Tuesday, August 5th, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngkn04Iq6ao

Show Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ofQQWwE21GfvlG5SentCQVu11VVssyHQya77DpXqgo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.d6l5t5s8fjjk

LYL Livestream #210

Debunking Flush Niacin Falsehoods

Kelsey’s new Substack article debunking the *only 8 case studies over 60+ years* of supposed liver toxicity caused by crystalline (immediate release, aka IR) nicotinic acid aka flush niacin:

Niaspiracy: Exploring the oft-quoted, but rarely investigated claims of niacin-induced liver damage

https://kelseyjkenney.substack.com/p/niaspiracy

First article on niacin:

Niacin: Is it another bogus vitamin?

It is completely about niacinamide, which we advocate against entirely. We are here to discuss nicotinic acid. We are not interested in cell studies. We should all know by now that there are tons of cell studies making retinoic acid look good and we know it isn’t. Therefore, we aren’t interested in cell studies that purport to make nicotinic acid look “bad”. The pattern of the real-world effects being the opposite of what is seen in cell studies is a huge part of where the Duration Paradox came from.

What we are interested in, is in vivo research, particularly long-term and in humans. We will present this in spades.

Second article on nicotinic acid:

Guest post on Grant’s blog:

https://ggenereux.blog/2025/07/27/nicotinic-acid-good-or-bad/

BOGUS CLAIM #1: Nicotinic acid causes increases in 2PY & 4PY, and this is bad

2PY & 4PY science broken down in detail, along with the known benefits of flush niacin in humans over long-term studies!:
Niacin Was, Is, and Always will be Essential to Life and the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Just for Starters

https://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v20n03.shtml

Immediate Release Flush Niacin vs Sustained Release Niacin & Niacinamide

The Mechanism for Niacin Associated Flushing and Hepatotoxicity

https://www.ebmconsult.com/articles/niacin-mechanism-liver-hepatotoxicity-flushing

NAM = Niacinamide aka nicotinamide

NUA = Nicotinuric acid (excreted in urine)

BOGUS CLAIM #2: Nicotinic acid turns into aldehydes and other toxic compounds

This is absolute unrelated nonsense, quoting an industrial chemical synthesis paper.

BOGUS CLAIM #3: The body “concentrates” nicotinic acid in the liver and other places

The quote used says the half-life in the body is one hour. “Concentrating” over a short time is not the same as “accumulating” over long periods of time.

Flush niacin effectively clears out of the body within 3-4 hours after taking it, as described in the Orthomolecular article.

BOGUS CLAIM #4: Nicotinic acid depletes methyl groups

Rat study cited giving rats unbuffered NA intravenously at the following “excessive” doses caused issues…shocker! Giving acid intravenously creates its own issues. “Excessive NA given IV” is NOT the same as taking normal supplement doses orally and WITH FOOD

Excessive nicotinic acid increases methyl consumption and hydrogen peroxide generation in rats

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22971213

Rat Dose (g/kg)	HED (mg/kg)	HED Total Dose for 60 kg Human
0.5	81.1	4.87 g
2	324.4	19.46 g
4	648.8	38.93 g

Nicotinic acid FIXES methylation when given to humans and with meals:

Niacin Cures Systemic NAD+ Deficiency and Improves Muscle Performance in Adult-Onset Mitochondrial Myopathy

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(20)30190-X

missing 45:10

missing

10 months of 1 gram/day in very sick patients

Also: My story of the NA methylation test and how mine changed from taking flush niacin

BOGUS CLAIM #5: Nicotinic acid promotes bone breakdown

Association of Dietary Niacin Intake With Incident Hip Fracture, BMD, and Body Composition: The Cardiovascular Health Study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30659655/

Association of Dietary Niacin Intake With Incident Hip Fracture

Quotes a completely unrelated cell study on cytoskeleton formation of mouse cells:

“NIH-3T3 cells are a fibroblast cell line derived from the tissue of a NIH Swiss mouse embryo.”

Cytoskeleton is not bone, cells are not the whole organism. Duration Paradox would suggest the effect in the cell study is likely the exact opposite in whole organisms. Again, high doses of an acid applied directly to cells, which is not how it happens in the body when taken orally with food.

The paper they cited on oFrom the Discussion area of the paper they cited, other studies on niacin intake and bone:

“In contrast, in 100 Polish women aged 51 to 70 years, those with osteoporosis had a 16% lower dietary intake of niacin than those without osteoporosis.”

Assessment of differences in nutrients consumption in women diagnosed with osteoporosis as compared to a healthy control group

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317903410_Assessment_of_differences_in_nutrients_consumption_in_women_diagnosed_with_osteoporosis_as_compared_to_a_healthy_control_group

“Women suffering from osteoporosis were found to consume significantly lower amounts of…niacin (by 16%)”

“Another study reported reduced cortical bone area in rib bone biopsies in 26 patients with pellagra [niacin deficiency].”

Dietary health does affect histological age assessment: an evaluation of the Stout and Paine (1992) age estimation equation using secondary osteons from the rib

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16696694

“In a cross-sectional study including 137 postmenopausal (ages 39 to 60 years) Japanese women, niacin intake was not significantly associated with BMD at the calcaneus.”

Association between current nutrient intakes and bone mineral density at calcaneus in pre- and postmenopausal Japanese women

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11767209

“In a multiple regression analysis with adjustments for nondietary factors such as age, body height, fat body weight, nonfat body weight, and number of deliveries, calcium and niacin significantly and positively…correlated in premenopausal women with BMD [bone mineral density at the calcaneus aka heel bone]”

“In the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study that enrolled 63,257 men and women ages 45 to 74 years between 1993 and 1998, dietary intake of niacin was not associated with hip fracture after a mean follow-up of 13.8 years.”

Dietary B vitamin intake and risk of hip fracture: the Singapore Chinese Health Study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23238962

“Dietary intakes of the other B vitamins of interest were not related to hip fracture risk.”

BOGUS CLAIM #6: Long-term consumption of high-dose supplemental nicotinic acid is bad because it messes up calcium metabolism and might cause neurodegeneration

“In contrast, randomization to niacin was not associated with statistically significant changes in plasma intact fibroblast growth factor 23, parathyroid hormone, calcium, or vitamin D metabolites over 3 years.”

The Effect of Extended Release Niacin on Markers of Mineral Metabolism in CKD

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29208626

1500 or 2000mg of nicotinic acid over 3 years in chronic kidney disease patients

“Recent evidence has posited niacin as an exciting therapeutic option for a range of neurological disorders. Ranked as the third most promising repurposed drug candidate for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) [7], niacin promotes phagocytosis of inhibitory myelin debris following demyelination in an animal model of MS, leading to remyelination [8]. In animal models of Parkinson’s [9] and Alzheimer’s disease [10], niacin ameliorates neuropathology through mechanisms such as immunomodulation and dopamine supplementation. Furthermore, niacin reduces tumour size and mortality in an animal model of glioblastoma [11] and is currently being investigated in a clinical trial of patients with glioblastoma [12]. Niacin also alleviates motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease [13], and dietary intake of niacin is associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline [14].”