VITAMIN B3 found in Vegemite and beer can slash the risk of skin cancer by 23 per cent a groundbreaking study at Sydney University has found.

A trial in more than 380 patients at high risk of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma has found a high dose vitamin B3 pill taken twice a day reduced the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer.

The number of pre-cancerous sun spots was also slashed by 15 per cent in those taking the vitamin also called nicotinamide, the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows.

The vitamin pills are safe and already available over the counter in pharmacies for around $10 per bottle.

Study author Dr Diona Damian says her work shows the vitamin should be added to the traditional slip slop slap routine for people at high risk of the cancers.

“This is the first clear evidence that we can reduce skin cancers using a simple vitamin, together with sensible sun protection,” Dr Damian said.

Vitamin B3 is found in meat, fish and nuts but can also be obtained from Vegemite and beer.

However, you’d need to consume a kilo of Vegemite a day to get the same high dose — 500 milligrams — twice a day-used in the trial, Dr Damian said.

“You can’t get more patriotic than that,” Dr Damian said.

A calculation on how much beer you would need to drink to obtain the high dose of vitamin B3 has not been done, she said.

The vitamin works like “Powerade for the skin” by restoring cellular energy in skin cells damaged by the sun, it enhances the repair of DNA in skin cells and protects the skin’s immune system from UV radiation, she said.

The preventive effects appeared as early as three months after treatment started but stopped when the patient ceased taking the vitamin, she says.

Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world.

Nearly half a million Australians are treated for non-melanoma cancers each year and over 500 die from the disease.

The disease costs the nation more than $500 million a year.

Dr Damian said it was important to realise it was only vitamin B3 in nicotinamide form that works against the skin cancers.

Vitamin B3 in the niacin or Nicotinic acid form causes headaches flushing and low blood pressure and was not tested in the study.

In the study 368 patients who had at least two non-melanoma skin cancers in the last five years were randomly assigned to daily nicotinamide placebo pill for 12 months.

The study was not designed to test whether the vitamin would benefit people in the general population who have not had skin cancer or whether it could help prevent melanoma but Dr Damian says she hopes to carry out such research in the future.

However, she admits she and her fellow researchers are using the vitamin.

Read more:

The ABC of skin vitamins

Supplements guide: Vitamin B3