Healthy Professional Foundations Practice Test 2026 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

Niacin is a vitamin—the B vitamin group, specifically vitamin B3. As a micronutrient, it’s needed in small amounts and must be obtained from the diet, because the body doesn’t produce enough on its own. Niacin functions as part of the coenzymes NAD and NADP, which are essential for a wide range of energy-producing redox reactions that convert carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into usable energy. It’s not a mineral, a carbohydrate, or a protein, which is why it’s best described as a vitamin within the B vitamin family.