I am an engineer, so I could use some help with English.
Does "insulin sensitizer" mean that it makes insulin work more efficiently? I have read that Niacin increased bg levels and I have heard it can lower bg levels, or do nothing at all, kind of like caffeine.
I am a type 1 diabetic. I have had issues with low bg some nights (like I need 3 units of Levemir overnight rather than my normal 5 units). I am wondering if Niacin could be the cause (some nights I don't take it because I don't feel like itching). I really want to stop eating so much sugar in the middle of the night and wonder if that might be what I am doing differently some nights.
I'm not sure if it can cause lows, I was taking no flush niacin but stopped because my cardiologist said he thinks it causes liver damage. I didn't really need it for cholesterol anyway. I don't think it made any difference in my bg, but you can try stopping it for a while and see if the lows go away.
I can't recall Bernstein saying that niacin was an insulin sensitizer. His current book doesn't have niacin in the index. It is mentioned in his ebook compilation of questions from his teleseminars and he does suggest that niacinimide (niacin) reduces insulin resistance. But overall studies seem to have shown that niacin actually increases your blood sugar even if it improves insulin resistance. So I wouldn't necessarily attribute this to niacin. I think that a self experiment may help isolate whether that is actually the case or not.
