A new study offers hope for rehabilitation of niacin, also known as vitamin B3, as one of the best and cheapest ways to manage high cholesterol.

Doctors have known for a long time that niacin can lower levels of triglycerides, fatty acids and to a lesser extent, the bad or LDL cholesterol while increasing the good HDL kind.

However, it also causes unpleasant side effects including intense flushing.

Now, scientists from Duke University Medical Center are saying they have found the molecular pathways that are triggered when niacin enters the body opening a way to remedy the problem and bring niacin back.

“This opens up whole new realms for drug discovery [in particular] new niacin-based therapies for cholesterol that patients could actually stick with,” says Dr. Robert Walters, a dermatologist at Duke and the lead author of the study.

Other natural sources that have been shown to have cholesterol-fighting properties include red yeast rice extract omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil which are also available in the form of nutritional supplements.