Niacin Detox Sauna Therapy

The Niacin detox program is my favorite detox method.  Not only is it extremely simple and extremely cost effective, it’s also one of the most powerful detox protocols out there.

How powerful you ask?

Ok, let’s just say that, this is the SAME detox program that the 911 firefighters were put on to professionally and successfully treat their extreme overexposure of toxic dust (a wide array of poisons, including lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins) from the WTC buildings collapsing.

iacin Detox Program - 911 fire fighter with his purple manganese towel

Severe Example:  One of the firefighters who had an extreme case of toxicity developed severe Parkinson-like tremors with many other serious cognitive problems.  He was treated with a Niacin Detox program with a high dose of Niacin (Slowly built to 5000 mg for 30 days).

After his detox, his sweat left a purple – blue residue on his towel. This residue was Manganese (Not magnesium) which is a type of metal known to onset tremors and cognitive issues.  After his detox, he was clear of his symptoms.

Also, this is the same detox method used to professionally treat veterans with Gulf War Syndrome or Golf War Illness (GWI) . Look up Gulf War Syndrome Project headed by David Carpenter.

First Off, Why Should You Detox?

We are CONSTANTLY exposed to toxins and heavy metals from our environment and the food that we consume.  Toxins are stored in our fat and brain tissue which directly impacts us physically and mentally. While eating healthy can help detox your body, it isn’t extremely effective.  Dr. George C. Yu, MD recommends that a Niacin detox program become part of our weekly regimen in order to stay healthy and remove harmful toxins that attribute to illnesses.

Based on the Biosphere 2 Studies, Dr. Yu said,  “We also noticed that for the average person now, they are doomed to having lots of chemicals inside their bodies, from 500 times up [compared to their blood level results]” – this means that when you get a toxicity test done on your blood, it might show that you’re fine but in reality the toxins in your fat  will show that you are 500 times more toxic!

My Results

After my first session, I felt great, refreshed, and rejuvenated. It makes me excited for the next detox session every time – maybe I’ll get addicted! After doing this for a month (2-3 times a week), I noticed some big improvements after three sessions I completed. I noticed that my skin looks tighter and brighter, acne flare ups went away. Another big improvement is the overall feel the day after the detox.

I’m a pretty stressed person, and I did not feel any stress throughout the day.  There is also a great increase of clarity and a “happy go lucky” type attitude.  When I thought about doing something, there was not a thought about the fears associated with that – for example “what if I see someone I don’t want to run into?”  I also play basketball in the mornings with a group of guys and I noticed that I didn’t care what people might be thinking of me and this allowed me to play with more confidence.  It was a weird feeling, good obviously.

How Does it Work? What’s the Science Behind it?

Niacin is Vitamin B3 and is created naturally in your body.  The premise behind the Niacin Detox is to take a high dose of Niacin paired with moderate to heavy exercise.  This combination mobilizes and stimulates lipolysis (break down of fats).  When you take Niacin, it induces a flushing effect that feels and looks like a sunburn.  Reaction time is different for each person but normally experienced in 5-10 minutes.

As the fats break down, the toxins stored inside the fat are released to your blood stream and then you can remove it.

If you don’t remove it, you reabsorb the toxins back into your body.

There are two main ways to eliminate it from your body:

  1. Sweat – Sweating the toxins through the skin via exercise and sauna
  2. G.I. Tract – Excreting them out the G.I. tract by binding them with one of the following:
    • Activated Charcoal
    • Zeolite Clay
    • Oils
    • Even some fibers

Dr. Yu and Dr. Mercola Explain a Little More

What Toxins are Removed?

  1. Heavy Metals: Mercury, Manganese, Lead, Aluminum etc
  2. Pharmaceutical Drugs: Pain Killers, Prozac, etc
  3. Other Drugs: LSD, heroin, marijuana, PCP, cocaine, alcohol
  4. Formaldehyde, chlorines, Harmful PCBs
  5. Food Preservatives
  6. Pesticides & Herbicides
  7. Anesthetics
  8. and a lot of others

Is the Niacin Detox Safe?

Niacin is something that you already create in your body.  It is converted from your amino acids, tryptophan.  When detoxing, most people use niacin above its RDA value and don’t experience any problems other than the flushing effect.  Since you build up a tolerance to niacin, most people can start at 100 mg and slowly build up to taking 1000 – 1500 mg per session.  I personally don’t go above 2000 mg.  You can slowly build a tolerance by increasing the niacin dosage by 100 mg per detox session.  For some extreme conditions of toxicity like the 911 firefighters, you can reach up to 5000 mg per detox session – however you should still consult your doctor on this.




The only caveat here, is if you take too much niacin too quickly, you will throw up.  Some people talk about liver toxicity which is only attributed to niacinamide – sources below.

Is activated charcoal safe? In an interview from Dr. Yu and Mercola, activated charcoal is extremely safe and effective in pulling and removing toxins from your G.I. tract.  In fact, you can’t overdose on it.

