Vitamin B3 (as Niacinamide)

Vitamin B3 (niacinamide) is a water-soluble B vitamin found in poultry, tuna, and mushrooms that serves as the primary dietary precursor to NAD+, the coenzyme essential for over 400 enzymatic reactions including energy metabolism, DNA repair, and brain function — making it one of the most functionally significant nutrients for women over 35 whose NAD+ levels are in natural decline. In element3 Rise (AM Formula), vitamin B3 is provided at 14mg (the full RDI) as niacinamide to support cellular energy, skin health, and cognitive clarity.

Vitamin B3 (as Niacinamide)

[ 01 ] Key Facts

Dose in element3 element3 Rise: 14mg
Form Niacinamide — the non-flushing form of vitamin B3
Signs you may need more Mental fatigue, poor skin tone or texture, irritability, digestive sluggishness
Safe range 14mg daily for adult women (RDI); upper intake level 35mg/day for supplemental niacin (due to potential flushing). Niacinamide does not cause flushing.

Food sources

  • Chicken breast
  • Tuna
  • Mushrooms
  • Green peas

[ 02 ] Rationale

Why this ingredient is in element3

Vitamin B3’s significance centres on a single molecule: NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). NAD+ is arguably the most important coenzyme in human metabolism. It is required for glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, the electron transport chain, and the sirtuin-mediated DNA repair pathways that NMN and Resveratrol in element3 Rise are specifically designed to support. Without NAD+, none of these processes function.

The niacinamide form in element3 Rise is deliberate. Niacinamide (nicotinamide) enters the NAD+ synthesis pathway via the salvage pathway, the most direct route to replenishing NAD+, and unlike nicotinic acid it does so without the flushing response that higher-dose niacin can cause. This makes it well suited to consistent daily use within a multi-ingredient formula.

Niacinamide has an additional benefit that niacin alone does not provide: direct support for skin barrier function. Niacinamide has been shown to increase ceramide synthesis in the skin, improve barrier integrity, reduce transepidermal water loss, and support an even skin tone. These are not cosmetic add-ons — they reflect genuine improvements in skin cell function driven by enhanced NAD+ availability in the epidermis.

Within element3 Rise, B3 sits alongside the MITO-ACTIVE™ Complex. NMN provides a high-potency NAD+ precursor for cellular repair and sirtuin activation. B3 provides the baseline dietary NAD+ production that maintains the broader metabolic machinery. Think of NMN as targeted longevity support and B3 as the daily NAD+ maintenance that keeps the entire system running. Both are necessary; neither replaces the other.

[ 03 ] At 35+

Relevant at 35+

NAD⁺ is something the body draws on constantly, and research indicates levels change gradually with age. That change is part of why NAD⁺ has become a focus of interest for women thinking about their energy from their mid-30s onward.

Perimenopause adds another layer. As hormone levels shift, the everyday demands on the body’s energy systems change, which is part of why a steady B3 intake matters at this stage.

The skin-specific benefits of niacinamide also become more relevant after 35. As oestrogen declines, ceramide production in the skin decreases, the skin barrier becomes more permeable, and moisture retention drops. Niacinamide supports normal skin barrier function from the inside, complementing what you use topically.

[ 04 ] Your Questions

Your Questions

What is vitamin B3?
Vitamin B3 is a water-soluble B vitamin that exists in two primary forms: niacin (nicotinic acid) and niacinamide (nicotinamide). Both are precursors to NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NADP+, coenzymes essential for energy metabolism, DNA repair, and hundreds of enzymatic reactions. Niacin and niacinamide have overlapping but distinct effects: niacin causes a skin flushing response at higher doses, while niacinamide does not cause flushing and has additional skin-barrier properties. element3 Rise uses niacinamide.

What are the benefits of taking vitamin B3?
Vitamin B3 supports cellular energy production as a direct NAD+ precursor, complements NMN’s NAD+ pathway support through a different entry point, and contributes to DNA repair via NAD+-dependent PARP enzymes. Niacinamide specifically supports normal skin barrier function. The niacinamide in element3 Rise provides both energetic and structural benefits.

What are the benefits of vitamin B3 in the element3 protocol?
In element3 Rise, vitamin B3 at 14mg as niacinamide contributes to NAD+ synthesis alongside NMN. Niacinamide enters the NAD+ salvage pathway, providing the baseline dietary NAD+ production that supports the broader metabolic machinery. It also contributes to the skin, hair and nails pillar of element3 Rise, through its role in normal skin barrier function.

What other vitamin B3 benefits are found in clinical research?
Vitamin B3 has been studied extensively for its role as an NAD⁺ precursor and for niacinamide’s role in normal skin barrier function. In element3 Rise it works alongside the MITO-ACTIVE™ Complex, supporting NAD⁺ through a complementary route to NMN.

What is the recommended daily intake of vitamin B3?
The recommended dietary intake for adult women is 14mg NE (niacin equivalents) per day. element3 Rise provides 14mg per serve, exactly at the RDI. The upper intake level for supplemental niacin is 35mg per day due to the potential for flushing and, at very high doses, liver stress. However, this upper limit primarily applies to high-dose niacin; niacinamide does not cause flushing and has a higher practical safety ceiling. The 14mg in element3 Rise is niacinamide at the RDI level, well within safe parameters.

