The 'Miracle' of Niacin (Vitamin B3)
There is clear evidence that mental health issues are a nutritional deficiency issue. Linus Pauling, two times Nobel prize winner, coined the term Othomolecular Medicine. Dr Abram Hoffer was researching Niacin deficiency (Vitamin B3) and the mental health connection 70 years ago.
http://www.doctoryourself.com/niacinreviews.html
Victim Consciousness and Sympathy
I recently saw one post here on Steemit which was upvoted to the tune of $300 for pandering to 'victim' consciousness. The article was complaining that the Psychiatry profession provides no clear solutions and is unclear with regards to definitions of schizophrenia, ADHD etc.
The article was well written but left the reader with no solutions to the very real problem of mental health issues, apart from giving sympathy. I understand that being listened to and sympathised with might give comfort but it is not going to resolve a mental health issue.
Psychiatry, a Failed Paradigm
The psychiatry paradigm suggests you can think your way into good mental health if only you talk your problems through enough.
This paradigm has failed again and again because it is a false paradigm. The real cause of at least 80% of mental health issues (as born out by Hoffer and others) is one of nutritional deficiency.
Solution
Cut out sugar and all the junk food, high dose niacin along with the other b vitamins and a good multi vitamin/ mineral and see you mental health issues disappear. We, as humans, are designed to be mentally healthy but we need to feed the body with what it requires to function properly.
Bill W
Incidently Bill W, who founded Alcoholics Annonymous, was also an advocate of high dosing niacin. Apparently, using niacin, he overcame his depression within a week and many of his alcoholic friends experienced the same 'miraculous' results.
Conclusion
Showing sympathy towards people with mental health issues has it's place, but we can do so much more to help by educating ourselves and others as to the true causes of this mental health epidemic.
An edit.
I need to make it clear, I have no medical training and only talking from personal experience which I realise I should have clarrified when writing the post.
I also need to state, some niacin can cause liver damage so you need to do your own research.
Fasting can also be useful in treating psychological issues...
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1981/emay81/jap.shtml
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Agreed, fasting is good on many levels
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Sure is especially when eat a significant amount of "magic mushrooms"( psilocybin ) on an empty stomach with a dried fig...it can take you places yoga can much easier and especially quicker...open minds open borders 😳😜😱😘
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There is growing evidence that psychedelics can treat a whole host of mental illnesses from PTSD to alcholism.
Sadly the restrictive drug laws are a big hindrance on research. I covered it in one of my old posts Why Banning Drugs Doesn't Work and Never Will. Hopefully things will change soon.
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Get real... Red bull has a full dose of niacin?!...ok and Americas worst drug sugar but you obviously have know idea what solves mental health issues...Niacin is great but it doesn't work miracles ...I'm guessing you have more faith in God instead of science😳🤒🤕🤐😷
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Red Bull has no where near a therapeutic dose, maybe 20mg if you're lucky, we are talking in the 3,000mg to 9,000mg dose.
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It's called sarcasm...how ironic?!🤔
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I guess sarcasm doesn't always reflect on a blog. Why do you feel the need for sarcasm anyway?
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Because laughter is sometimes the best medicine😂...have you ever read Shakespeare or let alone Christopher Hithens or Sam Harris...figure it out mi amigo😳🆓🔜😍
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There's a good reason for that. Very high doses of niacin can potentially cause liver damage.
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Not to mention a severe flushing🤗
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Yes it is a known side effect.
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That is true with certain types of niacin. That is way nicotinic acid is the only type to use with high dosing which does cause flushing. Slow release and non flushing niacin needs to be used with caution.
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Nutritional deficiencies may be part of the problem but the vast majority of research shows that it is a lot more complicated than that. There is no single solution because it is highly unlikely there is one single causal factor.
To say that psychiatry has failed on the basis of this shows a considerable lack of knowledge of what psychiatry is.
Also what you are referring to is psychotherapy not psychiatry. Psychiatry may involve prescribing psychotherapy but they are not the same thing.
Apologies for being critical but there is significant bashing of psychiatry and modern medicine based on mass media headlines and general public ignorance of the subject. This makes for great headlines but it does not move things forward.
Proper research into psychiatric disorders and nutrition is ongoing. The greatest evidence probably exists for Omega-3 fatty acids though even that is controversial.
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Make it complicated if you wish. I guess you didn't read the link, or the book by Dr Andrew Saul and Dr Hoffer - Niacin, The Real Story.
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That is not scientific evidence I'm afraid. Sorry if my response offended you though.
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Working for 50 years with mental illness as Hoffer did might not be scientific. I'm not sure what your criteria for scientific is.
