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I've just wasted at least 5 minutes of stats revision time on trying to capture a most interesting phenomenon with my phone selfie camera. Have you ever seen a niacin flush?
It just doesn't photograph that well, but I'm currently a bright red glow-bug. This 'rush of blood to the skin' is the effect of a 50-100mg dose of niacin (a.k.a vitamin B3).
I've been taking niacin a couple of times a week for the last six years as part of my cholesterol control program. As well as possibly helping with the blood lipids, taking niacin had a dramatic effect on my skin. After three weeks of intake my skin went from acne-prone and generally problematic to pretty much problem-free. I've never seen anything documented to explain why this is, but I don't take it when I travel and sometimes, if it's a long trip, my skin starts to play up again.
Usually when I take it nothing happens, but about one time in 10, I get a major flush, with all the optional extras like runny nose and bleary eyes. I blame the capsules. They were made during an encapsulation machine training session and vary in weight quite a bit (hence the '50-100mg').
Also, I'm not cross-eyed. Or at least, if I am, nobody has ever mentioned it....
This morning I decided to be bad at breakfast. I was thinking about a chocolate croissant, but then saw that my buckwheat bacteria had been especially industrious overnight (it's got bubbles! they are breathing!).
So, I branched out with a buckwheat pancake. :D
This one has an egg to firm it up a bit - this batch of ferment had a bit more water added when I mashed the sprouted buckwheat in the processor. In order to fulfil my desire for badness, I added chocolate and nut butter.
This was a really poofy pancake. I'm, not sure why. Sometimes the 'why did it do that?' of cooking chemistry is beyond me.
It's still a pretty lame attempt at a treat meal. Maybe I've lost the knack.
I was rushing around all morning sorting out the last of yesterday's psyllium saga, and met The Programmer for lunch at a new kebab house. I got the mixed 'salad'.
Hello, salad? You in there somewhere?
In my paleo/lo-carb days, this plate would have been my dream-come-true lunch platter. How times have changed! I actually felt a bit grossed out when this landed in front of me, and left about 3/4 of the meat behind, digging out the lettuce that was hiding beneath.
On my way home I made a shopping haul (yay! carrots are back in season) and picked up a few drinkies to sample for my upcoming alcohol-free partying commitment. This one is nice:
It's got a good fermented flavour and isn't very sweet.
And with that, I must get back to the intricacies of the SAS ANOVA output. I know, you wish you were me. That's understandable. It's normal to feel envious of someone about to sit a massive biostatistics exam. Perfectly normal*
*on some weird planet, somewhere in the universe.
YUM..... nut butter chocco pancakes AND kombucha (can't say I find the meat plate attractive though!) You should brewing your own kombucha - Eternal Delight sell the SCOBYs :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I intend to get a SCOBY (haha, love that word) ASAP, but first big party is next Saturday (exam Friday), so I will be relying on bought ones for that. Yeah, the salad was 'a little meaty'. Mr Programmer cracked up at my face. It was supposed to be a 'small' too.
DeletePancakes look good! My hubby would love that 'salad'.
ReplyDeleteThe vitamin B tab I sometimes gives me a 'prickly face'. I queried the makers and they said 'It sounds like a niacin flush – you are reacting to the B3. Niacin causes vasodilation and blood rushes to the surface and prostaglandins are released. (Prostaglandis are molecules that are released with inflammation). It just means its working and is nothing to worry about.'
I worked out it gives me a niacin flush if I take it on an empty stomach or with a smoothie, so I try and avoid that...
Yes, same thing. I remember back in the early naughties, I worked for a company that made a 'metabolic booster' pill that sold like.. well, I've never seen anything like it. It became a big hit overnight. One of the ingredients was niacin. I think people loved the rush - really felt like it was melting that fat away!
DeleteI have become a buckwheat soaker! I'm already an old hippie, and this just makes me .. more myself?
ReplyDeleteHahaha. You should always be yourself, especially MORE yourself. ;)
DeleteFunny - that was my immediate thought when I saw all that meat - ick. My plate is at least 3/4 veg. I'm more a root veggie starch person than fermented buckwheat. Must try it - your meals look interesting!
ReplyDeleteMe too (prefer the root veg), usually. I saw fermented buckwheat mentioned on several 'ancestral health' blogs and websites and, eventually, gave it a go myself. Now I'm.. well not quite addicted, but.. it's a 'regularly appearing food item', that's for sure. ;D
DeleteBahaha! Love the salad. Very "caveman".
ReplyDeleteI'm still not taking my niacin. Took one last week and HATED the effect. Prickly skin, felt really hot too - just what I need on top of the hot flushes. *sigh* I need to stop being such a baby. Going to take one right now. Well, maybe quarter of one...
to be honest, if you are only taking it for cholesterol, I'm not sure how much it helped me because I kept forgetting to take it! The thing that seemed to help the most was vit C and cutting back the sat fats.
DeleteI get that flush too - I once took a preworkout supp with a heap of niacin and I went beet red and worried the staff at the gym. They thought I was going to pass out I looked so red and hot o_0 Can't say I like the flush at all....
ReplyDeleteNiacin in a pre-workout supplement? Woah.. I go all blotchy all up my arms, which would probably look alarming when I'm in workout gear...
DeleteYour skin is gorgeous! I've had the niacin thing happen to me before- didn't know what was happening at the time!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks, it's amazing what a lo-res phone camera can do for the wrinkles ;) haha
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