More vitamin B3 gives people over 40 more muscles and less body fat

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

19.02.2024

People over forty have more muscle mass and less body fat as they consume more vitamin B3 on a daily basis. This is suggested by a Chinese analysis of epidemiological data collected in the United States.

More vitamin B3 gives people over 40 more muscles and less body fat

Study

Researchers from Qingdao University in China analyzed data from approximately sixteen thousand American people over the age of forty. The data was collected in the first two decades of the 21st century as part of the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The study participants had given an idea of their diet by completing questionnaires, which allowed the researchers to estimate the participants' vitamin B3 intake. The researchers also had medical records of the study participants.

Results
A relatively high intake of vitamin B3 was associated with a greater lean body mass - and therefore probably also with more muscle mass. With every milligram of vitamin B3 that the study participants consumed per kilo of body weight per day, their lean body mass increased by 60 grams per kilo of body weight.

The older the test subjects and the higher their BMI, the stronger the association.

More vitamin B3 gives people over 40 more muscles and less body fat

A relatively high intake of vitamin B3 was also associated with lower fat mass. With every milligram of vitamin B3 that the study participants consumed daily per kilo of body weight, their fat mass decreased by 61 grams per kilo of body weight. The increase in fat-free mass due to vitamin B3 therefore coincided with a comparable decrease in fat mass due to vitamin B3.

The association between vitamin B3 intake and fat mass was also stronger the older the study participants were.

In the 25 percent of study participants with the highest vitamin B3 intake, the risk of sarcopenia or age-related muscle weakness was less than half the risk of sarcopenia in the 25 percent of study participants with the lowest vitamin B3 intake.

More vitamin B3 gives people over 40 more muscles and less body fat

Mechanism

The researchers suspect that with a higher intake of vitamin B3, the body produces more of the coenzymes NAD and NADP.

That theory is not so strange. Vitamin B3 analogues such as nicotinic acid and nicotinamide act as precursors for NAD and NADP. These enzymes are involved in energy production in the muscle cells.

Conclusion
"Niacin intake at dietary doses in people aged 40 years and older is associated with increased skeletal muscle mass and strength and loss of body fat, and it may improve glucose homeostasis", the researchers summarize.

"Dietary niacin supplementation is a feasible way to alleviate age-related muscular loss."

Source:
J Nutr Health Aging.2023;27(9):709-18.

More:
Nicotinamide-riboside transforms muscle cells into super muscle cells 27.07.2016

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