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Niacin versus Protein


Guest Gigi

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Hello all. I am just starting on this CRON journey ... Dipping a toe in by working with cronometer to see if I can meet all my requirements without supplements. It has been quite an eye opener and fun ... But I am struggling with getting all my niacin without going way over on my protein, which I want to keep at no more than .8 g/kg for IGF1 reasons. Because I am a small woman (5'2" and 108 pounds), this means about 40 G protein a day.

 

Further complicating my situation, I avoid grains and legumes ... Enriched grains would easily solve the niacin problem but they are not for me. Plus, eating an enriched source of a vitamin seems no different than just taking a supplement. Or am I being too purist?

 

So avocados and portobello mushrooms seem very good low protein sources of niacin ... can anyone recommend any others? Also, is it possible that I might require a bit less niacin than 14 mg since I am indeed a tad smaller than average? :)

 

Thanks!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Gigi,

 

So far I haven't seen any sources that say that smaller folks need fewer nutrients, so you're probably out of luck there and should be trying to follow the USDA RDI. I often include a few grams of peanuts to get extra niacin in my own diet. 12 g of peanuts will give 10% of daily niacin at a cost of 70 calories according to cronometer.com. I understand your situation since my wife is 5'0" and 90 lbs. It's tough to fit all that nutrition in to 1100 - 1300 calories. If you simply don't have the room for it calorie-wise, then take a supplement.

 

Remember that the .8 g of protein is a low end guideline. You may need more protein if you are older, or if you do lots of exercise.

 

Best of fortune with your CR.

KS

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for your response, Keith. It has been a learning curve for sure ... peanuts are definitely helpful. I have added back legumes (but still no grains) and have found it much easier as a result. I am finding that the less meat I include in my diet, the easier it is to meet all my RDAs ... Including protein. I know the amount of required calcium is up for debate, but I still include low fat dairy.

 

My family thinks I'm nuts, but my blood pressure is now 85/65 and blood glucose is improving although not where I want it yet. Onward!

 

Gigi

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  • 2 weeks later...

Brewer's Yeast - 47 calories/5.6 grams of protein/28% of DRI (Daily Recommended Intake) for Vitamin B3 - Lewis Labs brewer's Yeast, about 1.5 tbsp's.

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In Roy Walford's book (Who's Walford? :)), The-120-Year Diet, his 20 sample menus in the back of the book list Brewer's Yeast in nearly every one!  Of course, they included four glasses of skimmed milk nearly every day, too, which was bad advice in my opinion.

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Guest Annabel

Hi Gigi - My favorite niacin sources are yeast, sliced white mushrooms (in sauce/soup/stew or raw in salad), small portions of whole wheat seeded bread, and tomato products (in sauce/soup/stew). I actually used to rely on a peanut snack too, but am trying to lower total omega-6 in my diet and figured I'd share the foods that now work for me. Good luck!

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First: Anabel, merliot02 and Gigi: do me and you and everyone on the Forum a favor: register on the Forums and log in when you post! It's fine if you want to use a pseudonym, but registering and logging in will ensure that you can't be impersonated and will make it easier to keep track of your questions, input, and progress.

 

Gigi: do you use CRON-O-Meter? If you go under the "Foods" tab up at the top, you can "Ask the Oracle" for foods high in particular nutrients. You can also use the Nutrition Data Nutrient Search tool.

 

Keith: actually, it's really quite clear that smaller people need fewer nutrients: you have fewer cells, less bone mass, less blood — less everything. That's why food labels are required to say that the %Daily Values are based on a 2000 Calorie diet: if you're larger or smaller, you'll need more or fewer Calories, and more or less of everything else in rough proportion. That's a very rough rule — there's obviously a big difference between the vitamin intakes of two people of the same weight but one of whom has that weight as muscle vs. fat, or as bone (they're taller and skinnier), or is lighter because of an overactive thyroid vs. being a marathon runner — but in general, there is some variance with body size.

 

All that said, I'd still recommend shooting for the DRI for your gender and age.

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