Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, is a water-soluble vitamin that performs a variety of important physiological functions in the body, mainly through dietary intake. Foods rich in niacin include meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, nuts, whole grains and legumes.

On October 8, 2024, Researchers from Wuxi Fifth Hospital affiliated to Jiangnan University published an article in the journal BMC Public Health entitled "Association of niacin intake and metabolic dysfunction-associated. steatotic liver disease: findings from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ".

The study showed a U-shaped correlation between niacin intake and MASLD prevalence, and the prevalence of MASLD gradually decreased with the increase of niacin intake, with the lowest prevalence at 23.6 mg per day.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the association between niacin intake and MASLD prevalence in 2,946 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cohort, average age 37 years, 48 percent male, and 1,385 with MASLD, who were collected through dietary interviews.
Among all participants, the average daily intake of niacin was 22.6 mg, while those with MASLD had a lower average intake of niacin, averaging 19.2 mg per day.
After adjusting for confounding factors, the analysis found a U-shaped association between niacin intake and MASLD risk, with the prevalence of MASLD gradually decreasing as niacin intake increased until it reached an inflection point of 23.6, after which the prevalence of MASLD gradually increased.
This suggests that increasing niacin intake may reduce the prevalence of MASLD, which is lowest at 23.6 mg per day.