On a different note, I wasn't offended, I was grateful for your feedback and preparedness to comment as always, I respect your input cryptofiend.
Being offended is just ego, you like everyone else has total feedom to comment, after all I did post it on a public forum.
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No problem but the opinions of a single individual is anecdotal evidence at best. That is the problem. Most people don't even understand what science is and how it is different from the opinion of a learned individual who may also be a scientist.
They are two different things.
True science requires some kind of consensus via a significant body of research. I'm sure you can find all kinds of books written by notable and learned figures proposing all sorts of hypotheses.
That is all they are until there is substantial evidence to back them up.
If someone has ground breaking scientific evidence they publish it in a peer-reveiwed journal not a book. Further these findings then need to be replicated by others before they can be considered part of the body of scientific evidence.
If "niacin" was the magic solution to mental health problems then I would have read extensive meta-analyses on it in the literature and I haven't.
Further bread (in the UK at least) is fortified with niacin - whilst this has eliminated pellagra (the deficiency syndrome) it has not reduced levels of mental illness which would seem to go against this hypothesis.
Also it should be noted that niacin can in high doses be associated with liver damage.
I'm not saying there is no possibility for this to be true but you have to be careful when you make simplistic statements that say that all previous research and practices must be thrown out on the basis of one book.
That is not scientific at all.
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http://www.doctoryourself.com
Is a scientific peer reviewed website of the same author but I'm guessing this also wouldn't meet your definition of scientific. Stick to pharmaceuticals with all their peer reviews by all means and ignore vitamins, minerals and healthy food and lifestyle. This idea that 'science' is above common sense is prevalent throughout our consciousness at the moment. We give away our power when we do this however.
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Wow... You are obviously offended at the crypto fiends comments but his knowledge is far more superior than yours...sure optimism always prevails the pessimistic as the jaded ones will wither as the optimistic grow...natives prayed for the sun and the rain...then science discovered photosynthesis is what makes plants grow...your cell phone doesn't operate from another consciousness ...I suppose you have more faith in "gods" than voices of reason and intellectuals that read fine literature in order to progress our humanity...evolution always wins🌎🌺🐵🌈🔜🆓😳😍🤔✌️✌🏼️✌🏿️
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Not offended, saddened by the vigorous defence of a failed paradigm. Saddened because many more people will be medicated over the coming years when there are alternative solutions.
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Keep praying...if it helps you just keep it to yourself please...double blind procedures are verified😮
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It's not peer reviewed. It's a website and a terrible one at that. I don't think you understand what peer review is.
Those things have never been ignored that is just your opinion. How do we know what vitamins are and what they do? Science and genuine research is why. If you actually looked at the literature instead of making accusations after reading a book you might see it.
Should we just believe anything that anyone says purely because they believe it? That is basically what you are advocating.
I've never heard that idea before. Again you are stating your own opinion as fact.
No we give away our own power when we buy someone's book and just accept whatever they say without thinking for ourselves.
It makes it worse if we then try to spread it is as being scientific fact and get defensive when someone points it out.
If you are going to push your personal "religious" beliefs as science don't be surprised when they get questioned.
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We don't need to worry about my 'religious' beliefs with you here as the defender of scientific truth. Can I ask you, have you experienced schizophrenia as you seem to present yourself as a scientific authority on the matter and are zealous to perpetuate the failed status quo? Or would you argue that the current peer reviewed scientific paradigm has been a success with $billions spent on the science. A pot of 100 niacin capsules costs less than $10.
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Whether I have or not is not really any of your business and it is frankly irrelevant to the argument you are putting forth.
Experiencing schizophrenia has nothing to do with scientific evidence.
I see that you are not interested in any kind of debate but are only looking for confirmation of what you already believe.
To suggest that one must experience an illness in order to make a reasoned or rational discussion of it based on the evidence of the literature is patently ridiculous.
I wonder if you asked the same question of the person who wrote that book?
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It isn't reading the book that convinces me of what I am presenting but having experienced mental illness and finding a simple solution after many years of looking. The book just confirms my own experience. I am sad there is a barrier or resistance to this information and I can't understand why unless it is just about the money.
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Great if it worked for you that is fine. You should then write about it that way and say it is from your personal experience.
That is anecdotal evidence though and should be stated to be as such. You are making factual statements which people may take as medical advice and that is potentially dangerous.
There is no barrier or resistance to this information. The problem is that it does not meet the standards of scientific enquiry.
I suspect there may well be people doing real research on niacin right now and we may well find out about it in the future. Then again it may not work and sadly that kind of information i.e. negative results rarely makes headlines.
It is not some kind of conspiracy.
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All your last comments were fair comments, I will take them on board going forward.
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