One skincare vitamin I always recommend for everyone to incorporate into their daily skincare routine is Vitamin B3 (niacinamide). It's a great all-rounder. It's good for moisturising and it hydrates well, brightens the skin, and reduces inflammation. It works well in the anti-ageing realm too — reducing pigmentation, decreasing fine wrinkles, and increasing the skin's elasticity. It is a powerful antioxidant. It replenishes cellular energy, helps repair DNA damage after sun exposure, and props up the immune system to help heal cellular damage.

The Research Case for Oral Vitamin B3

But now I'm wondering if we should take our Vitamin B3 usage a stage further.

A study which looked at the effects of giving a group of people at high risk for skin cancer daily Vitamin B3 (nicotinamide) tablets found that this group developed less skin cancer and developed fewer pre-cancers in sun-damaged areas.

And the good news too is that Vitamin B3 supplements are cheap and readily available. At a recommended dose of Nicotinamide 500 mg twice daily, there are no significant side effects.

What the Study Showed

The study only ran for 12 months, and it specifically looked at whether people developed skin cancer or pre-skin cancers. It didn't look at whether it would prevent ageing or other problems. But running a little with this information — it's a powerful antioxidant, we know it props up the immune system and repairs DNA and skin damage that leads to age-related changes. Perhaps it would do us all good to take this as a daily tablet?

Dietary Sources

You do get Vitamin B3 from your diet, mainly from yeast, meat, fish, eggs, milk, nuts, legumes, and cereals. However, the average daily amount required is only 15–20 mg. This study found that to get the benefits, you need 50 times the recommended daily allowance.

Important Note

Vitamin B3 is also available as Nicotinic acid, which gets converted into nicotinamide in the body. At high doses, nicotinic acid can cause side effects — and this study specifically found that it was niacinamide (nicotinamide) and not other forms of Vitamin B3 that gave the skin cancer prevention benefits.

Dr Lindsay's View

Given its low cost, wide availability, and excellent safety profile at the recommended dose, daily oral nicotinamide could be a powerful and simple addition to everyone's health routine. It's certainly something worth discussing with your doctor — and something I've added to my own.