Niacin facts for kids

Niacin is a vitamin that your body needs to stay healthy. It's also called nicotinic acid or Vitamin B₃. Niacin can dissolve in water. It's super important for how your cells use energy, a process called metabolism.

This picture shows the chemical structure of nicotinamide.

Besides helping with energy, niacin also helps your body get rid of harmful chemicals. It also plays a part in making special hormones in your adrenal glands, like the ones that help you deal with stress.

The Story of Niacin

Niacin was first found when scientists changed a substance called nicotine (yes, like in tobacco) into nicotinic acid. But when they learned how important nicotinic acid was for health, they wanted to give it a new name. They didn't want people to think that healthy foods or vitamins had nicotine in them! So, they combined parts of "nicotinic acid" and "vitamin" to create the name niacin.

Niacin is also known as Vitamin B₃ because it was the third B vitamin that scientists discovered. Long ago, it was even called "vitamin PP." This name came from "pellagra-preventing factor" because it was found to stop a disease called pellagra. This disease happens when someone doesn't get enough niacin.

How Much Niacin Do You Need?

Your body needs a certain amount of niacin every day to work well. Here are the recommended daily amounts:

• For children, it's usually 2 to 12 milligrams (mg) a day.
• Women need about 14 mg a day.
• Men need about 16 mg a day.
• Pregnant or breast-feeding women need a bit more, around 18 mg a day.

If you don't get enough niacin, it can cause problems. A serious lack of niacin can lead to the disease pellagra. Even a small lack can make your metabolism slow down. This might make you feel colder than usual.

A lack of niacin from food usually happens in places where people eat a lot of corn as their main food. Corn is naturally low in niacin. But there's a trick! If corn is prepared using lime (a type of alkali substance), it releases the niacin. This process is called nixtamalization. It helps your body absorb the niacin from the corn.

Foods with Niacin

You can find niacin in many different foods. Eating a variety of these foods helps make sure you get enough!

Images for kids

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  This is a space-filling model of niacin.

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  This image shows Inositol hexanicotinate.