Below are PubMed articles supporting the health and detoxing benefits of saunas:

What You Need & Brands I Recommend:

  1. Niacin: This is important. Make sure you get the flushing form of Niacin. Do not get niacin that has niacinamide as its active ingredient. This won’t make you flush and it’s shown to be toxic to your liver.  Start out with the 100 mg tablets. I use this Niacin – it has great flushing effects.  You can move to the 500 mg later.
  2. Activated Charcoal: Any type of active charcoal will work, however, I use this brand if you’re interested in exactly what I took.
  3. Purified Water: You’re doing a detox, make sure you’re drinking plenty of purified water. I use a water purifier since plastic water bottles have harmful BPA and BPS in them.  If you have fluoridated water, you’ll want a good filter to get this out. Regular Carbon filters like Pur or Brita won’t cut it.
  4. Purified water with a ½ teaspoon of Himalayan Salt. While in the sauna, you’ll want to replenish electrolytes (Himalayan Salt – 1 TBSP) and water (32 Oz).  Coconut water is a great source of electrolytes and also recommend it if you want to spend the money on it.  It’s fairly inexpensive.
  5. A good multi-vitamin: You’ll be flushing and sweating many things out, it’s important to get a good multi-vitamin or eat a diet with high nutrition. I really like this brand.
  6. Access to a Sauna: Your local fitness club will most likely have one.  Also try day spas, though these will more likely be more expensive.  Infrared Saunas are great too because they make you sweat faster.

A Brief Overview of the Program:

Purpose: A simple and extremely powerful detox method used by doctors to eliminate toxins.

Consult your doctor:  With any diet, exercise, or supplement change, you should consult your doctor first before attempting to make sure this is right for you.  Everyone is different.

Brief Overview:  Start with 50-100 mg of Niacin on empty stomach, start exercising for 30 min, enter sauna for 30-60 min, take 4-5  capsules of activated charcoal (500 mg), take shower.

For your convenience, get my printable Niacin Detox Program PDF.  It’s condensed on 1 page, extremely helpful, and easy to take with you anywhere on your detox.

Download the Easy PDF

Duration: 2 times a week.

Tips to increase a Niacin flush response:

  1. Crush Niacin into powder
  2. Take with hot or warm water
  3. Take on empty stomach

Niacin Detox Program (Detailed):

  1. Take Niacin (Flushing Version):
    1. Take small dose of 50 mg with 4-8oz of water on empty stomach– This is to see how you react. Everyone is different. I didn’t flush my first time at 50mg and the next time I executed the program, I took 200mg and certainly flushed.
    2. Monitor Your Flush – It’s important to flush. Within 5-10 min you should feel a flushing effect starting in your face that moves down to your chest.  This feels and looks like a sunburn. If you don’t feel anything, this means that you’ll need to take more niacin next time you execute the program.  I find that I can help kick start the flush with some push ups and moderate jogging for a couple minutes of warmup.
      • Please Note: You might experience Your Flush Later when you’re in the Sauna
      • If you still do not flush – More than likely, your brand is the slow release niacin or Niacinamide or you had a meal with your niacin.
    3. Next time Increase the Dose – You build a tolerance to Niacin. Every time you execute the program Increase the dose by 100mg to 200mg depending if you feel a flush effect from the niacin or not. You can max out at 1000 to 1500 mg.
    4. If you took 300mg of niacin your first time, you would be fine, but it would be really uncomfortable for an hour – extremely tight skin, your skin feels itchy EVERYWHERE. It’s not the end of the world but it’s annoying.
    5. Wait 10 minutes after taking the Niacin to begin Step 2
  2. Exercise for 20 – 30 min: The goal here is to get your body in motion as much as you can and to exercise so that you’re building a sweat. Most people go with a moderate jog, however,  I find that any form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) gives me the best results.  I usually go with simple wind sprints, push-ups and lifting weights.
    1. Caveat: This is what I do, which doesn’t mean you should do this. This is also dependent on your level of health and age. If you’re overweight or older, try jogging and some simple, lighter weights. As long as you’re moving, and sweating, you’re good.
    2. My Exercise Routine
      • Wind Sprints – 50 Yards sprint as hard and safe as you can. Right after you’re done sprinting, perform 10-15 push-ups. Rest 30 seconds.  I repeat this combo for about 5-7  times.  Obviously this won’t add up to 30 min so I finish it off with lifting weights – 1 to 2 sets of 10 reps trying to hit major muscle groups using 10-15 seconds rest in between.
    3. Sauna for 30 – 60 min (traditional):
      1. The goal is to get a good sweat going, eliminating as many toxins through the skin. I bring a towel to wipe the sweat off to encourage production of more sweat. I also use a card to scrape the sweat off the skin.
      2. Drink plenty of fluids inside the sauna. I drink a mixture of Himalayan salt water for electrolytes.
      3. Some people stay inside a traditional sauna for up to 4.5 hours. You can use an infrared sauna which you can achieve the same results for 4.5 hours in only 1 hour!
      4. Make sure that it’s hot when you enter. You should be sweating 5-10 min in.
      5. If you’re light headed from HIIT, avoid the sauna for a bit or closely monitor yourself. Elevated heat can cause you to faint if you’re already dizzy.
    4. Take Activated Charcoal: Take 2-4 capsules (500 mg) with 2-4 glasses ( 8 oz) of purified water.
    5. Shower: Rinse off sweat to prevent your skin from reabsorbing the toxins.  For the best effects, Dr. Yu recommends a cold shower.
    6. Vitamins: This amount of sweating depletes a lot of minerals and vitamins. Make sure that you take a multivitamin or have a high quality diet consisting of high nutritional value and vitamins.

Further Reading, Studies, Support Resources, and Niacin Information

Professionally administered Detox Programs:

Self-Aided Detox Support Group: