Optimal Cardiovascular Health: CGM and Niacin!

Last month my husband and I both used a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). A CGM tests the concentration of glucose in the blood and can give a fascinating look at the way blood glucose levels change over time and what patterns emerge. It was very interesting to have the comparison of my husbands results compared with my results – the same foods can have quite different effect on different people! Also last month two of my clients were able to reverse their prediabetes using the CGM.

Several people approached me last to help with their high cholesterol. I had just read a brilliant article in the IHCAN magazine on the impact of therapeutic levels of niacin on cholesterol. For this reason, I thought I would write a blog on both of these subjects as it is very important to have balanced blood glucose and cholesterol for optimal cardiovascular health.

What causes fluctuations in blood glucose levels?

Obviously the foods you eat and interestingly, the order in which you eat them (you can read my blog post on this after I read The Glucose Revolution here!) On the second day of wearing the CGM, we went over to a friend’s house for supper and she gave us traditional fishcakes made with potato. I was shocked to see how high my blood glucose level spiked. I decided to experiment and make fishcakes with a tin of cannelloni beans instead of mashed potato and to my delight, my blood glucose stayed stable. My husband said they were delicious so I thought that I would share the recipe with you here.

Exercise also influences blood glucose levels, especially a combination of cardiovascular, weight bearing and HIIT (high intense interval training) exercise. This is important for people with diabetes to understand. More gentle exercise such as walking – especially with friends or family or a pet, it wonderful for the nervous system and reduces the production of stress hormones. I have included a photo of one of my lovely walks with Pickle through the bluebell woods last month. Walking in the beauty of nature really reduces stress and makes exercise more enjoyable!

For women hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle cause blood glucose levels to fluctuate. On top of that, stress can also be a factor in high blood glucose levels because when our body experiences stress there is more adrenaline and cortisol. A nutritional therapy colleague of mine, who lives on a low carb diet, told me that the stress of cooking for friends caused a big spike in her blood glucose!

A note of caution: I felt some health anxiety for the first week that I wore the monitor and found myself looking at the results on my app about 20 times a day! After a week, I was able to relax and even experiment with ‘naughty’ foods. If you suffer with health anxiety, please think carefully before trying a CGM. For me, learning not to be afraid of the glucose spikes and experimenting with different foods showed me which foods I need to keep to a minimum and which foods I can eat in abundance. I also learnt what a blood glucose spike felt like in my body. Other than the fish cakes, it was fascinating to see that a chocolate mousse cake (a friend’s birthday cake) did not cause a spike in blood glucose due to the cream in it, yet a very small amount of healthy ‘King Soba’ brown rice noodles from a health food shop caused a huge spike. Natural brown rice was fine!

Niacin (Vitamin B3)

Niacin or vitamin B3 is an essential vitamin that, in regular doses, has many benefits. Niacin deficiency disease, called pellagra, caused the US Government to fortify flour and rice with niacin to prevent pellagra deaths, mental health issues and overcrowding in insane asylums!

I was so excited to see a study in American Journal of Medical Science that showed how niacin (vitamin B3) reduced total cholesterol, as well as decrease inflammation and improve blood circulation.[i] Niacin is also able to reduce hardening of the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis. [ii] Another study found that niacin could increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels.[iii] Wow!

In addition, niacin has been linked to weight loss and detoxification, as well as DNA repair, energy production, and nervous system support.

Although you will need to take therapeutic levels of niacin in supplement form if you want to get the cholesterol lowering benefits, niacin is found in grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, lamb, salmon, sardines, sunflower seeds and tahini, so including these foods in your diet will increase naturally-occurring niacin.

Niacin supplements and niacin flush 

If you are thinking of taking niacin in supplement form, it is important to take it with a B-complex as B vitamins work together in synergy and taking one in high doses without taking the others can be detrimental.

Please also be aware that Niacin may cause you to experience a niacin flush – a temporarily tingling or a burning sensation, often accompanied by itchy skin. It feels a little bit like sudden heat rash. While uncomfortable, it is caused by an expansion of capillaries to increase the flow of blood to the skin’s surface. It starts around 15 or 20 minutes after taking niacin and can last for up to an hour. I love the feeling of a niacin flush and it makes me feel super calm as I imagine the benefits it is giving my body!

With every blessing,

Emma

Emma Maitland-Carew – Registered Nutritional Therapist

Dip.ION, mBANT, CHNC Registered Practitioner, ILM Accredited Wellbeing Coach

Certified Live and Dried Blood Analysis, Metabolic Balance® Coach, HeartMath Coach, Accredited Wellbeing Coach

[i] Hamoud S, Kaplan M, Meilin E, Hassan A, Torgovicky R, Cohen R, Hayek T. Niacin administration significantly reduces oxidative stress in patients with hypercholesterolemia and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Am J Med Sci. 2013 Mar;345(3):195-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22990043/

[ii] Ganji SH, Kamanna VS, Kashyap ML. Niacin and cholesterol: role in cardiovascular disease (review). J Nutr Biochem. 2003 Jun;14(6):298-305. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12873710/

[iii] Kamanna VS, Ganji SH, Kashyap ML. The mechanism and mitigation of niacin-induced flushing. Int J Clin Pract. 2009 Sep;63(9):1369-77. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779993/