Regarding Niacin - the snapshot from Wikipedia mentions that there is some doubt as to whether the "flush-free" form (inositol hexanicinate) actually helps with health issues like Cholesterol levels. The latest studies I've seen indicate that it doesn't. What is CAN do, however, is help your body get used to niacin.
I first tried the standard nicotinic acid form of niacin and got flushing. I also got flushing with the sustained release form of nicotinic acid. So I went to the flush-free inositol hexaniacinate form for a while. When I read the medical studies showing that it wasn't effective, I switched back to the nicotinic acid and found that the flushing was much less than it had been the first time around.
(Of course, even that may not be desirable. One of the papers suggested that the flushing action itself may be part of the reason that niacin works -that the widening of the capillaries and increased blood flow helps the good cholesterol remove the bad cholesterol deposits. But that was speculation, not proof.)
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Date: 2007-11-01 01:36 am (UTC)I first tried the standard nicotinic acid form of niacin and got flushing. I also got flushing with the sustained release form of nicotinic acid. So I went to the flush-free inositol hexaniacinate form for a while. When I read the medical studies showing that it wasn't effective, I switched back to the nicotinic acid and found that the flushing was much less than it had been the first time around.
(Of course, even that may not be desirable. One of the papers suggested that the flushing action itself may be part of the reason that niacin works -that the widening of the capillaries and increased blood flow helps the good cholesterol remove the bad cholesterol deposits. But that was speculation, not proof.)