Ray Peat

Ray Peat on Niacinamide

By OxidativeState · · 26 articles · 17 studies

Short answer: Ray Peat valued niacinamide because it keeps fatty acids from being released into the blood. With fewer free fatty acids, cells can burn sugar again, which is why he recommended it across the metabolic and degenerative diseases.

What Ray Peat wrote about niacinamide

Its main action, in his account, is to inhibit the release of free fatty acids from the tissues. That protects the use of glucose for energy. Source: Heart and hormones, Phosphate, activation, and aging, Preventing and treating cancer with progesterone

He wrote that by lowering free fatty acids and regulating the redox system, niacinamide is useful in the whole spectrum of metabolic degenerative diseases. Source: Sugar issues

It supports healing. It activates the cells that clean up injured tissue, lowers phosphate, protects against scarring after spinal cord injury and helps recovery from brain injury. Source: Regeneration and degeneration: Types of inflammation change with aging

He explained the large doses. The amounts seem big for a vitamin, he wrote, but niacinamide should be thought of as compensation for our exposure to inappropriate fats. Source: Regeneration and degeneration: Types of inflammation change with aging

Under stress and strong excitation, cells waste it. Niacinamide itself has a sedative, anti-excitatory effect, and some of its actions resemble a hormone's. Source: Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress

He put it first among the supplements that most often correct diabetes-like conditions. Source: Glucose and sucrose for diabetes

Coffee is a good food source of niacin, and caffeine has some of the same cell-protective functions. Source: Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress

What he suggested in practice

  • He names it as a supplement for fatigue, together with aspirin and carbon dioxide.
  • With thiamine, thyroid and progesterone or pregnenolone for blood sugar problems.
  • Possibly with aspirin, on a diet with enough calcium and sugar rather than starch.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 26 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

My take

Niacinamide is the best precursor to NAD, and it supports the energy production of the gut lining. I use it, and I would not go above 500 mg a day.

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about niacinamide?

That it inhibits the release of free fatty acids, which lets cells burn glucose, and that this makes it useful in diabetes, fatigue, inflammation and healing.

Did Ray Peat prefer niacinamide or niacin?

His articles mostly discuss niacinamide. He mentions niacin as a nutrient in coffee and as antilipolytic.

17 studies Ray Peat cited on niacinamide

  1. Nicotinic acid/niacinamide and the skinJ Cosmet Dermatol · 2004 · PMID 17147561 · cited in Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress
  2. [Effect of combinations of apressin, obsidan, diprazin, adenosine, NAD and nicotinamide on the resistance of rats to hypoxia and on carbohydrate metabolic indices]Farmakol Toksikol · 1977 · PMID 200468 · cited in Altitude and Mortality
  3. Pharmacological inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, convalesce behavior and biochemistry of hypertension induced vascular dementia in ratsPharmacol Biochem Behav · 2013 · PMID 23201648 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  4. Nicotinamide treatment induces behavioral recovery when administered up to 4 hours following cortical contusion injury in the ratNeuroscience · 2008 · PMID 18514428 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  5. Nicotinamide restores cognition in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotauJ Neurosci · 2008 · PMID 18987186 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  6. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of niacinamide for reduction of phosphorus in hemodialysis patientsClin J Am Soc Nephrol · 2008 · PMID 18385391 · cited in Phosphate, activation, and aging
  7. Increase in conversion of tryptophan to niacin in pregnant ratsAdv Exp Med Biol · 2003 · PMID 15206761 · cited in Regeneration and degeneration: Types of inflammation change with aging
  8. Nicotinamide inhibits sodium-dependent phosphate cotransport activity in rat small intestineNephrol Dial Transplant · 1999 · PMID 10344361 · cited in Phosphate, activation, and aging
  9. Increased conversion ratio of tryptophan to niacin in severe food restrictionBiosci Biotechnol Biochem · 1998 · PMID 9571792 · cited in Tryptophan, serotonin, and aging
  10. Effect of dietary linoleic acid on the tryptophan-niacin metabolism in streptozotocin diabetic ratsComp Biochem Physiol A Physiol · 1995 · PMID 7671148 · cited in Regeneration and degeneration: Types of inflammation change with aging
  11. [The effect of tocopherol and nicotinic acid on the microcirculation and blood coagulability in patients with ischemic heart disease]Vrach Delo · 1990 · PMID 2089804 · cited in Vitamin E: Estrogen antagonist, energy promoter, and anti-inflammatory
  12. Inhibition of tryptophan metabolism by oestrogens in the rat: a factor in the aetiology of pellagraBr J Nutr · 1984 · PMID 6231048 · cited in Regeneration and degeneration: Types of inflammation change with aging
  13. NAD/NADH: redox state changes on cat brain cortex during stimulation and hypercapniaAm J Physiol · 1982 · PMID 7124970 · cited in Preventing and treating cancer with progesterone
  14. Severe hypertriglyceridaemia responding to insulin and nicotinic acid therapyPostgrad Med J · 1981 · PMID 7029504 · cited in Glycemia, starch, and sugar in context
  15. Effect of nicotinic acid on the posttraumatic increase in free fatty acids and fibrinolysis inhibition activity in the ratUps J Med Sci · 1979 · PMID 543049 · cited in Fats and degeneration
  16. Nicotinic acid reduction of plasma volume loss after thermal traumaScience · 1976 · PMID 1251199 · cited in Fats and degeneration
  17. [ON THE EFFECT OF NADPH2-NAD-TRANSHYDROGENASE ON DIRECT OXIDATION OF GLUCOSE; EXPERIMENTS WITH THE USE OF EHRLICH ASCITES TUMOR HOMOGENATES]Naturwissenschaften · 1965 · PMID 14331119 · cited in Cancer: Disorder and Energy

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Not affiliated with raypeat.com. This page describes Ray Peat's published articles in our own words and links to the originals. Educational content, not medical advice.

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