. At least 50
to 100 mg of supplemental B-6 daily is a virtual necessity for women
taking oral contraceptives. The "pill" causes some abnormal
physiological changes that create a deficiency of B-6, as well as lower
serum levels of thiamine (B-1), and riboflavin (B-2), and niacin (B-3),
and folic acid, and B-12, and vitamin C! (Wynn, V. Lancet, March 8,
1975)
Laboratory animals receiving the human B-6 dose equivalent of just 75 mg
daily do not get strokes, even when fed a lousy diet (Atherosclerosis,
vol. 22, 1975, pp 125-127) Since women on oral contraceptives are
three times more likely at any age to have a stroke, there is an
important lesson here. B-6 deficiency produces hardening of the
arteries (Rinehart and Greenberg, American Journal of Pathology, vol.
25, 1949, pp 481-496.) Furthermore, B-6 is necessary in order for
your body to produce lecithin. Lecithin, a lipid- transporting
substance from soy, has been used clinically to clear out fatty
livers... and even clogged arteries. Another connection.
Niacin (vitamin B-3) has been used in doses up to tens of thousands of
milligrams per day for over 40 years by psychiatrists. It is an
effective alternative treatment for severe depression, psychotic
behavior, and schizophrenia.
Most physicians have ignored niacin's usefulness until rather
recently. Niacin has finally gained popularity as one of the cheapest
ways to lower serum cholesterol. Changes in liver function tests have
been reported in persons taking one to five thousand milligrams daily of
niacin BY ITSELF. Three important points have generally gone
unnoticed:
1. Niacin is much better tolerated when given with Vitamin C. Abram
Hoffer, M.D. pioneered high dose niacin therapy back in the 1950's.
He repeatedly published his observations that gram-sized doses of
vitamin C greatly improve a patient's niacin tolerance. Dr.
Hoffer recommended at least as much vitamin C per dose as niacin.
With three thousand milligrams of niacin per day, then, one would need a
MINIMUM of three thousand milligrams of vitamin C. The medical
profession's unfounded resistance to large doses of vitamin C is
embarrassingly well known. It is useless to blame niacin for side
effects caused by ignoring expert medical advice on how to use it
correctly along with vitamin C.
Vincent Zannoni at the University of Michigan Medical School has shown
that vitamin C protects the liver itself. Even doses as low as 500
milligrams daily helped prevent fatty buildup and cirrhosis.
5,000 mg of vitamin C per day appears to actually flush fats from the
liver. (Ritter, M. "Study Says Vitamin C Could Cut Liver Damage,"
Associated Press, October 11, 1986) F. R. Klenner, M.D. showed that
very large doses of vitamin C (between 500 to 900 mg per kilogram body
weight per day) can cure hepatitis in two to four days (Smith, L. H.,
ed. Clinical Guide To The Use Of VitaminC, Life Science Press, Tacoma
Washington, 1988, pp 22-23).
2. Niacin is also one of the team of B-vitamins and needs any massive
intake to be at least partly balanced with the rest of the B-complex,
just like B-6 mentioned above. Would you pay for a tune up for your
car and change only one spark plug? If you have several kids, would
you feed only one? Would you pay for cable TV if there were only one
channel? Taking only one B-vitamin is neither logical nor
efficient. So avoid doing it unless there is a good reason.
3. Many, perhaps most, persons showing changes in their liver function
tests upon ingestion of large amounts of niacin have been using
alcohol. Accurate information about sizable alcohol consumption is
very difficult to get from a patient: the more they use, the less
they'll tell. Two thirds of all American adults drink alcohol,
averaging out to be about three drinks per day, seven days a week, 52
weeks a year. If you do not drink that much, then somebody out there
is drinking MORE.
Alcohol does nothing if it doesn't hurt the liver. The French have
the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the world.
They also have the world's highest percentage of deaths from
cirrhosis of the liver. Working hard, the human liver can detoxify
about one drink every two hours. Know anyone who drinks at a faster
rate than that? Then marvel that they have a liver that functions at
all. Alcohol is a drug, and consumption and abuse is more
widespread and more serious than most persons imagine. Over two
thirds of all hospital admissions of the elderly are alcohol
related. (New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
Services, Oasas Today, 1:1, Sept-Oct. 1992)
The liver undergoes profound changes in both its endoplasmic reticula
and its microsomal enzymes in order to detoxify alcohol. The
unbalanced introduction of very large doses of niacin to an
overloaded liver may well overtax an alcohol-strained system.
This is likely where some changes in liver function tests come
from (American Journal of Medicine, vol 86, April, 1989, page 431 and
vol. 87, August 1989, page 248; American Journal of Cardiology, vol. 64,
October 1, 1989 page 728).
4. Any hepatotoxic effects of niacin are almost invariably associated
with the sustained release form (Journal of the American Medical
Association, March 2, 1994). Sustained release niacin generally
enables higher doses with less "flushing." However, that warm
sensation called flushing indicates niacin saturation. Sustained
release delivery may therefore be hiding this sign that the body has had
enough niacin at a given time.
5. Simply reducing the dosage reduces side effects. (Naito, H.
"Reducing Cardiac Deaths with Hypolipidemic Drugs," Postgraduate
Medicine, vol 82, no. 6, November 1987; Figge, H. L. et al: "Nicotinic
Acid: A Review of its Clinical Use in the Treatment of Lipid Disorders,"
Pharmacotherapy, Vol. 8, no. 5, 1988) Since the regular "immediate
release" form of niacin also is effective in lowering total cholesterol
and actually improves beneficial HDL levels, why not just use the plain
tablets? Take less, but more often, and you approximate the idea of a
sustained release tablet, but with a lower dose. If there is a flush,
reduce the dose.
The idea is to be comfortable. It is better to be able to use less of
the vitamin for a long time than to use a lot, have trouble, and
quit. American physicians often over prescribe anyway, and niacin is
no exception.
Niacin is not a magic cholesterol bullet, nor is cholesterol the only
factor in heart disease. Niacin is PART of the picture, part of the
B-vitamin team, and part of a total health program. Granted, niacin
is indeed important. This is shown by even our inadequate US RDA,
which recommends many times more niacin than any other B-vitamin.
However, persons truly seeking to lower their cholesterol need to eat
more fiber, more vegetables (especially carrots), more vitamins E and C,
and to exercise more.
They also need to eat less sugar, less fat, less meat, and reduce
stress. There are ZERO harmful effects (and countless side BENEFITS)
in taking these steps.
People who do not want to change their diet and do not want to change
their lifestyle ask doctors for a pill instead.
There is no such thing as monotherapy for cardiovascular disease. If
there was, we'd all use it and be saving literally a million lives each
year. Is it really that big a surprise that niacin alone isn't enough
to do the job right?
Note: Every reasonable care is taken over the information offered here,
however no responsibility or liability whatsoever will be taken for any
consequence relating directly or indirectly to any information,
treatment, or application of any recipes or tips presented herein