Teddi Lab Nicotinamide Gummy PRO

Nicotinamide is usually sold at many times the daily recommended intake. These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store before you start a tablet.

A good fit if

• Plain niacin has made you flush, and you still want B3 on its own
• You were about to buy no-flush niacin and want the permitted flush-free form instead
• You've talked it through with a practitioner and know why you're taking a high dose
• You check labels and want nicotinamide named as the active ingredient, not just "vitamin B3"

Check with us first if

• You're choosing a 500 mg or 1,000 mg tablet. That's many times the recommended intake, and 1,000 mg is over the adult upper limit on its own.
• You already take a multivitamin or B complex. The upper limit counts nicotinamide from every source together.
• Your skin is the reason you're here. The trial behind that interest used 1,000 mg a day in people under specialist care, so talk to your GP or dermatologist.
• You take prescription medicine. Check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.

• Nicotinamide (niacinamide). Best known for: Vitamin B3 without the flush, and with no effect on blood fats. Absorption: Well absorbed by mouth, and it doesn't trigger the pathway that causes the flush. Typical use: The declared active in high-strength Australian B3 tablets, because Schedule 1 sets no cap for it.
• Nicotinic acid (niacin). Best known for: The form that causes flushing, and the one used in the older blood-fat research. Absorption: Well absorbed by mouth. The flush comes with this form at higher doses. Typical use: Capped at 100 mg per dosage unit in a listed medicine, so it's found in lower-strength products.
• Inositol hexanicotinate ("no-flush niacin"). Best known for: Nicotinic acid bound to inositol, sold as niacin that won't cause flushing. Absorption: Not well understood, and how much free nicotinic acid it releases varies between products. Typical use: Not in Schedule 1 under its own name, so it can't be the active in a listed medicine. Nicotinamide is the permitted flush-free form.

Reference values. Australia's recommended intakes are set for niacin as a whole, measured as niacin equivalents, and nicotinamide counts towards them the same way nicotinic acid does. That's 16 mg a day for adult men and 14 mg for women, 18 mg in pregnancy and 17 mg while breastfeeding.

Typical supplemental range. Nicotinamide tablets on their own are commonly 500 mg or 1,000 mg. That's 30 to 70 times the adult recommended intake, so it's a medicine-level dose rather than a nutrient top-up, and it's worth talking to a practitioner first. The one major skin trial used 1,000 mg a day, split into two 500 mg doses.

Upper level. Nicotinamide has its own upper limit, separate from nicotinic acid's, and it covers everything you get from all sources. It's 900 mg a day for adults, 750 mg at 14 to 18, 500 mg at 9 to 13, 250 mg at 4 to 8 and 150 mg at 1 to 3. No limit has been set for pregnancy and breastfeeding, and the guidelines say intake should come from food only.

Worth knowing. A 1,000 mg tablet is over the adult upper limit on its own, before you count food. Because Australian rules cap nicotinic acid at 100 mg per dose unit, any 500 mg or 1,000 mg B3 product should name nicotinamide as its active ingredient, so check the label. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Peanuts, roasted, 100 g: 18 mg niacin
• Chicken breast, 100 g: 11 mg niacin
• Sunflower seeds, 100 g: 10.75 mg niacin
• Mushrooms, fresh, 100 g: 3.55 mg niacin
• Potato, peeled, 100 g: 1.73 mg niacin

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• Pregnancy. No upper limit for nicotinamide has been set, and the reference values say to get it from food only.
• Breastfeeding. The same applies, from the same source.
• Children. The upper limit is 150 mg a day at ages 1 to 3, 250 mg at 4 to 8 and 500 mg at 9 to 13.
• Taking 1,000 mg a day or more. That's above the adult upper limit of 900 mg from all sources.
• Taking more than one product. The upper limit counts nicotinamide from every source together.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.