Could Vitamin B3 Be the Secret to a Long and Healthy Life?

Could Vitamin B3 Be the Secret to a Long and Healthy Life?

For centuries, people have looked for the secret for a long and healthy life. Surprising new research involving an animal model suggests that the search for the key to longevity may be in the common nutrient niacin, which is also another name for vitamin B3. 

Vitamin B3: A natural anti-aging vitamin

A group of scientists from Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and the United States investigated the effects of vitamin B3 supplements in roundworms, which have metabolic pathways that are similar to the human ones. Researchers use the parasitic worms to study lifespan because they have a short life span, which makes them easy to study. The team found that the roundworms that were treated with vitamin B3 improved their life span by one-tenth when compared to the animals that did not have the supplement. This finding was surprising to many people in the health community. 1

Sirtuin: The secret to niacin’s life enhancing power

When your body needs to breakdown niacin into nicotinamide to generate energy, the molecule that facilitates this transformation is an enzyme called sirtuin. Another effect of sirtuin is that it slows the expression of some genes in your body that contribute to the aging process.1 An earlier study conducted at the Harvard Medical School also demonstrated that nicotinamide and sirtuin can act together to mimic calorie restriction, which is also linked to extending health and longevity.2

Niacin and sirtuin support healthy aging

A scientist from the University of Sydney in Australia has released exciting research about how sirtuin promotes longevity. He identified seven different pathways in the body that are affected by the seven different types of sirtuin. For each of these pathways, sirtuin appears to counteract processes that can lead to age-related diseases, including:

  • Cancer
  • Dementia
  • Osteoporosis
  • Arthritis
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Neurodegenerative diseases3

It is never too late to start the journey to a longer and healthier life by including a high-quality vitamin B3 supplement in your daily nutritional regime.

References:

1. Schmeisser, K., Mansfeld, J., Kuhlow, D., Weimer, S., Priebe, S., Heiland, I. , Birringer, M., Groth, M., Segref, A., Kanfi, Y., Price, N. L., Schmeisser, S., Schuster, S., Pfeiffer, A.F.H., Guthke, R., Platzer, M., Hoppe, T., Cohen, H. Y. Zarse, K.,Sinclair, D. A., Ristow, M. Role of sirtuins in lifespan regulation is linked to methylation of nicotinamide Nature Chemical Biology. 2013. (9)11: 693-700. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1352.

2. Anderson, R. M., Bitterman, K.J.. Wood, J., Medvedik, O., Sinclair, D.A. Nicotinamide and PNC1 govern lifespan extension by calorie restriction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nature. 2003. (423) 6936: 181-185.

3. Morris, B.J. Seven sirtuins for seven deadly diseases of aging. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 2013. 56: 133–171. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.10.525. [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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