If you are unable to control your cholesterol, you may need medications.  Niacin is a B vitamin that has long been used to increase high-density lipoprotein or HDL the “good” cholesterol.   Although niacin is readily available and effective, it hasn’t gotten much attention compared to other cholesterol drugs.

While your goal should be to lower your LDL, boosting your HDL can be just as important.

In taking niacin, either by itself or along with other cholesterol-lowering medication, you may be able to help control your total cholesterol level.  So what is niacin?

Niacin (nicotinic acid) is a B vitamin that is used by your body to turn carbohydrates into energy.  Niacin also helps keep your nervous system, digestive system, skin, hair and eyes healthy.  Because of these benefits, niacin is often a part of a daily multivitamin.

Niacin may be labeled in different ways.  As part of a multivitamin or supplement, it’s often just referred to as niacin. When it’s used as a treatment to increase your HDL cholesterol or correct a niacin deficiency, it’s sold in higher doses that are prescribed by your doctor.

Niacin is known to raise your HDL, good cholesterol, by 15 to 35 percent. Niacin is the most effective drug available for raising HDL cholesterol. While niacin’s effect on HDL is of most interest, it is also important that niacin also decreases your LDL and triglyceride levels.  It is the high levels of LDL and triglycerides that are significant risk factors for heart disease.

It is important to have a high HDL.  HDL picks up excess bad cholesterol in your blood and takes it back to your liver for disposal. Therefore, the higher your HDL cholesterol, the less bad cholesterol you’ll have in your blood.

As you may be aware, your cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter:

• For men, HDL levels under 40 mg/dL increase the risk of heart disease.
• For women, HDL levels under 50 mg/dL increase the risk of heart disease.
• An HDL level above 60 mg/dL is considered ideal for men or women.

The recommended daily allowance of niacin is 2–12 mg/day for children, 14 mg/day for women and 16 mg/day for men.  Niacin is found in a variety of foods including liver, chicken, beef, fish, cereal, peanuts and legumes.  If you cannot get enough niacin in your food, you can take a supplement and it will help control your cholesterol.