b'B ookr eviewBY ROBERT G. SMITH, PH.D.Niacin The Real Story,2nd EditionRevised, Updated, and ExpandedBy Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., and Harold D. Foster, Ph.D. (ISBN: 978-1684429028, Turner Publishing Company, 2023, paperback, 532 pages, $19.99)Niacin is called a vi- minimumdosecanpreventandre-taminbecausetheverse disease. And for the rest of us, bodycanonlysyn- high doses of niacin are beneficialthesize it slowly andand even necessaryfor many aspects thereforerequiresaof health. smallbutadequateThisnew,expandededitionmore amountfromthethan doubles the original NiacinThe diet. The reason thatReal Story (from 242 to now 532 pages). we cannot synthesizeIt has several new chapters and appen-adequate amounts ofdices, and more than 600 references to niacincanbetraceddocument the recent advances in scien-back to evolutionarytific knowledge about niacin. Several pressure.Overmil- chapters focus on the different forms lions of years, niacinof the molecule niacin, how it works, was readily availablethe safety of niacin supplements, and fromplant-andan- how to take niacin supplements. Other imal-basedfoods,chapters describe how niacin can help soourbodieshavetopreventandreverseavarietyof evolved to rely on thisdiseases and conditions, including ar-dietary source. How- thritis, ADHD, many forms of mental ever, larger amountsillness, cardiovascular disease, aging, ofniacinthanthealcoholism, Alzheimers, cancer, chol-minimum required byera,Huntingtonsdisease,migraine, the body are helpfulmultiplesclerosis,nephritis(kidney becausetheyallowinflammation),Parkinsonism,PTSD, ourmetabolicpath- Raynauds disease, and a variety of skin waystofunctionatconditions. There is a special chapter full speed for optimalfocused on the recent COVID-19 pan-healthandtopre- demic and how niacin can help the body N iacin (Vitamin B3) is a biomol- individuals areventdisease.Somerecover from infection and reduce the dependent upon highrisk of Long COVID-19.ecule required by all forms oflevels of niacin for health because ofA major focus of the book is how ni-life. It functions as a precur- their genetic background or becauseacin supplements, along with adequate sor to NAD, an enzymatic co-factorof severe stress. For these individuals,doses of all the other essential nutrients in hundreds of metabolic pathways.much higher doses of niacin than the(vitamins and minerals) and a healthy 26 H ealtHF reedomN ews /s ummer2023'