Can you post anything to back that product brand up?
Cause most of the stuff I have read and experienced on flush free points to no benefit.
Yes. This is also from the trackyourplaque.com site run by Dr. Davis. He recommends only one slow release niacin, Slo-Niacin® (Upsher Smith Pharmaceuticals), available OTC.
He sites the HATS study as follows:
The HDL-Atherosclerosis Treatment Study (HATS) was another landmark study demonstrating niacin’s huge benefits. In HATS, 160 participants (149 males), all of whom had documented coronary disease, were given combinations of simvastatin (Zocor®) and niacin or placebo. When the group receiving simvastatin and niacin were compared to the placebo group, there was a 90% reduction in death and myocardial infarction (12 events placebo;1 event simvastatin + niacin) over three years. In other words, coronary events were nearly shut off. Small numbers but persuasive.
(To put this into perspective, recall that all the major clinical trials of lipid therapy, such as 4S, LIPID, AFCAPS/TEXCAPS, Heart Protection Study, etc. achieved event reductions of 25-35% over approximately 3 to 5 years when LDL cholesterol was lowered by statin drugs. The 90% achieved in the HATS Trial is therefore truly phenomenal.)
Rarely do we see a treatment effect as powerful as the reduction in events seen in the HATS Trial.
The type of niacin used in the HATS study was the Slo-Niacin brand. I guess, though, that one might wonder about the small number of participants and also that they were on a statin as well. What does it mean for someone only taking Slo-Niacin?
For plain, ordinary niacin, he sites the following:
Niacin reduces heart attack risk dramatically. The Coronary Drug Project, a landmark study in heart disease prevention, was the first to establish niacin as a powerful agent to slash heart attack risk. 8,341 men who had suffered heart attack were given 3000 mg of niacin (“crystalline”, or immediate-release) over six years. Total cholesterol levels were reduced by 10% and triglyceride levels by 26%. Treatment with niacin resulted in a decrease of 27% in heart attacks among the nicotinic-acid treated subjects. They also experienced 26% fewer strokes.
Taking 3000 mg, though, would definitely require keeping an eye on liver values.
The Slo-Niacin brand he lumps into the category of slow release niacin which is available under various brands but he only recommends Slo-Niacin brand.
The no-flush category is different all together and there are some other posts in this thread that mention it. It's a different compound. Again, quoting Dr. Davis:
No-flush niacin—Or inositol hexaniacinate. No-flush, no-effect. Theoretically, this agent should work. It contains six niacin molecules attached to an inositol molecule. Rats do great on it, but humans lack the enzyme to break it down to effective niacin. It’s also expensive—an expensive scam.
I'm only quoting the doctor; please don't shoot the messenger.
Dr. Davis' claim to fame is that he says he has not only halted but reversed plaque growth in his practice. Of course, he's only one doctor. For myself, I take 1000 mg of regular niacin. The flush doesn't bother me and seems to have diminished since I started on it.
Hope this helps.
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