Using Niacin To Bring Down Cholesterol Levels

Anyone familiar with high cholesterol is also familiar with the risks that come along with it. High cholesterol is associated with thicker artery walls, which in turn causes heart disease and other coronary problems. In developed countries, heart disease is the leading cause of death, making high cholesterol a huge concern for those who suffer from it.

Thankfully, there is plenty of information out there on ways to lower cholesterol. For many people, eating lower fat diets and getting enough exercise can do a lot to bring their cholesterol levels down. Other people may try pharmaceutical drugs to get their cholesterol problems under control. Another method is to go a more natural route and use dietary supplements to fight cholesterol problems. One of the supplements that may help you is niacin, so here is a look at how niacin can help bring down high cholesterol levels.

Niacin goes by many names, and you may also see it on labels as Vitamin B3 or nicotonic acid. It is water-soluble, and can be found naturally in many foods. Vitamin B3 is often found in green vegetables like leafy lettuces, broccoli, and avocados, as well as other foods. If you generally eat a balanced diet, then you should be getting all of the niacin that your body needs.

There are two main ways that niacin is supposed to help the body with lowering cholesterol levels. In order to understand how niacin works, however, you need to understand how cholesterol moves throughout the body.

Everything that your body needs is transported by the bloodstream. This includes the nutrients from the food you eat, such as vitamins and sugar. The bloodstream carries these items to the parts of the body that need them for energy, cell building, etc. Cholesterol is also transported via the bloodstream. However, since cholesterol cannot be carried by the blood alone, it attaches itself to lipoproteins which carry it where it needs to go.

There are different kinds of lipoproteins that are available to transport cholesterol. Very low density lipoproteins (known as VLDL) take cholesterol from the liver. Low density lipoproteins (or LDL) can help transport cholesterol throughout the body, but is often known as the "bad" cholesterol because it has a tendency to bind to arterial walls. This causes the walls to become thicker, which in turn can increase your risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. The last type is high density lipoproteins (or HDL). This type of cholesterol is considered "good" cholesterol because it carries cholesterol from the heart back to the liver where it can be eliminated.

So how does niacin help? It is thought that niacin helps prevent fats from becoming broken down in the body. This means fewer fats in the bloodstream, and lower levels of cholesterol being produced by the liver. This also increases the level of HDL cholesterol in the body, which helps balance out the "bad" cholesterol.

You can often get the niacin you need with simple adjustments to your diet. However, if your HDL cholesterol levels remain low, you can also speak to your doctor about adding a niacin supplement.

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