What food provides vitamin B3?
Niacin is found in chicken breast, tuna, turkey, salmon, pork, mushrooms, peanuts, and green peas. It can also be synthesised in the body from the amino acid tryptophan (60mg tryptophan yields approximately 1mg niacin). Most women who eat meat and poultry regularly will obtain reasonable dietary niacin, but those following plant-based diets may have lower intake. Niacinamide is less abundant in food than niacin, which is one reason element3 Rise uses the niacinamide form.

Are there any vitamin B3 side effects?
At the 14mg dose in element3 Rise, vitamin B3 is safe and well-tolerated. The niacin flushing response, temporary redness, warmth, and tingling of the skin, is a dose-dependent effect that occurs at higher supplemental doses (typically above 50mg of immediate-release niacin) and is not expected at 14mg. Niacinamide does not cause flushing at any dose. Very high niacin doses (above 1,500–3,000mg daily) can cause liver stress with prolonged use; the dose in element3 Rise is many orders of magnitude below this threshold.

What are vitamin B3 deficiency symptoms?
Severe vitamin B3 deficiency is rare in developed countries with access to a varied diet. Subclinical deficiency or insufficiency presents more subtly: mental fatigue and poor concentration, irritability, digestive sluggishness, poor skin tone or texture, and reduced stress resilience. Because niacin is involved in NAD+ synthesis and energy metabolism, low status can compound the fatigue and cognitive effects of inadequate intake of other B vitamins.

What form of vitamin B3 is in the element3 blend?
element3 Rise uses niacinamide (nicotinamide). This is a deliberate formulation choice. Niacinamide provides skin-barrier and NAD+ support through the nicotinamide salvage pathway, without the flushing response that niacin can cause at higher doses. At the 14mg RDI dose it provides consistent daily support in a form suited to a multi-ingredient formula.

[ 05 ] The Research

3 studies

The Research

Study Key finding
Biochemical markers for assessment of niacin status in young men: urinary and blood levels of niacin metabolitesJacob RA, Swendseid ME, McKee RW, Fu CS, Clemens RA. Biochemical markers for assessment of niacin status in young men: urinary and blood levels of niacin metabolites. Journal of Nutrition. 1989;119(4):591–598. doi:10.1093/jn/119.4.591. PMID: 2522982.
This study was conducted in men, but its finding applies directly to women. It measures the core relationship between how much niacin you consume and your body's niacin status, the NAD-pathway biochemistry that operates the same way in both sexes, and this is the very method used to establish the recommended niacin intake for women. Women's requirement is in fact set slightly lower than men's, so the adequacy this study demonstrates holds for the 14mg provided in our women's formulation.
 Read →
Niacin Cures Systemic NAD⁺ Deficiency and Improves Muscle Performance in Adult-Onset Mitochondrial MyopathyPirinen, E., Auranen, M., Khan, N. A., Brilhante, V., Urho, N., Pessia, A., Hakkarainen, A., Kuula, J., Heinonen, U., Schmidt, M. S., Haimilahti, K., Piirilä, P., Lundbom, N., Taskinen, M.-R., Brenner, C., Velagapudi, V., Pietiläinen, K. H., & Suomalainen, A. (2020). Niacin cures systemic NAD⁺ deficiency and improves muscle performance in adult-onset mitochondrial myopathy. Cell Metabolism, 31(6), 1078–1090.e5.
In a clinical study including healthy matched controls, oral niacin (a form of vitamin B3) raised NAD⁺ levels in the blood of both patients and healthy participants. This demonstrates in humans that dietary vitamin B3 is used by the body to maintain its NAD⁺ pool, the coenzyme central to cellular energy production.
 Read →
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code — Schedule 4: Nutrition, health and related claimsFood Standards Australia New Zealand. Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code — Schedule 4: Nutrition, health and related claims. Federal Register of Legislation (Cth).
Niacin is recognised in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code as necessary for normal energy release from food, and as contributing to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, to normal psychological function, and to normal structure and function of the skin, pre-approved health relationships permitted for foods that meet the relevant conditions.
 Read →

[ 06 ] In the Protocol

Where Vitamin B3 (as Niacinamide) sits in the element3 Protocol

In element3 Rise (AM Formula), Vitamin B3 at 14mg as niacinamide provides NAD+ production — the baseline metabolic fuel that powers over 400 enzymatic reactions including energy production, DNA repair, and sirtuin activation. It bridges the gap between element3 Rise's targeted NAD+ precursor (NMN at 250mg) and the body’s broader NAD+-dependent systems. Niacinamide’s additional support for skin barrier function makes B3 a uniquely multifunctional ingredient. Taken in the morning alongside the full B-vitamin energy cascade (B1, B2, B5), it ensures that both energy metabolism and cellular maintenance are operating from a position of sufficiency.

You can learn more about the full element3 ingredient philosophy at element3.co.nz.